Historical introduction to Japanese theatre -- Kabuki: Japan's popular theatre -- Genroku theatre -- Contribution of historical kabuki to present day kabuki -- The esthetics of kabuki -- Meiji era theatre -- The theatre today -- Appendix: Three translations of kabuki plays -- The monstrous spider (Tsuchigumo) -- Gappo and his daughter Tsuji (Gappo ga Tsuji) -- Sukeroku (Sukeroku yukari edo zakura).