DANCER

Izumo no Okuni

1572 - Today

Photo of Izumo no Okuni

Icon of person Izumo no Okuni

Izumo no Okuni (出雲 阿国; born c. 1578; died c. 1613) was a Japanese entertainer and shrine maiden who is believed to have invented the theatrical art form of kabuki. She is thought to have begun performing her new art style of kabuki (lit. 'the art of singing and dancing') theatre in the dry riverbed of the Kamo River in Kyoto. Okuni's troupe quickly gained immense popularity, and were known for their performers, who were often lower-class women Okuni had recruited to act in her all-female theatre group. Few concrete details are known about her life; born near Izumo Province, Okuni worked as a miko (shrine maiden) for several years at the Izumo-taisha (the Grand Shrine of Izumo) until gaining popularity for her dramatised dance performances, which onlookers gave the name of kabuki. Read more on Wikipedia

Her biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Izumo no Okuni is the 22nd most popular dancer (up from 24th in 2019), the 380th most popular biography from Japan (down from 341st in 2019) and the most popular Japanese Dancer.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Izumo no Okuni by language

Loading...

Among DANCERS

Among dancers, Izumo no Okuni ranks 22 out of 116. Before her are Jean-Georges Noverre, Tamara Karsavina, Martha Graham, George Balanchine, Serge Lifar, and Alicia Alonso. After her are Galina Ulanova, Bronislava Nijinska, Carlo Blasis, Mary Wigman, Marie-Anne de Cupis de Camargo, and Olga Khokhlova.

Most Popular Dancers in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1572, Izumo no Okuni ranks 8. Before her are John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, John Donne, Ben Jonson, Sigismund Báthory, Jane Frances de Chantal, and Susenyos I. After her are Cornelis Drebbel, Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, Francis II, Duke of Lorraine, Marie Elisabeth of France, Cyril Lucaris, and Fakhr al-Din II.

Others Born in 1572

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In Japan

Among people born in Japan, Izumo no Okuni ranks 380 out of 6,245. Before her are Sachi Kagawa (null), Emperor Go-Horikawa (1212), Hōjō Tokimune (1251), Toshio Iwatani (1925), Shigeyoshi Suzuki (1902), and Misao Tamai (1903). After her are Emperor Fushimi (1265), Toshio Miyaji (null), Yanosuke Watanabe (null), Satoshi Ōmura (1935), Mōri Motonari (1497), and Mamoru Shigemitsu (1887).

Others born in Japan

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among DANCERS In Japan

Among dancers born in Japan, Izumo no Okuni ranks 1. 

Japanese born Dancers

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous