Emperor arrested

[Aaron Gerow]

I bet that title got your attention!

Well, in a bit of scandal in the Japanese film and Kabuki worlds, 
Nakumura Shichinosuke, the 21 year old kabuki actor who played the 
Meiji emperor in The Last Samurai, was arrested for punching a police 
offer. The son of the famed kabuki actor Nakamura Kankuro had gotten 
into a quarrel with a taxi driver over a fare and had run away. When an 
officer tried to stop him, he punched him in the face. He was drunk at 
the time and says he doesn't remember the incident.

One does think back to the prewar when acted representations of the 
emperor or his ancestors was largely banned. I don't recall any 
specific references, but I wonder if one possible reason was the fear 
that a scandalous actor may take up the role of a figure above scandal.

Aaron Gerow
KineJapan owner

Assistant Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University

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