Izumo no Okuni (Okuni from Izumo)
【出雲の阿国】
【IZUMONOOKUNI】
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Owned by the Museum Yamato Bunkakan. Photo by Shirono Seiji.
Izumo no Okuni(Year of birth and death unknown)
She is considered to have originated Kabuki by performing the Kabuki dancing in Kyoto in 1603. She called herself as a shrine maiden at the Grand Shrine of Izumo, but there is no certain information. At that time, most entertainments were performed on a temporal stage at the riverside or on the grounds of a shrine or temple, and the stage was to be taken down once the performance was over. However, Okuni built a stage for herself on the grounds of Kitano shrine in Kyoto when she had become famous as a Kabuki dancer. A record shows that she performed at Edo Castle in 1607.
There are only a few authentic records, but she has many legends since the Edo period as a “person who originated Kabuki”. It is without doubt that a female entertainer like Okuni started Kabuki dance, and then Onna-Kabuki was created, which leads to Kabuki in the modern age.
She is considered to have originated Kabuki by performing the Kabuki dancing in Kyoto in 1603. She called herself as a shrine maiden at the Grand Shrine of Izumo, but there is no certain information. At that time, most entertainments were performed on a temporal stage at the riverside or on the grounds of a shrine or temple, and the stage was to be taken down once the performance was over. However, Okuni built a stage for herself on the grounds of Kitano shrine in Kyoto when she had become famous as a Kabuki dancer. A record shows that she performed at Edo Castle in 1607.
There are only a few authentic records, but she has many legends since the Edo period as a “person who originated Kabuki”. It is without doubt that a female entertainer like Okuni started Kabuki dance, and then Onna-Kabuki was created, which leads to Kabuki in the modern age.
