Society

A Brief History of Kabuki・Part 1: Origin (1603 – 1673)

Jan 20 (Kabuki In-Depth) - In this video we cover the first 70 years of the history of kabuki, from Izumo no Okuni's first performances on Kyoto in 1603 until the debut of Ichikawa Danjūrō I in 1673.

This is an extremely oversimplified overview of this time period. Please let me know if you spot any mistake, or if there is something important that I have missed!

For more information on the history of kabuki in English, I recommend you Samuel L. Leiter's "Historical Dictionary of Japanese Traditional Theatre" and the website kabuki21, both of which have been of great help in putting together this video.

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