, was a Japanese actor active in kabuki, other forms of live theatre, television and commercials. Kanzaburà  was a versatile actor whose credits include farce, period pieces and Shin Kabuki.
Kanzaburà  was the eighteenth in the line of Nakamura Kanzaburà Â, his father the seventeenth. Kanzaburà  actually traced his ancestry within the Nakamuraya kabuki guild back to his great-great-great grandfathers, if not further. Both his grandfathers were kabuki actors, as were their fathers.
Kanzaburà  was the younger brother of film actress Kuriko Namino. With his wife Yoshie, he had two sons, Nakamura Kankurà  VI and Nakamura Shichinosuke II. Both perform kabuki, and in other venues.
He made his debut under the name Nakamura Kankurà  V in April 1959 in the role of Momotaro. His kabuki credits under that name include roles in Kagami-jishi, Kamiyui Shinza and Yotsuya Kaidan.
In addition to performing at the Kabuki-za and other kabuki venues, Kankurà  helped establish the , a temporary kabuki stage erected for only one set of performances, in a variety of locations. He erected it, and performed on it, in Asakusa (Tokyo), Osaka, and, in 2004, on a US tour, performing in Boston, New York, and Washington DC. The Heisei Nakamura-za performed again in New York and Washington in 2007.
He made his film debut at age four in Thus Another Day (1959), which also starred his father. Noteworthy television roles include Imagawa Yoshimoto in the 1988 Taiga drama Takeda Shingen, Oishi Kuranosuke in the 1999 Taiga drama Genroku Ryoran, Terumasa Ikeda in æ¦èµ MUSASHI (2003), and a TBS special Koyoi wa KANKURO. Commercial endorsements include Contac, Japan Post, JT, Suntory and Tokyo Mitsubishi Bank.
He took the name Kanzaburà  at a shà «mei on March 3, 2005.
In June 2011, Kanzaburà  revealed to the public that he was suffering from esophageal cancer, and was receiving treatment. On December 5, 2012, Kanzaburà  died from acute respiratory distress, four months before the Kabuki-za re-opened in Tokyo.