Kabuki A to Z:Genroku Kabuki｜文化デジタルライブラリー

Genroku Kabuki

【元禄歌舞伎】

【GENROKUKABUKI】

Sakata Tojuro 1st. From “Ogakuzu” (duplicate). Owned by Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library, Kaga Collection.

During the term of about 50 years mainly in the Genroku period (1688~1704), Kabuki developed drastically. The Kabuki in this period is especially called “Genroku Kabuki”.
In this period, the Aragoto style was established by Ichikawa Danjuro 1st in Edo and the Wagoto style by Sakata Tojuro 1st in Kamigata region. It is during this period that Yoshizawa Ayame, a great Onnagata actor, developed his career and played an important role to establish the art of Onnagata acting. Moreover, Kabuki plays were written by actor-authors, but professional Kyogen-Sakusha became more common in this period. Chikamatsu Monzaemon is a representative figure among the professional Kyogen-Sakusha and produced numerous masterpieces.