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Why did the Japanese government ban women from Kabuki performances in 1629?
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Japanese performing arts
Bugaku, a court dance adapted to Japanese tastes from the dance and music of 8th-century China and Korea.
In 1629, the Japanese government, led by the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu, banned women from performing Kabuki due to concerns regarding public morality.12
The authorities viewed the sensuous nature of the dances as disruptive to society. Furthermore, because many of the female performers also engaged in prostitution to supplement their income, the government sought to suppress the practice to maintain order and moral standards. Following this ban, young boys initially took over the female roles, but they were also prohibited from performing in 1652 for similar moral reasons, eventually leading to the development of the all-male Kabuki tradition that persists today.231