Onoe Kikunosuke V

Kikunosuke was born the eldest son of Onoe Kikugoro VII in 1977. He was mentored by his father and grandfather from an early age and trained in Kabuki as their successor. He made his stage debut in February 1984 under the name Onoe Ushinosuke VI in Ushiwakamaru in The picture book Ushiwakamaru, and succeeded the name Onoe Kikunosuke V in May 1996 in roles such as Benten Kozō Kikunosuke in Benten Musume Meo no Shiranami.

He carries on the tradition of Otowaya, which his family has carried on from generation to generation, in which he has been acting both an onnagata (actor playing female role) and tachiyaku (actor playing the leading male role). He has been performing onnagata since he was a teenager, and Shirabyoshi Hanako in Kyōganoko Musume Dōjōji, is known as one of his best-known works considered the pinnacle of onnagata role, in which he is known for his ability to masterfully perform the emotional changes of a woman who has fallen in love.

In 2000, he played Murasaki no Ue in the Kabuki production of The Tale of Genji and received favorable reviews along with other young kabuki actors such as Ichikawa Shinnosuke VII (current Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII) as Hikaru Genji and Onoe Tatsunosuke II (current Onoe Shoroku IV) as Tō No Chūjō, and became popular among the masses as "the Sannosuke of Heisei era." Their fathers had been popular in the 1960s and were called "the original Sannosuke."

In addition to performing in classical Kabuki, he is also passionate about producing new Kabuki productions such as Twelfth Night of Ninagawa, a work based on Twelfth Night, The War Chronicles of the Mahabharata a work based on the Indian mythological epic Mahabharata, and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, a work based on Hayao Miyazaki manga series.

His major appearances in TV series include Onihei Hankachō The Final and La Grande Maison Tokyo, Taiga drama Aoi and Segodon.

In 2005, he was recognized by Agency for Cultural Affairs as an Important Intangible Cultural Property as Kabuki actor.

In June 2024, it was announced that he will succeed the name Onoe Kikugoro in May 2025. His current name Onoe Kikunosuke will be taken over by his son Onoe Ushinosuke VII. His father, Onoe Kikugoro VII, a Living National Treasure, will continue to go by the name Kikugoro. According to Shochiku, this is the first time in modern kabuki history that actors with the same name have stood side by side.