Nomura Manzo (野村万蔵)

Manzo (kanji character is 万蔵) NOMURA is a stage name that has been handed down for generations of Kyogen (farce played during a No play cycle) actors of the Izumi school. From the fourth to sixth Manzo used a different kanji character, '万造'. The Nomura family are from Kanazawa, and the present Manzo is the ninth.

The first Manzo NOMURA (1722-April 16, 1790): real name, Yasuhisa.
He was the second son of a sake brewer

The second Manzo NOMURA (1765-October 3, 1823): real name, Shinatsune. He was an adopted son of the first Manzo.

The third Manzo MOMURA (April 12, 1796-April 13, 1865): real name, Naoteru. He was the second son of the second Manzo.

The fourth Manzo NOMURA (July 18, 1839-November 20, 1876): real name, Yoshichika. He was the fourth son of the third Manzo. He succeeded to the stage name at the age of 26, and also succeeded to his father's position as a town official. After the Meiji Restoration, he gave up being a Kyogen actor, became a clerk at the Kanazawa Museum, and died a disappointed man.

The fifth Manzo NOMURA (retirement name: the first Mansai NOMURA) (August 16, 1862-January 14, 1938): childhood name, Ryokichi. He was the first son of the fourth Manzo. In 1893, he moved to Tokyo with the help of Yosaku NOMURA, who is in the head family of NOMURA. At first, he was isolated and worked as a clerk in the family registration section in a city hall for a living, but later wielded a big influence on the Kyogen world in Tokyo after his hard work. His first son was the sixth Manzo NOMURA, and his second son, Mansuke was the ninth Tokuro MIYAKE.

The sixth Manzo NOMURA
The seventh Manzo NOMURA (The first Man NOMURA now)

The fifth Mannojo NOMURA (August 9, 1959-June 10, 2004): real name, Kosuke. He was from Tokyo. And he was the first son of Man NOMURA (the seventh Manzo NOMURA). His younger brother is the ninth Manzo NOMURA (the second Yojuro NOMURA before). In 1995, he succeeded to the head of the Manzo NOMURA family after his father and assumed the fifth Mannojo. Besides the work as the head of the Manzo family, he showed his ability to produce events and promoted "TMD Network" (project organization) as a comprehensive artist. He was also active in multimedia related work, and was involved in producing the contents of CD-ROMs for the Agency for Cultural Affairs and DVDs for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. He also worked on the historical background of art for some long-running TV dramas on NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation). Just as he was expected to do great things in the future, he died of neuroendocrine cancer. Died at the age ot 44. He was about to assume the eighth Manzo NOMURA and was conferred it posthumously.

The ninth Manzo NOMURA

[Original Japanese]