Japanese actor who took Kabuki to the world dies at 57

Japanese Kabuki actor Nakamura Kanzaburo (L) of the Tokyo's Heise Nakamura-za theatre performs during a dress rehearsal for the 'Summer Festival: A Mirror of Osaka' in Berlin May 14, 2008.

TOKYO (Reuters) - One of Japan's top kabuki actors, who worked hard to modernise the centuries-old theatre form and performed around the world, died on Wednesday after a five-month battle with cancer, Japanese media repored.

Kanzaburo Nakamura, 57, was born to a family of longstanding performers in the ancient kabuki theatre - known for elaborate make-up, extravangant costumes and all-male casts - and began performing at the age of three.

He sought to modernise kabuki, which dates back 400 years, and to introduce Western audiences to the colourful art form through packed performances in New York, Paris and Berlin.

"I love Kabuki and it's a good thing I love it. If I hadn't loved it, I would have just gone mad, given the family I was born to," he told Reuters in 2008 before a performance in Berlin.

Diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in June, he underwent surgery a month later but contracted pneumonia and was in and out of hospital after that, with women's magazines following his illness closely.

Born Noriaki Namino, he took the stage name of Kankuro Nakamura at his first performance, and then officially inherited the revered stage name Kanzaburo Nakamura in 2005, becoming the 18th person to bear it. (Reporting by Olivier Fabre at Reuters Television; Editing by Elaine Lies and Ron Popeski)