The highly stylized Kabuki dance-drama, often focused on tragic love, is more than 400 years old. Men and boys, in ornate costumes and makeup, usually play both the female and male characters.

Ebizo in costume. Kabuki is, well, what is it exactly? ... Women are banned from most Kabuki stages, though perhaps not for much longer if you ask her father. Jon Wertheim: ...

Kabuki is a popular Japanese theater form which experts date back to 17th ... The drama employs vivid, elaborate costumes and makeup, archetypal ... Why do men play women in Kabuki productions?

In the Beginning: A Woman Dancer. With its distinctive kumadori make-up, vibrant costumes, and dynamic action, the kabuki theater occupies a central position in Japan’s performing arts and is an ...

Prostitution around kabuki would be the norm until 1629, when women were banned from performing in a bid to curb the practice and the violence their patrons would inflict.