Kabuki Actor Nakamura Tsurumatsu Arrested for Allegedly Damaging Restaurant Door in Tokyo

Kabuki actor Nakamura Tsurumatsu, whose real name is Daiki Shimizu (30), was arrested on the spot on suspicion of damaging a building after allegedly breaking the door of a restaurant in Taito Ward, Tokyo, it was learned on the 19th.

According to the arrest warrant, in the early hours of the 18th, the suspect allegedly kicked and destroyed the entrance door of a restaurant. At the time, Tsurumatsu was reportedly intoxicated and has denied the allegations, saying, “I don’t remember.” His talent agency told this newspaper, “We are currently confirming the facts.”

Born on March 15, 1995, he is the son of a company employee father who graduated from a U.S. university and a mother who majored in English and American literature. Raised by linguistically gifted parents, he devoted himself to lessons such as drumming, modern dance, and calligraphy six days a week.

He joined a children’s theater company at the age of three. At five, he appeared in The Tale of Genji as Takemaro, the younger brother of Akenoue, and began appearing on kabuki stages. He was discovered by the late 18th-generation Nakamura Kanzaburō, and in 2005, at the age of ten, became his live-in disciple. Kanzaburō reportedly doted on him so much that, in addition to his own sons—Nakamura Kankurō and Nakamura Shichinosuke—he called Tsurumatsu his “third son.”

Regarded as a hopeful rising star of the Nakamura-ya family, he had been expected to take on the stage name of the first-generation Nakamura Maizuru and be promoted to a senior position at the upcoming Saruwaka Festival February Grand Kabuki (opening February 1 at the Kabuki-za Theatre in Tokyo).