Kabuki is to the Japanese what Shakespearean theater or traditional opera is to the English or Italians. Even if native interest has fluctuated over the years, it has become a form of artistic shorthand for the culture that spawned it. Kabuki is a traditional Japanese form of theater that incorporates dance, music, pantomime, and drama. Exaggerated costumes and extreme makeup are frequently used by actors to define their characters, with rice flour used to create a porcelain effect on their skin.
Around 1603, Okuni, a young shrine maiden, began performing elaborate dances outside of Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital. Because of the popularity of these performances, a number of other dancers and musicians formed their own kabuki companies. The upper class patrons who controlled the ‘proper’ venues, however, did not embrace kabuki theater because these performers primarily catered to the lower class in questionable areas of town. To make matters worse, some female kabuki performers became famous for their suggestive dances and bawdy songs, similar to American burlesque shows. Following a kubuki performance, prostitution became a common practice. All of this shocking behavior resulted in the government banning all females from participating in future kabuki productions.
Kabuki troupes, like Shakespearian theater companies, cast male actors known as onnagata in female dramatic roles. For a time, some male onnagata followed in the footsteps of the banned females, but kabuki theater as a whole became far more sophisticated. The focus shifted from the original line dances to contemporary themes of betrayal, political intrigue, and misplaced identities in dramas and comedies. Kabuki actors also studied the movements and dialogue of bunraku, a popular form of puppet theater.
After gaining much-needed respect from the government and upper classes, kabuki theater became a popular cultural export for Japanese diplomats. Despite the fact that foreign kabuki performances were often costly to stage, they generated a great deal of goodwill and a favorable, if slightly anachronistic, foreign perception of traditional Japanese culture.
During WWII, Kabuki theater troupes suffered tremendous losses. It took decades to build up a large enough pool of trained actors to replace those killed in combat or as a result of collateral damage. Meanwhile, other forms of performance, such as Western-style theater, movies, and television, grew in popularity among young male actors. Modern Japanese actors often regard Kabuki theater as a good proving ground, similar to soap operas in the West, but not suitable for a long-term career.
In the same way that Shakespearian productions remain popular among Westerners, Kabuki theater remains popular among native Japanese theatergoers. Many kabuki performances are now aimed at tourists who want to see traditional Japanese culture before it was influenced by the West.