was a Japanese Kabuki actor, one of the three most famous and celebrated of the Meiji period, along with Ichikawa Danjà «rà  IX and Ichikawa Sadanji I. Unlike most kabuki actors, who specialize in a particular type of role, Kikugorà Â, as a kaneru yakusha, played both tachiyaku (male heroes) and onnagata (women) roles and was best known for his roles in plays by Kawatake Mokuami. Kikugorà  was also known as one of the chief actors in the "modern" subgenre of kabuki plays known as zangirimono ("cropped hair plays"), featuring Western-style clothes and hairstyle.
Kikugorà  was a popular figure in ukiyo-e woodblock prints, especially in those by Toyohara Kunichika. He was also featured on Japanese postage stamps, and performed in one of the first motion pictures ever made in Japan, Momijigari, as Taira no Koremochi.
The associated with the Onoe family were chosen by Kikugorà  V and his son Onoe Kikugorà  VI, and include many of the plays for which Kikugorà  V was himself most famous.
Like most kabuki actors, and many artists of his time, Kikugorà  had a number of names over the course of his career. His guild name, or yagà Â, was Otowaya. He was at various times, and in different contexts, also known as Ichimura Kakitsu IV, Ichimura Uzaemon XIII, Ichimura Kurà Âemon, Onoe Baikà  V, and Onoe Kurà Âemon I, and used Baikà  and Kakitsu as his poetry names (haimyà Â).
The fifth actor in kabuki to bear the name Onoe Kikugorà Â, he was the son of Ichimura Takenojà  V and the grandson of Ichimura Uzaemon XI and Onoe Kikugorà  III. His brother was Bandà  Kakitsu I. Kikugorà  V had two biological sons, Onoe Kikugorà  VI and Bandà  Hikosaburà  VI, and adopted Onoe Kikunosuke II and Onoe Baikà  VI.
A number of actors active today are descended from Kikugorà  V, including his great-grandson Nakamura Kanzaburà  XVIII, one of the leading actors today, and Kanzaburà Â's sons (Kikugorà Â's great-great-grandsons) Nakamura Shichinosuke II and Nakamura Kantarà  II.
The actor who would later be known as Kikugorà  V first appeared on stage at the age of four, in 1848, as Ichimura Kurà Âemon. Three years later, he succeeded his father to the name Uzaemon, as his father became Takenojà  V and zamoto (head & manager) of the Ichimura-za theater.
Uzaemon XIII performed in the premieres of a number of plays by Kawatake Mokuami, the leading playwright of the bakumatsu period. These included the premiere of "Aoto Zà Âshi Hana no Nishiki-e" in March 1862, in which he played the lead role of Benten Kozà Â, and, many years later, the premieres of Tsuchigumo and Ibaraki, among many others. He took the name Ichimura Kakitsu in 1863 before becoming the fifth Onoe Kikugorà  in 1868, and zagashira (stage manager, troupe leader) of the Nakamura-za the year following.
Kikugorà  was among the actors who took part in a special performance at the Shintomi-za on July 16, 1879, in honor of Ulysses S. Grant. The play Gosannen à Âshà « Gunki, metaphorically relating aspects of the American Civil War through the story of the Japanese 11th century Gosannen War, was written and performed especially for this occasion. He also performed at the grand opening of the Chitose-za theater in 1885, and before the Meiji Emperor two years later alongside Ichikawa Danjà «rà  IX and Ichikawa Sadanji I; this was the first time an emperor had deigned to watch a kabuki performance.
In November 1899 Kikugorà Â, along with Danjà «rà  IX were filmed performing three short scenes from the play Momijigari, with Kikugorà  playing the demon princess Momiji. These scenes were filmed by pioneering Japanese filmmaker Shibata Tsunekichi. This 3 minute 50 second long film version of Momijigari is the oldest surviving example of Japanese narrative cinema.
Kikugorà  was very devoted to his craft, and even visited the battlefield of the 1868 Battle of Ueno, during the battle, to see for himself what war was like, how soldiers behaved, so as to be able to better portray them on stage.
He performed countless times at the Ichimura-za and Kabuki-za (which opened in 1889) over the course of his career. Kikugorà  made his final stage appearance at the latter, in November 1902, playing the roles of Benten Kozà Â, Shizue, and Kinai in a play entitled Chà «shin Kanagaki Kà Âshaku; he died a few months later, on February 18, 1903, at the age of 58.