Kabuki Theatre - Costumes

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Kabuki theatre originates from 17th century Japan and began with a female dancer by the name of Okuni. Okuni became popular for her parodies of Buddhist prayers. She formed an all female troupe of performers which would become the first dramatic entertainment of importance for the common people of Japan. Okuni's form of Kabuki was known for being very seductive. It's promiscuous nature rose several moral concerns with the government as the performers were often available for prostitution. Therefore, in 1629 the government banned women from performing. Young boys would take over the roles of women in Kabuki productions but not for long. The government also began to question the morals of having young boys play women which then lead to the introduction of adult men performers in 1652. This form of Kabuki stood the test of time and remains the same even today. Kabuki costumes and Kabuki as a whole were greatly shaped by government restrictions. Most of the time the scripts called for aristocratic characters. However, the government prohibited any sort of imitation of the aristocracy. Kabuki production companies responded to these restrictions by exaggerating the dress of the aristocrats. The costumes were far more extravagant and expensive looking in comparison to the clothing on which the costumes were based. For example, if the regular robes of the aristocrats were padded then the Kabuki costume would be made overly wide and shoulders very high. The aristocracy also used printed silk quite frequently which lead to yet another government restriction. The government prohibited the use of printed silk so production companies would embroider the silk or sometimes use appliqués. In comparison to today these restrictions seem sort of backwards. In today's world it is all about adequately portraying the story and all the people concerned. Any discrepancies or
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