There is a lot of history of Kabuki, but not all of it is interesting. Despite the banning of women from Kabuki, a women actually started the art of Kabuki. The women's name was Okuni. It was started in the 1600s. All the Kabuki plays in the beginning were played by men. The only problem was that the men would gawk at the beautiful women acting. The shogun was offended, so he made a law: all women were to be banned from acting in Kabuki. He did this to protect the women's dignity.

The most famous play writer was Chikamatsu Monzaemon. He was know as the Shakespeare of Japan because of his great plays. Before the banning of women, most play actors were also story writers, thats why there were so many plays. Over 700 plays were made for Kabuki.