The History of Kabuki歌舞伎

The beginning• Kabuki began in 1603 by Okuni no Izumo of Kyoto• With help of officials Okuni adjusted performances with

current music • Became successful and female performers took on roles of

both men and women• Performances were very suggestive and erotic as performers

were usually prostitutes • Huge popularity in following years• Actresses and themes got too immoral and was banished to

city outskirts by 1608• Prohibited by 1629

• As Onna Kabuki was banned, a troupe leader Dansuke gathered young males to form Wakashu Kabuki

• Consisted of young males (such as the one on left in a modern performance)

• Becomes popular in 1644• Due to fights over the male actors,

officials close down and ban Wakashu kabuki

Wakashu Kabuki

• Kabuki persists, and unifies with other styles of theatre such as puppet theatre

• Kabuki is formalized and four styles are recognized: Historical, Common Life, Unrestrained Action and Pantomimic

• Famous plays emerge like Shinjo Mono (which is banned due to suicides)

• Warrior like face makeup emerges • Period comes to an end in 1842 when fires destroy theatres and the shogun claims the theatres to be fire risks • Exiled outwards in the country• Attendance drops and loses popularity• Plays degrade in quality

The Golden Age of Kabuki

• Tokugawa shogunate falls and makes way for Meiji period in 1868• Kabuki returns to its birthplace• Playwrights and actors transforms kabuki to more wild

performances• Continues to thrive until the Second World War• Theatres are damaged and occupying forces ban the style until

1947• Kabuki suffers as ancient traditions are rejected after the war• Today, Kabuki is the most popular traditional drama in Japan• Actors are very famous• New stories and styles are widely incorporated to attract greater

audiences

Modern Kabuki & Kabuki Today

Stautue of Okuni of Izumo in Japan, posing

in kabuki style and dress

• www.kabuki21.com/tamasaburo5.php• www.theatrehistory.com/asian/kabuki.html• www.allsands.com/history/objects/kabuki.html

• www.ritsumei.ac.jp/acd/gr/gsce/2009/gg01.pdf

Bibliography