"The Legend of Izumo no Okuni"

...The common theory is that she was a shrine maiden of Izumo Taisha, but there are also theories that she was one of the wandering shrine maidens who came to Kyoto from the provinces, and that she was the daughter of the gong-strike priest Tokimune from the riverside of the Izumo road in northern Kyoto. According to the Izumo no Okuni-den, which can be said to be a compilation of various Okuni legends that have been passed down throughout the Edo period, Okuni was the daughter of Nakamura San'emon, a blacksmith from Kitsuki, Izumo Province, and during the Eiroku period (1558-70), she traveled around the country to promote the restoration of Izumo Taisha Shrine, where she gained a reputation for her beautiful appearance and her talent in Kagura dancing. She then went to Kyoto and invented the Kabuki dance, and was summoned and favored by Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Echizen Chunagon Hideyasu, and others. The first time the name "Kuni" appears in a reliable document is in 1600 (Keicho 5), when two people named "Kuni" and "Kiku" performed the Yayako dance of Unshu (Izumo Province) at the Konoe Palace in Kyoto (Tokiyoshi-kyoki).

*Some of the terminology used in "Izumo no Okuni Den" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…巷説では出雲大社の巫女（みこ）とされているが，地方から京に上った歩き巫女の一人であったとする説や，洛北出雲路河原の時宗鉦打聖の娘との説もある。江戸時代を通してさまざまに伝えられてきたお国伝説の集大成ともいうべき《出雲阿国伝》によれば，お国は出雲国杵築の鍛冶職中村三右衛門の娘で，永禄(1558‐70)のころ出雲大社修覆勧進のために諸国を巡回したところ，容貌美麗で神楽舞に妙を得ていたので評判となり，京に上って歌舞伎踊を考案し，織田信長や豊臣秀吉，越前中納言秀康などに召し出されて寵愛されたということになっている。確実な資料にとにかく〈国〉の名が出るのは，1600年(慶長5)京都近衛殿において〈クニ〉と〈菊〉という2人が雲州(出雲国)のややこ踊を演じたとあるのが最初である(《時慶卿記》)。…

※「《出雲阿国伝》」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報