is a traditional form of Japanese theater. Created around the year 1600, around the same time the English began to form colonies on the American continent, the history of is as long as that of the United States and just as multi-faceted. Okuni, a shrine maiden from Izumo Shrine, created . Her performances in the dry riverbeds of the ancient capital of Kyoto caused a sensation and soon their scale increased and a number of rival companies arose. During the period generally referred to as the Edo Era, during which much of the development of ....