Kabuki no Okuni

Start walking towards the Kamogawa river from the Nishiki food market, cross the river over Shijo, the Fourth Bridge, and, there, right at the mouth of Gion is the birthplace of Kabuki. On the riverbank to your left is a statue of Izumo no Okuni, the famous Okuni of Izumo, who is said to have invented Kabuki. On your right, across Shijodori, you see the Minami-za, a theater first built in 1615 CE, and the home of Kabuki. If you walk down the riverbank next to it, you’ll see a little stone memorial at the spot where Okuni is said to have performed daily in the years before her disappearance in 1610 CE.

An Art Deco style mural in front of the Minami-za

Okuni is an interesting figure. The daughter of an ironsmith, she joined Izumo district’s historic Shinto shrine as a shrine maiden and became well known for her dancing. She was sent to Kyoto to raise money for the temple by putting on performances. This was apparently a time-honoured way for temple to raise funds. Okuni is said to have done that, and expanded her repertoire to include sketches and small stories, appearing daily at the spot which is marked by the memorial stone. This was the beginning of Kabuki.

The statue of Okuni of Izumo next to the Kamogawa river

Accounts record that she collected a band of misfits, prostitutes and women without support, and trained them in Kabuki. She refused to go back to Izumo, although she regularly sent money back to the temple until she disappeared mysteriously in 1610. Kabuki remained a form practised by women, who took on male roles when required. In 1629 women were banned from performing, and Kabuki became an exclusively male form. Even today male performers take on female roles when required.

Miniami-za: early afternoon is not the busiest of times at the theatre

We wallked on to Shijo and took a photo of the Minami-za from the head of the bridge. Every evening we had seen its lights shining bright through rain, but this was the first time when we saw it in good weather. I took a photo of the mural at its front door. The theatre was the first home of Kabuki, and incorporated several innovations of that time: a runway leading through the audience from the back to the stage, trapdoors on stage for sudden appearances and disappearances, and even a rotating stage. The current structure dates from 1929, and was renovated extensively about thirty years ago.

Since I have only a distant photo of the doors of Minami-za, I add here a photo of the doors of the nearby Pontocho Kaburenjo which is now run by the Pontocho Kabukai Association. The theatre was built within a year of the most recent incarnation of Minami-za. This is one of the places where you can see the springtime Kamogawa Odori, a series of shows put up by Geikos and their apprentice Maikos. These include traditional dances as well as Kabuki-like shows. We are not supposed to call them Kabuki, because although they are Kabuki in form, under the rule from 1629, only men can perform Kabuki. You can see a glimpse of the show in the serial “The Makanai” (2022) made by Hirokazu Kore-eda. “We should see a show the next time we come,” The Family said. We will.