ABSTRACT
Words and action were almost ready to unite into the drama; but, oddly enough, the medium which brought them together was a kind of Punch and Judy show, or Italian marionette theatre—a recitation given along with the performances of cleverly-made puppets. This, which was called gidayu, originated in Osaka, and went from there to Kyoto and Yedo; and it became exceedingly popular, largely because almost at the same moment a real dramatist, Chikamatsu by name, appeared and began to write plays for the purpose. The theatre proper is a much more serious affair. The old theatres are disappearing, too, replaced by large new ones, slightly different in plan, and protected by tiled roofs and thick fire-walls. The chief theatre in Kyoto is in Gion machi, by the popular Gion temple. In Tokyo it is the Kobi-kiza, where Danjuro plays; this is quite near Shin-bashi station, and almost on the edge of Tsukiji, the foreign Concession.
