Statue of Izumo-no-Okuni

The statue in front of you honors the woman who gave birth to kabuki, one of Japan’s great performing arts. Izumo no Okuni, a shrine maiden from Izumo Taisha born in the late 16th century, arrived in Kyoto around 1600 and began staging performances unlike anything people had seen before. She combined ritual dance, song, humor, and dramatic storytelling, sometimes dressing in men’s clothing, a bold choice that both shocked and captivated audiences. This innovative style, later called Okuni kabuki, marked the official beginning of kabuki in 1603, a theater form combining dance, music, and drama. The statue captures her mid-dance, a sword resting on her shoulder and an open fan in her hand, two classic kabuki symbols that display grace and dramatic flair. The rosary around her neck reflects the strong European, or nanban, influence present in Japan during her lifetime. Okuni became hugely popular, performing in Kyoto and later in Edo before the shogun, before she suddenly disappears from historical records after 1607. Tradition says she later became a nun known as Chigetsuni. In an unprecedented turn of events, only a few decades after her time, the shogunate banned women from performing, and kabuki evolved into an all-male art, with male actors specializing in female roles known as onnagata. The statue you see today, installed in 1994 to mark 400 years of kabuki, is a reminder that it all began right here, along the banks of the Kamo River near Shijō, in a lively district where crowds gathered for entertainment centuries ago. From these street performances grew an art form now recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.