Nakamura Nakazō I

Nakamura Nakazō I (born 1736, Edo [now Tokyo], Japan—died June 6, 1790, Edo) was a Japanese kabuki actor who introduced male roles into the kabuki theatre’s dance pieces (shosagoto), which had been traditionally reserved for female impersonators. Nakamura was left an orphan and adopted at the age of five by the music master Nakamura Kojūrō and by O-Shun, a dancing mistress whose family were costumers to the Nakamura Theatre. During the 1760s Nakamura gained fame...