The Fifteenth
Kataoka Nizaemon
Kataoka Nizaemon XV
Photos and footage will be added as rights are cleared.
A kabuki actor who carries Kataoka Nizaemon, the principal name of the Matsushimaya house, having taken the fifteenth generation of it in 1998. He was recognised as a Living National Treasure in 2015 and received the Order of Culture in 2025.
According to the Kabuki Actor Directory, he was born on 14 March 1944, the third son of Kataoka Nizaemon XIII. He made his stage debut in September 1949 at the Nakaza in Osaka as Ichimatsu in Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami, under his own name Kataoka Takao. The Directory records that Yohei in Onnagoroshi Abura no Jigoku, performed in the 'Nizaemon Kabuki' his father founded, became the role that made his name.
After a year away from the stage through illness in 1993 he returned in January 1994, and in January–February 1998 took the name Kataoka Nizaemon XV at the Kabukiza, as Izaemon in Yoshidaya and Sukeroku in Sukeroku Kuruwa no Hatsuzakura. The Directory records collective recognition in 1972, the Medal with Purple Ribbon and election to the Japan Art Academy in 2006, recognition as a Living National Treasure in 2015, designation as a Person of Cultural Merit in 2018, and the Order of Culture in 2025.
What They Inherit
He took up a name that began in Kamigata, and did so after serious illness. Behind it stands the Kataoka Jūnishū, the set of plays gathered from Nizaemon XI.
NAME VARIANTS
Names and spellings for this person: 片岡仁左衛門 / 十五代目片岡仁左衛門 / 片岡孝夫 / Kataoka Nizaemon
Current and Upcoming Performances
There are no performances to show right now. New appearances will be listed as soon as they are confirmed.