File:The actors Sawamura Sojuro III as Minamoto no Yoritomo, Yamashita Mangiku as Mas (5759418418).jpg

Display Artist: Torii Kiyonaga Display Title: "The actors Sawamura Sojuro III as Minamoto no Yoritomo, Yamashita Mangiku as Mas" Creation Date: 1784 Medium: Woodblock Height: 16 1/4 in. Width: 11 1/8 in. Display Dimensions: 16 1/4 in. x 11 1/8 in. (41.28 cm x 28.26 cm) Publisher: Kozuya Isuke Credit Line: Museum purchase Label Copy: "A man and two women are shown here from a performance that took place at the largest Kabuki theater in Edo, the Nakamuraza. The actors were all men.At its origins in the early seventeenth century, Kabuki was performed by troupes made up entirely of women. Their rowdy songs and skits were frequently about prostitutes accosting customers, and they knew their parts well. In 1629 a law was passed banning women from the Kabuki stage.Into the women's roles stepped youths from the troupes of wakashu kabuki (""young men's Kabuki""), an exclusively male Kabuki theater. In this popular dramatic form, young men were, according to a contemporary source, ""beautifully gotten up, and there was homosexual dallying."" This activity was carried over into the larger Kabuki theater, and the government once again stepped in. In 1652, all female impersonation by young men was outlawed.Under public pressure, older men were permitted to assume female roles, as long as they shaved the forelock of their hair in keeping with male fashions of the time. The goal was to reduce the attractiveness of the onnagata, or men who played female roles, and to make it plain to audiences who was what.The Nakamura lineage of actors produced many of the most beloved onnagata, one of whom is depicted here."