Kabuki was created in about the 1600's.It was was created by a women by the name of Okuni. She put on performances in the capital of Kyoto. These performances caused a sensation this caused many people to do the same. Early Kabuki was much different from what is seen today and was mostly of large ensemble dances performed by women. Most of these women were prositutes off stage and finally the government banned women from the stage to protect public morales, just one of the many restrictions that the government placed on the theater.
The ban on women put Kabuki on the path to become a dramatic art form. A development was the appearance of Onnagata female role specialists-men who played women.
The late 1600's Kabuki was the main form of theatrical entertainment for commoners.It was fklowering creativity.It was during this period that the stylizations that would form the base of Kabuki were created. The playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon and actors like Ichikawa Danjuro and Sakata Tojuro left strong influcences that can still be seen today. It was also during this period that Kabuki and the Bunraku puppet theater began. They influened eachother and still have a relationship together.
In the early 18th century, the rise of skilled playwrites in the Bunraku puppet theater helped it to briefly make Kabuki not as popular. Actors responded to this by looking at teh Bunakru puppet and making themselves moe like the puppets. These plays were done with real people as the puppets to the Bunraku puppet scripts.The late 18th century saw a trend towards realism and the switch of the cultural center from Kyoto and Osaka to Edo. One consequence of this was the change of tastes in Onnagata acting. While Onnagata trained in Kyoto who had the soft, gentle nature of that city had been valued before, now audiences preferred those who showed the strong pride and nature of Edo women. An increasing audience desire for decadence as seen in the ghost plays and beautification of murder scenes marked early 19th century
The opening of Japan to the West in 1868 affected Kabuki and the rest of the country profoundly. Though it was freed from numerous government restrictions, Kabuki was faced with the important challenge of how to adapt to a changing world. Actors like Ichikawa Danjuro IX strove to raise the reputation of Kabuki, which since its beginning had been seen as base by the upper classes, while others like Onoe Kikugoro V worked to adapt old styles to new tastes. The defining moment of the period, and a symbol of the success of their efforts, was a command performance before Emperor Meiji.
Though Kabuki survived government oppression during the Edo period, Kabuki lost many actors to World War II. It faces its most difficult enemies of newer forms of entertainment like movies and television. Its position as a "traditional" form of theater often makes it seem stuffy, and people are not as familiar with the special peculiarities of Kabuki as they used to be. Still, actors continue to bring audiences into the theater.Kabuki continues to be a form of entertainment enjoyed by a wide range of people, just as it has been for 400 years.
