Izumo no Okuni　出雲の阿国

KEY WORD :　art history / paintings

Purported founder of the *kabuki 歌舞伎 theatre and subject of 17c genre paintings *fuuzokuga 風俗画. Said to be a shrine virgin miko 巫子 of Izumo Taisha 出雲大社 in Shimane prefecture, she adapted the devotional dance, nenbutsu odori 念仏踊り and came to Kyoto to solicit alms. In 1603 she led a troupe of women in dances and comic skits near Kitano Tenmanguu 北野天満宮. Her original and erotic style of dance became a huge success and was labeled "Kabuki," which derived from the late 16c colloquial expression "kabuku カブク" meaning "shocking" or "forward leaning". More specifically it was called Okuni kabuki 阿国歌舞伎. The erotic nature of this women's kabuki, onna kabuki 女歌舞伎, made it an easy front for prostitution. In 1629 the government banned women from performing and young men were substituted, but with the same result. The theme of Okuni kabuki appears in painting both as one element in *Shijougawara-zu 四条河原図 and as the sole subject. Notable handscrolls of Okuni kabuki (Kyoto University, Shouchiku Ootani 松竹大谷 Library, Tokugawa Reimeikai 徳川黎明会, and Yamato Bunkakan大和文華館) typically show Okuni in the clothes of a priestess bikuni 比丘尼, wearing a bamboo hat and striking a gong suspended from her neck.

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*kabuki-zu 歌舞伎図

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