Editing Kabuki (section)

===1673–1841: Genroku period kabuki===
[[File:Toshusai Sharaku- Otani Oniji, 1794.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|Oniji Ōtani III (Nakazō Nakamura II) as Edobee in the May 1794 production of {{transliteration|ja|Koi Nyōbo Somewake Tazuna}}]]
[[File:SharakuTwoActors.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Kabuki actors Bando Zenji and Sawamura Yodogoro; 1794, fifth month by [[Sharaku]]]]

During the [[Genroku]] period, kabuki thrived, with the structure of kabuki plays formalising into the structure they are performed in today, alongside many other elements which eventually came to be recognised as a key aspect of kabuki tradition, such as conventional character tropes. Kabuki theater and {{transliteration|ja|ningyō jōruri}}, an elaborate form of puppet theater later known as {{transliteration|ja|[[bunraku]]}}, became closely associated with each other, mutually influencing the other's further development.

The famous playwright [[Chikamatsu Monzaemon]], one of the first professional kabuki playwrights, produced several influential works during this time, though the piece usually acknowledged as his most significant, {{transliteration|ja|[[Sonezaki Shinjū]]}} (''The Love Suicides at'' {{transliteration|ja|Sonezaki}}), was originally written for {{transliteration|ja|bunraku}}. Like many {{transliteration|ja|bunraku}} plays, it was adapted for kabuki, eventually becoming popular enough to reportedly inspire a number of real-life "copycat" suicides, and leading to a government ban on {{transliteration|ja|shinju mono}} (plays about love suicides) in 1723.

Also during the Genroku period was the development of the {{transliteration|ja|[[mie (pose)|mie]]}} style of posing, credited to kabuki actor [[Ichikawa Danjūrō I]],<ref>"[http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/dglib/edc_dic/dictionary/dic_ma/dic_ma_04.jsp Mie] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206043545/http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/dglib/edc_dic/dictionary/dic_ma/dic_ma_04.jsp |date=6 February 2012 }}". Kabuki Jiten. Retrieved 9 February 2007.</ref> alongside the development of the mask-like {{transliteration|ja|kumadori}} makeup worn by kabuki actors in some plays.<ref name="Kincaid">[[Zoe Kincaid Penlington|Kincaid, Zoe]] (1925). ''Kabuki: The Popular Stage of Japan''. London: MacMillan and Co. pp21–22.</ref>

In the mid-18th century, kabuki fell out of favor for a time, with {{transliteration|ja|bunraku}} taking its place as the premier form of stage entertainment among the lower social classes. That occurred partly because of the emergence of several skilled {{transliteration|ja|bunraku}} playwrights in that time. Little of note would occur in the further development of kabuki until the end of the century, when it began to reemerge in popularity.