Kabuki
- developed
during the Edo period
(1600-1868) - was in
contrast to nô,
the popular culture of the townspeople. In the early years, both, men
and
women acted in kabuki plays.
Later the Tokugawa shogunate forbade the
acting
to women, a restriction that survives to the present day. Several male kabuki
actors are specialized in playing female roles ( = onnagata).
