Editing Kabuki (section)

===1603–1629: Kabuki===
[[File:Okuni kabuki byobu-zu cropped and enhanced.jpg|thumb|The earliest portrait of [[Izumo no Okuni]], the founder of kabuki (1600s)]]
The history of kabuki began in 1603 during the [[Edo period]] when former [[shrine maiden]] [[Izumo no Okuni]], possibly a {{transliteration|ja|[[miko]]}} of [[Izumo-taisha]], began performing with a troupe of young female dancers a new, simple style of dance drama in [[pantomime]], on a makeshift stage in the dry bed of the [[Kamo River]] in [[Kyoto]]<ref name="Murphy">{{cite book |last1=Murphy |first1=Taggart |title=Japan and the Shackles of the Past|date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York|isbn=978-0190619589 |pages=45–46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9byvBAAAQBAJ }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Okuni|title=Okuni {{!}} Kabuki dancer|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=5 May 2019}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Haar|1971|p=83}}</ref><ref name="Masato 2007">{{harvnb|Masato|2007}}</ref>

In the earliest forms of kabuki, female performers played both men and women in comic playlets about ordinary life. It did not take long for the style to become popular, and Okuni was asked to perform before the Imperial Court. In the wake of such success, rival troupes quickly formed, and kabuki was born as ensemble dance and drama performed by women.

Much of the appeal of kabuki in this era was due to the ribald, suggestive themes featured by many troupes; this appeal was further augmented by the fact that many performers were also involved in [[prostitution]].<ref name="Frederic"/> For this reason, kabuki was also known as {{nihongo|'prostitute kabuki'|遊女歌舞妓}} during this period.

Kabuki became a common form of entertainment in the red-light districts of Japan, especially in [[Yoshiwara]],<ref name="Flynn Patricia - Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute ">{{cite web | url=http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1982/4/82.04.03.x.html | title=Visions of People: The Influences of Japanese Prints Ukiyo-e Upon Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century French Art | access-date=9 April 2015 | author=Flynn, Patricia | website=Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute}}</ref> the registered [[yūkaku|red-light district]] in Edo. The widespread appeal of kabuki often meant that a diverse crowd of different social classes gathered to watch performances, a unique occurrence that happened nowhere else in the city of Edo. Kabuki theatres became well known as a place to both see and be seen in terms of fashion and style, as the audience—commonly comprising a number of socially low but economically wealthy [[chōnin|merchants]]—typically used a performance as a way to feature the fashion trends.

As an art-form, kabuki also provided inventive new forms of entertainment, featuring new [[nagauta|musical styles]] played on the {{transliteration|ja|[[shamisen]]}}, clothes and fashion often dramatic in appearance, famous actors and stories often intended to mirror current events. Performances typically lasted from morning until sunset, with surrounding [[teahouses]] providing meals, refreshments and place to socialise. The area surrounding kabuki theatres also featured a number of shops selling kabuki souvenirs.

After performances, women performers would offer sexual services for those who could afford it.  Since fights would usually erupt among the young samurai patrons, shogunal authorities, who wanted to maintain order, banned women from performing on stage. Following this ban, Okuni replaced the women with boys in Kabuki performances. During the early seventeenth century, within a culture where [[pederasty]] was pervasive among samurai, her decision didn't significantly harm the theater's popularity. In fact, it may have even benefited Kabuki, as it caught the attention of the third [[shogun]], [[Iemitsu]], known for his interest in pederasty. He even arranged special performances. However, after Iemitsu's death in 1651 and with samurai now fighting for the attention of boys rather than girls, the shogunate imposed further restrictions, allowing only males over 15 to perform on stage.<ref name="Murphy"/>

Kabuki switched to adult male actors, called {{transliteration|ja|yaro-kabuki}}, in the mid-1600s.<ref name="Ernst 1956 10-12">{{harvnb|Ernst|1956|pp=10–12}}</ref> Adult male actors, however, continued to play both female and male characters, and kabuki retained its popularity, remaining a key element of the Edo period urban life-style.

Although kabuki was performed widely across Japan, the Nakamura-za, Ichimura-za and Kawarazaki-za theatres became the most widely known and popular kabuki theatres, where some of the most successful kabuki performances were and still are held.<ref name="Masato 2007"/>