nntsuzu/KFTT huggingface dataset:
English: Hori-mishima: unlike ko-mishima bowls, these were ordered from Japan from the Edo period onwards and had an embossed or inlayed pattern.
Japanese: 彫三島-古三島とは異なり、江戸時代以降日本からの注文で製作された、地紋が浮き彫り状ないし象嵌様のもの。
English: Irabo: bowls where the pattern is carved using a nail or those made using katami-gawari (i.e. two different materials or two different colors or patterns) which reflects the taste of Japanese chajin.
Japanese: 伊羅保-釘彫りや片身替りなどをほどこしたもので、あきらかに日本の茶人の好みが反映されている。
English: This was the Japanese pronunciation of the Kumakawa Consulate and was based on an old place name that was derived from 'Kumanari', a term used in ancient times to refer to Kinkai Gara.
Japanese: 古くは金海加羅をさした「くまなり」に由来する古地名から熊川倭館をそう訓んでいた。
English: The bowls are so-called because they were imported from there and they have a curved rim with a slightly tulip-like appearance.
Japanese: そこから渡来した形ということで、ややチューリップ状にふちの反った形をいう。
English: Of course, high-quality, refined items are not necessarily used in wabicha (wabi style of tea ceremony), as they spoil the feeling of simpleness.
Japanese: もちろん素朴な味わいを損なうので、わび茶では上手物であればよいわけではない。
English: One style of this type of bowl is known as 'Kyogen-Bakama', whose inlayed rounded pattern resembles that of kyogen performers' suikan-bakama (pleated skirt-like garments).
Japanese: この一種に「狂言袴」と称するものがあり、丸文の象嵌模様を狂言師の水干袴に見立てていう。
English: Kurogorai (black korai): a collective term for kuromono (black ware) such as 'Korai Tenmoku' with an iron glaze and 'Tessaishu' with a celadon glaze on top of iron pigments.
Japanese: 黒高麗-鉄釉の「高麗天目」や鉄絵具のうえに青磁釉をかけた「鉄彩手」などの黒物の総称。
English: Korea has no custom equivalent to Japan's Sado and the word 'chawan' (tea bowl) is a term only used in Japan.
Japanese: 朝鮮には日本のような茶道の風習はなく、茶碗と言ってもそれは日本での呼称に過ぎない。
English: Many foreign people who visited Korea in the 19th century wrote that Koreans had hardly any tradition of tea drinking and that only influential people drank tea from China and then only a little.
Japanese: 19世紀に訪れた外国人は朝鮮に喫茶の風習がほとんどなく、有力者が中国産の茶を僅かに飲む程度であったと口をそろえて書き残している。
English: There are various descriptions of gluttony being held as a virtue in Korea, and Shihei HAYASHI wrote as follows.
Japanese: 諸書にみられるように朝鮮では大食を美とする風習があり、林子平も以下のようにのべている。
English: The people in that country are all bigger and stronger than Japanese and Chinese, and a Korean usually eats twice as much food as a Japanese; but they are slow and do not work hard, so that they were defeated twice by Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI ('Sangoku tsuran zusetsu' [An Illustrated General Survey of Three Countries], woodblock print, page 6)
Japanese: 其国ノ人物ハ都テ日本唐山等ノ人ヨリ壮大ニシテ筋骨モ強シ食量モ大概日本ノ二人ノ食ヲ朝鮮ノ一人ニ充ベシ然レドモ其心機アクマデ遅鈍ニシテ不働也此故ニ太閤ノ征伐ニヨク負タリ　(『三国通覧図説』版本6丁)
English: It was believed that the wealthy classes were prouder of eating a lot with their large collections of pots than anything else.
Japanese: 豊かな階級は大量の鉢を並べて大食するさまを他人に誇示することを唯一の誇りと考えた。
English: It is said that the various bowls that came to be used as tea bowls were those which the 'common people' during the Joseon Dynasty used as everyday utensils.
Japanese: 茶器に転用されたようなさまざまな鉢は、当時の李氏朝鮮社会で「一般民衆」が日常に用いた雑器であるといわれる。
English: The majority of common people, that is, sangnom (lower class during the Joseon Dynasty) and lower, who suffered from famine and often rose in revolt, only used coarse earthenware which originated from Gaya earthenware.
Japanese: 飢餓に苦しみ、頻繁に乱をなした大多数の一般庶民、すなわち常奴以下は伽耶土器以来の粗陶を用いていたにすぎなかった。
English: Of course, it should not be forgotten that, like the upper classes, they seldom used 'jotemono' items.
Japanese: もちろん上流階級と同様に、上手物はきわめて数が少なかったことを忘れてはならない。
English: There is a record of a Korean envoy who came to Japan in the Muromachi period and was delighted to be treated to Japanese style powdered green tea in various places.
Japanese: 室町時代、日本にきた朝鮮使節は各地で日本式の抹茶のご馳走を賜りよろこんで記録している。
English: Gohon style tea bowls were produced in accordance with Japanese taste.
Japanese: もちろん御本茶碗などははっきりと日本の好みにしたがって作られたものである。
English: However, ido style tea bowls, made by chance, have never been seen again.
Japanese: しかし、井戸のように、偶然によって生まれでたようなものは二度と再現されることはなかった。
English: Its name is derived from the fact that decorative stones and other materials, such as agate and rhinoceros horn, are sewn onto the leather belt.
Japanese: 皮製の帯部分に、メノウや犀角（サイの角）などの飾り石を縫い付けているのが名前の由来。
English: The sekitai was initially fastened together with a metal buckle like an ordinary belt, but it was tied with strings from the end of the Heian Period, and it was made of only two parts of leather: the back part and an extra part.
Japanese: 本来、通常のベルトのように彫金を施した金属製のバックルでとめたが、平安末期以降前を紐で結びとめる方式になり、背中に当てる部分と結び余り部分のみを皮で作った二部構成となった。
English: The main part is made of black leather and called the 'toko', the front is fastened with a kako (buckle) and the dabi (the end of the belt opposite the buckle end) is inserted into the obi at the back.
Japanese: 本体は黒皮製で「床」と呼ばれ、前を鉸具（かこ/バックル）で留めて鉈尾（だび/ベルトのバックルと反対側の端）を背中にまわった帯の間に差し込む。
English: The remaining part of the belt inserted at the back is called the uwate, and together they compose the two parts: toko and uwate.
Japanese: この背中に差し込む結び余り部分を上手（うわて）と呼び、後に床と上手の二部式となる。
English: In the Nara Period, a piece of thin leather was folded and joined to the center of the back section, and the upper and lower ends that correspond to tops of the folds had a piece of hemp inserted to make a core, before being rounded off.
Japanese: 奈良時代には薄い皮を折り込んで裏面中央で合うようにし、折り山にあたる上下端は麻紐の芯を入れて丸みをつけるものが多い。
English: The existing belts made in the Edo Period had unpolished leather for the core (the condition of the leather when it was new is unknown, but it looks light-green, translucent and hard in many cases), and a piece of thin leather was folded and wrapped so that it was joined at the center of the back.
Japanese: 江戸時代の遺品は練らない革(新しかったときのことはわからないが、現状ではあめ色の半透明な堅いものに見えるものが多い)を芯にして、薄い革を折り込み、裏面中央で合うようにして包む。
English: It is thought that sekitai were made to be stiff only in modern times because the sekitai that is a secret treasure of Asuka-jinja Shrine is so soft that it can be rolled for storage.
Japanese: 石帯の硬化は近世に入ってからのようで、室町時代の阿須賀神社神宝の石帯は丸めて保存できるほどやわらかい。
English: A set of around ten gems called a ka (the radical of the kanji "金" to the left with 夸 to the right) was sewn on the part of the toko on the side and back when it was worn by crossing a thread over each gem.
Japanese: 床には着用時に脇から背中に回る部分に銙（か/金偏に夸）と呼ぶ宝玉十個近くを十文字に糸を渡して縫い付ける。
English: As the kanji radical 金 at the left indicates, the ka was originally made of gold or silver, and court nobles had ones with metal carvings of lions and flowers in Chinese style called umon, beginning to use white gemstones in the Enryaku era after their use was permitted.
Japanese: 金偏が付くことからも分かるように、本来金銀などで製作し、特に公卿は有文と呼ぶ獅子や唐風の草花の模様の彫金を施したものであったが、延暦年間に白玉が許されて白石などを使うようになった。
English: From the end of the Heian Period, the back section of the toko and uwate were made of leather separately and joined with strings, the longer kakeo (hanging cord) of the two strings was passed through the fastener (the ukeo, or catcher cord) on the opposite side and tied with the shorter one (machio cord).
Japanese: 平安末期以降は、床の背中部分と上手のみを別々に皮で作って紐で結び、繋ぎ目部分から延び、長短二本の紐のうち、長い紐（懸緒）を逆側の留め具（受緒）に通して短い紐（待緒）と結ぶようになった。
English: The sekitai that was a secret treasure of Asuka-jinja Shrine, an auxiliary shrine of Kumano-hayatama-taisha Shrine in the early Muromachi Period, was tied by passing a thread through three holes made diagonally and inconspicuously from the side to the back of the precious stones, but from the middle of the Muromachi Period there was another method of sewing the stones with threads from the top, and this came to be the sole method in the Edo Period.
Japanese: 室町初期の熊野速玉大社摂社であった阿須賀神社神宝の石帯では、石の側面から裏面にむけて斜めに目立たぬようにあけられた穴三つに糸を通して綴じられるが、室町中期頃より石の上から糸でかがりつける方法がみられるようになり、江戸時代にはもっぱらこの方法のみとなる。
English: They were sewn with two threads, right-handed and left-handed, so that a diamond shape was formed at the back in the Yamashina School and a toppled v shape was formed in the Takakura School.
Japanese: 左撚右撚の糸二本でかがり、山科流では裏が菱型になるように、高倉流では横倒しのv字になるようにする。
English: "The Engishiki" (an ancient book for codes and procedures on national rites and prayers), showing the manners and customs of the Bureau of Skilled Artisans, describes in detail the materials and other aspects of the agate belts worn by the Emperor.
Japanese: なお、『延喜式』内匠寮式には天皇の瑪瑙帯の材料等が詳しくのせられている。
English: Round stones were called round sashes and used in everyday activities and ceremonies, and square stones were called junpo (square sashes) and used only in ceremonies.
Japanese: 石のうち円形のものは円鞆（まるとも）と呼んで日常用で儀式にも使い、方形のものは巡方（じゅんぽう）とよんで儀式用であった。
English: Stones with two matching semi-circular pieces, resembling Japanese kamaboko (boiled fish paste), were called setsujo (semicylindrical sashes) according to the "Wamyo-sho", a dictionary compiled in the Heian Period.
Japanese: 蒲鉾を板ごと横に切ったような上円下方のものを櫛上（せつじょう）と呼んで（『和名抄』。
English: However, there are almost no surviving perfectly round sashes, which were often affixed to the dabi, from the Nara Period to modern times, and this is true both for art objects which have been loved and handed down and for objects found during archaeological excavations.
Japanese: ただし完全な円形の丸鞆の実例は伝世品・発掘品ともに奈良時代から近世にいたるまでほとんどなく、この記事については検討が必要である）、鉈尾に取り付けることもあった。
English: The types of stones were determined by social status; gold or silver plating was used for those of goi (Fifth Rank) and higher, a black lacquered sash (black lacquered copper) was used for rokui (Sixth Rank), and officers used a range of materials according to their exposure to Chinese influences.
Japanese: 石は身分によって種類が決まっていて、奈良時代には五位以上は金銀（もちろんめっきであろう）、六位以下は烏油帯（銅に黒漆をかける）を使用したが、高官は唐の影響を受けて次第に様々な材質を使用するようになった。
English: Officials of the rokui (Sixth Rank) or lower began to use a variety of stones instead of black lacquer and their use was officially approved in the Enryaku era.
Japanese: また六位以下も烏油のかわりに色々な雑石を使用することがはじまり、延暦年間以降これが公認されるようになる。
English: Many sekitai with plainer stones have been excavated in various parts of the country as they were used even by officials of local government agencies in the Nara and Heian periods.
Japanese: 奈良・平安初期には地方官衙の役人までが使用したので、雑石の石帯の発掘例は全国に多い。
English: According to 'Engi Danjodai Shiki' (The Rule of the Board of Censors) of the early Heian Period, there were many rules: 'Waistbands with white gems can be worn by those of Third Rank or higher or sangi (councilors) of the Fourth Rank, waistbands with tortoiseshell, agate, rhinoceros horn (said to be rhinoceros horn, but bull's horns were usually used), ivory, sharkskin (said to be sharkskin, but the skin of a ray was often used for costumes) or rosewood can be worn by officials of the Fifth Rank for everyday use, stones of teizuri, which are stones of Kishu (now Wakayama Prefecture) origin on which patterns were engraved, can be worn by sangi (councilors) or higher, and sujibori (carving thin lines with sharp implements) on which gold or sliver is stamped, and Chinese belts can be worn by officials of Fifth Rank or higher.'
Japanese: 平安時代前期の「延喜弾正台式」の記述によれば、「白玉の腰帯は三位以上か四位の参議まで着用可能、玳瑁（タイマイ/鼈甲）・瑪瑙・斑犀（サイの角とあるが普通は牛の角で代用）・象牙・沙魚皮（サメ皮の事だが装束ではエイ皮を指すことが多い）・紫檀は五位通用、紀州産の石に模様を彫ったもの、定摺の石は参議以上、金銀を捺した筋彫りや唐の帯は五位以上。
English: Another rule was "White and glossy stones of Kishu origin cannot be used by officials of Sixth Rank or lower, who should use black lacquered rhinoceros horn", (one theory claims they were often lacquered).
Japanese: 紀州産の石の白く艶のあるものは六位以下には使えない、六位以下は漆で黒く塗った（単に黒い色の犀角とする説も有る）犀角（烏犀/うさい）を使う。
English: In addition, it is said that stones with tsutennoaya, a grain pattern which was expensive, were not permitted.
Japanese: ただし通天の文（筋目の模様。これがある犀角は高級品）があるものは許可されない」（意訳）などかなり多様なものがあったとわかる。
English: Other sekitai include a belt with blue stones (lazurite) which was used daily by the Emperor and which was one of the Shoso-in treasures.
Japanese: 他に正倉院宝物にもある、天皇が日常に使う青石の帯（青金石）などがある。
English: Some excellent sekitai, believed to be family treasures, were made in the Heian Period and were mentioned in literature, such as ones of 'kigata' (ogre shape), 'shishigata' (lion shape) and so on.
Japanese: 平安時代には家宝とされる名物の石帯も生まれ「鬼形」「獅子形」など文献に名を残すものもある。
English: "Utsuho monogatari" (The Tale of the Hollow Tree) contains a story where a noble son is suspected to have sold a belt that was a family treasure and he is expelled from his family.
Japanese: 『宇津保物語』には家宝の帯を売ったと疑われた貴族の子息が家から追放される話すらみられる。
English: On the other hand, the number of sekitai dating from after the end of the Heian Period excavated in local districts is much lower, which suggests that local officials no longer used sekitai.
Japanese: 一方で地方での発掘例は平安中期以後激減し、地方の官人は使用しなくなっていったことが想定できるのである。
English: According to custom from the end of the Heian Period to the Meiji Restoration, square unfigured sashes with white gemstones were used only for ceremonies involving the Emperor.
Japanese: 平安後期から明治維新より前の慣例を述べると、白玉製巡方無文の帯は天皇の祭事用のみに使用された。
English: Historical records suggest that 'ordinary' sokutai were those with round-shaped unfigured sashes.
Japanese: 古記録に「尋常」の束帯とあればこの無文円鞆を使用したとみられる場合が多い。
English: Round-shaped figured sashes with white gemstones were used in a similar way to the figured square sash with white gemstones, but they were considered to be inappropriate for particularly important imperial visits and sechi-e (seasonal court banquets).
Japanese: 白玉有文円鞆は有文巡方に準ずるが、重儀中でも特に大切な行幸や節会にはふさわしくないとされた。
English: Since it was difficult to obtain and process tama (gems) in Japan (nephrite is harder than steel and can be processed only using a thread coated with the powder of a harder stone), white stones were mostly used instead of white gemstones in modern times even though they were still referred to as white gemstones.
Japanese: 玉は日本では入手しがたく、かつ加工も難しいので（軟玉も鉄鋼より硬く、硬い石の粉末をつけた糸などでしか加工できない）、近世では白玉と称しても多くの場合白い石をもって代用する。
English: Regular sashes on which two square stones were sewn on each side and six to eight round stones were sewn on the back came into wide use later.
Japanese: 後には脇にあたる部分に方形を二つずつ、背中にあたる部分に円形の石を六~八縫った通用帯が良く用いられるようになった。
English: There were often further differences; for example, even daimyo (feudal loads) of Fifth Rank used white stones.
Japanese: なお大名の所用品では五位であっても白石を使うなどの異式はよくあることである。
English: Since the state ceremony of the Taisho Emperor, the emperor and the imperial family have used figured square sashes with translucent agate (white translucent stone), and attendants unfigured square sashes with translucent agate, white stones and so on.
Japanese: 大正の大礼以後、天皇・皇族は透瑪瑙（白く半透明の石）の有文巡方の帯を使用し、透瑪瑙や白石などを使用した無文巡方帯を臣下の参列者が使用する。
English: They look the same as the unfigured square sashes with white gemstones which were used only in Shinto rituals by the Emperor before the Edo Period.
Japanese: これらは一見すると江戸時代以前の天皇の神事専用の白玉無文巡方帯とかわらない。
English: Swords used with sokutai (traditional ceremonial court dress) were used for different purposes according to the importance of the ceremony, and they were associated with sekitai from the end of Heian Period to the Meiji Restoration.
Japanese: なお、束帯に使用する太刀も儀式の軽重によって使い分けがあり、平安後期から明治維新より前の時代には石帯と関連性があった。
English: In other words, formal decorated swords and 'swords inlaid with mother-of-pearl' with a rosewood scabbard inlaid with mother-of-pearl, which were informal decorated swords with narrow blades, were used with figured square sashes with white gemstones, and narrow blades with lacquered scabbards were used with figured square sashes with white gemstones.
Japanese: すなわちもっとも正式な飾太刀や、飾太刀を略した細太刀の中でも鞘を紫檀地螺鈿にした「螺鈿剣（らでんのたち）」は白玉有文帯と、蒔絵の鞘の細太刀は白玉無文帯とともに使用した。
English: However, there are cases in which figured sashes were used with lacquered swords for long-distance imperial visits, because lacquerware is stronger than rosewood inlaid mother-of-pearl.
Japanese: ただし遠距離行幸では有文帯でも蒔絵太刀とともに使用する例はある（紫檀地螺鈿より蒔絵のほうが丈夫なので）。
English: Since the state ceremony of the Taisho Emperor, when the customs were simplified as described above, the link between sword and sekitai has been lost.
Japanese: 上記の通り慣例故実を整理簡素化した大正大礼以後、太刀と石帯の対応関係もなくなっている。
English: Gyotai ornaments were used only for formal ceremonies even when sokutai were worn, and when they were used they were usually hung between the first and the second stone on the right of the sekitai.
Japanese: 魚袋は、束帯着用時でも重儀に限り使用するが、使用するときはふつう石帯の右の一番目と二番目の石の間に吊るす。
English: It is customary that dancers selected for the Hono-mai (a Shinto dance for dedication) in the Kamo no rinjisai (Kamo Special Festival) and Iwashimizu-rinji-matsuri (Iwashimizu Special Festival) always use sekitai with agate, and although only shosho usually use an agate sash (an imperial envoy for special festivals was selected from among chujo and shosho), they are permitted to put on a rhinoceros horn sash on this occasion.
Japanese: ちなみに、賀茂臨時祭・石清水臨時祭の奉納舞に選ばれた舞手は必ず瑪瑙の石帯を使うのが慣例であって、本来瑪瑙の帯を使うのは少将だが（臨時祭勅使は中・少将から選ばれる）この時だけは犀角の帯をつける。
English: Since there was an unspoken understanding that there were only eight agate sashes in Japan, dancers borrowed them from others to practice and no other people were permitted to use them during this time.
Japanese: 建前上、日本には瑪瑙の帯は八本しかないとするのが暗黙の了解であったため、舞手は人から借りるなどして用意するためほかの人間は使えない。
English: It is hung from a Sekitai (a type of sash with stones), and said that it originally was a tally used in ancient China and became an ornament.
Japanese: 石帯に吊るすもので、古代中国で用いられた割符が装飾品化したものといわれる。
English: (There is an opinion that the fish and the turtle were selected for the Gyotai because pronunciation of the word turtle and Genbu (a God) and the word carp (fish) and the Imperial family name ("Yi") of the Tang Dynasty was phonetically the same.)
Japanese: （一説に亀を玄武、魚を鯉即ち唐の皇室の姓「李」の音通とする説もある。）
English: In the Tang Dynasty, Sanbon (the third rank of the court) or higher officers put on purple Buddhist priest stoles with goldfish-bag ornament and Gohin (the fifth rank of the court) or higher officers wore cardinal Buddhist priest stoles with silverfish-bag ornament according to their Ikai (court rank).
Japanese: 唐代には紫衣に金魚袋（三品以上）・緋衣に銀魚袋（五品以上）という姿が高官の象徴とされ、位階相当で使用された。
English: Also, important officers such as local officials and military officers were granted to wear the Gyotai.
Japanese: また、地方官や軍務などの重職についたときなどに仮に許されることもあった。
English: (Dressing in the purple clothes or cardinal clothes that did not correspond to the Ikai was called Karimurasaki [unauthorized purple clothes] and Kariake [unauthorized cardinal clothes] respectively.)
Japanese: （位階に相当しない紫衣の着用を「借紫」、緋衣の着用を「借緋」といった。)
English: (According to the "Hakushimonju" [the "Bai-Shi Wen Ji"] [a collection of poems by Hakkyoi, a famous Chinese poet], Bai Letian, who became a provincial governor, put on cardinal vestment and trousers with silverfish-bag ornament.)
Japanese: （なお『白氏文集』には刺史になった白楽天が緋袍・緋衫に銀魚袋を身につけた。)
English: After the middle Tang Dynasty, the Gyotai was used as an accessory also in China, and the shape seen in a picture around the Five Dynasties Period was almost the same as that of Japan.
Japanese: 唐代中期以降は中国でも装飾品になり、形状も五代頃の絵画によると日本のものにほぼ同様である。
English: It is considered that the Gyotai took in the system of the Tang Dynasty in the early Heian period; however, since there was no dress code in the Yoro-ryo (Yoro Code), there is no document that clearly mentioned when the Gyotai was adopted.
Japanese: 養老令の「衣服令」には規定がなく、平安時代初期に唐代の制度を摂取したものとみられるが、いつ取り入れられたかを明記する資料は無い。
English: The current form is shark skin covered wooden padding (shape of the Hyoshigi [wooden clappers]) with four metal fishes and corrugated ornaments on the front side and a fish on the back side.
Japanese: 現在のものは拍子木のような木製の芯の四方に鮫皮を張り、表面に金属製の四つの魚と波型の飾りを付け、裏側には魚を一つだけつける。
English: It is attached to a ring-shaped leather string and hung on the Sekitai like a tag on a traveling bag.
Japanese: 輪状の革紐を取り付け、これを旅行かばんのタグのようにして石帯にひっかける。
English: A Kugyo (high court noble) of the fourth court rank Sangi (councilor) or higher used the Gyotai with gold ornament and the Tenjobito (a high-ranking courtier allowed into the Imperial Palace) put on the Gyotai with silver ornament.
Japanese: 四位の参議以上の公卿は金魚袋といって飾りが金製のものを、殿上人とは銀魚袋といって銀製の飾りのものを使う。
English: The original form of the Gyotai is said to be originated from a fish-like shaped tally (in Wei Dynasty [the Three States period], it was the shape of a turtle) and a leather bag specified in a statute of China.
Japanese: これの原型は中国の律令で定められた魚に似た形の割符（曹魏(三国)では亀の形という）と皮袋に由来すると言われる。
English: Therefore, it was used only by the Kugyo or officers of the fifth rank or higher attended the Sechi-e (seasonal court banquets) or in service at important ceremonies including an Imperial envoy of the Kamo Festival.
Japanese: したがって節会参列の公卿・五位以上の官人や賀茂祭の勅使をはじめとする重儀の奉仕に際してのみ使用された。
English: In the early-modern times, the Gyotai is not used even in a ceremony of the enthronement: Only an Imperial envoy of the Kamo Festival uses the Gyotai.
Japanese: 近代では即位関連儀礼でも使用はなく、唯一賀茂祭の勅使が使用するだけである。
English: The seventh Shikan NAKAMURA (March 11, 1928 -) is a Kabuki actor.
Japanese: 七代目中村芝翫（しちだいめなかむらしかん、1928年（昭和3年）3月11日-）は、歌舞伎役者。
English: After his father's death he became a protégé of his grandfather, Utaemon NAKAMURA V, and debuted as Kotaro NAKAMURA IV in "Kiri Hitoha" (a single paulownia leaf) in Kabuki-za Theater in November 1933.
Japanese: 父の死後、祖父中村歌右衛門(5代目)の身内となり、四代目中村児太郎の名で1933年（昭和8年）11月歌舞伎座『桐一葉』に初舞台を踏む。
English: After his grandfather's death he studied under Kikugoro ONOE VI and adopted the name of Fukusuke NAKAMURA (VII) for performances of "Modorikago (A Returning Palanquin)" and "Kudanme (9th act) of Kanadehon Chushingura (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers)" in Kabuki-za Theater in October 1941.
Japanese: 祖父の死後は、尾上菊五郎(6代目)に師事、1941年（昭和16年）10月歌舞伎座で『戻駕』『仮名手本忠臣蔵・九段目』で七代目中村福助を襲名。
English: He adopted the name of Shikan NAKAMURA (VII) in the play of Omitsu in "Nozaki-mura Village" and Agemaki in "Sukeroku Yukari no Edo Zakura" (Sukeroku in Edo during cherry blossom) in 1967.
Japanese: 1967年（昭和42年）4月『野崎村』お光・『助六由縁江戸櫻』揚巻で、七代目中村芝翫襲名。
English: As Shikan NAKAMURA he received many awards, and after Utaemon NAKAMURA VI and Baiko ONOE VII he was recognized as the third best female impersonator.
Japanese: 以降は数々の受章を受け、中村歌右衛門(6代目)、尾上梅幸(7代目)に次ぐ女形として活躍。
English: After their deaths he performed in various Kabuki plays together with Jakuemon NANAMURA IV and Tojuro SAKATA IV as a mogul female impersonator.
Japanese: 両優の没後は、中村雀右衛門(4代目)、坂田藤十郎(4代目)とともに歌舞伎界の女形の大御所として多くの舞台に出ている。
English: He is highly rated in the plays of Shirabyoshi dancer, Hanako in "Kyoganoko Musume Dojoji" (Maiden at Dojo-ji Temple), Nureginu and Princess Yaegaki in "Jusshuko, Honcho Nijushi Ko" (Incense Burning, from 24 Episodes of Great Children in the Country), Tokiwa Gozen in "Ichijo Okura Monogatari" (The Mad Aristocrat), Princess Toki in "Kamakura Sandaiki, Kinugawa-mura Kankyo" (Living in seclusion in Kinugawa Village, Three Generations of the Kamakura Shogunate), Princess Yuki of "Gion Sairei Shinkoki" (Kinkaku-ji Temple, The Gion Festival Chronicle of Faith), Onaka in "Irezumi Chohan" (Tattooed Hantaro) and Otsuta in "Ippongatana Dohyoiri" (Into the Sumo Ring with a Sword).
Japanese: 『京鹿子娘道成寺』の白拍子花子、『本朝廿四孝・十種香』の濡衣・八重垣姫、『一條大蔵譚』の常盤御前、『鎌倉三代記・絹川村閑居』の時姫、『祇園祭礼信仰記・金閣寺』の雪姫、『刺青奇遇』のお仲、『一本刀土俵入』のお蔦などが評価が高い。
English: He is also skilled at Tachiyaku (a leading male role) and his most successful characters are MINAMOTO no Yoshitsune in "Kanjincho" (List of Contributors) and TAIRA no Atsumori in "Ichinotani Futabagunki, Atsumori" (Atsumori, Chronicle of the Battle of Ichinotani).
Japanese: また立役もよくし『勧進帳』の源義経・『一谷嫩軍記・敦盛』の平敦盛などが当り役。
English: From Omuko (originally it meant the furthest seat from the stage) the audience call out his family's theatrical name, 'Narikoma-ya', or sometimes 'Kamiya-cho' as his house is located in Kamiya-cho Town, Minato Ward, Tokyo Prefecture.
Japanese: 大向こうの掛け声は屋号の「成駒屋」のほかに、自宅が東京都港区神谷町にあることから「神谷町」とかかることもある。
English: His eldest son is Fukusuke NAKAMURA IX, his second son is Hashinosuke NAKAMURA III, and Kanzaburo NAKAMURA XVIII is married to his second daughter, Yoshie.
Japanese: 長男に中村福助(9代目)、次男に中村橋之助(3代目)がおり、次女・好江の夫が中村勘三郎(18代目)である。
English: In an interview in the January 2007 issue of Kabuki magazine "Engeki-kai" he explained that he had been visiting race tracks for a long time and that his first experience was at Negishi racetrack when he was taken there by his father, Fukusuke V, as a child.
Japanese: 歌舞伎雑誌『演劇界(雑誌)』2007年1月号でのインタビューでは、自らの競馬歴は長く、幼少時に父・五代目福助に連れられて根岸競馬場に行ったのが最初だと語った。
English: He also mentioned that one of his most memorable races was the 1951 Tokyo Great Horses race ("Tokyo Yushun" in Japanese), won by Tokinominoru.
Japanese: 特に印象に残ったレースはトキノミノルの東京優駿制覇（1951年）だったと語っている。