Shoroku Onoe; Renowned Kabuki Dancer

Shoroku Onoe II, the revered Kabuki dancer-actor designated a National Living Treasure by Japan, has died in Tokyo, the Japanese consul’s office said Wednesday.

Onoe, the son of Koshiro Matsumoto VII, another star of the 375-year-old classic theater, was 76 and had long been suffering from respiratory complications.

A combination of his illness and mourning over the death of his son, Tatsunosuke Onoe, another celebrated Grand Kabuki performer who died in 1987, had limited his appearances recently.

He died Sunday and had last performed in February in Tokyo, the consul’s office said.

Born to the Kabuki tradition, Shoroku Onoe first performed when he was 5. He took his performance name in 1935 in respect for his teacher, Onoe Kikugor, who passed on to him the traditional style of Kabuki (a word which comes from song, ka ; dance, bo , and skill, ki .)

As he developed into the legend he was at his death, Onoe began experimenting with Western theater, adapting “Othello” and “Cyrano de Bergerac.”

He had appeared with the Grand Kabuki, Japan’s leading Kabuki theater, in Los Angeles at the Greek Theater and at UCLA’s Royce Hall, most recently in 1985.