Web Resources
- Japanese Literature in Translation SearchUse this database to search for English translation of scripts.
Video Databases
- Dance in Video This link opens in a new windowCaptures dance performances from the stage and brings them directly to your computer screen through online streaming video - including 250 dance productions and documentaries by the most influential performers and companies of the 20th century. Volumes I & II.
- Theatre in Video This link opens in a new windowContains performances of the world's leading plays and film documentaries on the subject of theater in streaming video. Some plays presented in multiple productions exemplifying various interpretations of the text, and technical and cultural differences among the presentations. Stage work of directors and actors are cross-searchable and available for side-by-side comparison. Interviews with directors, designers, writers, and actors, along with excerpts of live performances, provide illustration of the development of texts and the productions.
Kabuki Program/Performance Information
- Kabuki Programmes (from Meiji period)From Harvard-Yenching Library's Collection.
- 公演記録を調べる > 歌舞伎 in 文化デジタルライブラリーIn Japanese.
Kabuki Online Videos
The Art of Kabuki (Films For The Humanities & Sciences, 1988) 34:42 mins (From Theatre in Video) 
Kabuki acting techniques. I, The body (produced by Department of Theatre, Michigan State University, 1980) 57:32 mins (From Theatre in Video)
Kabuki acting techniques. Il, The voice (produced by Department of Theatre, Michigan State University, 1980) 28:40 mins (From Theatre in Video)
Kabuki: Onoe Baiko the Seventh as The Salt Gatherer (Creative Arts Television, 1972) 28:34 mins (From Theatre in Video)
Portrait of an Onnagata: The Female Impersonator in Kabuki (Films For The Humanities & Sciences, 1990) (From Theatre in Video)
Books in English
Masterpieces of Kabuki by Call Number: Main Library PL782.E5 M153 2004ISBN: 0824827880Publication Date: 2004-05-01Masterpieces of Kabuki contains eighteen outstanding dramas taken from the landmark four-volume series Kabuki Plays On Stage. Together they cover the entire spectrum of kabuki drama from 1697 to 1905, the period during which kabuki's dramaturgy flourished prior to the onset of Western dramatic influence. Major playwrights, chronological periods of playwriting, and a variety of play types (history, domestic, and dance dramas) and performance styles are represented. All but one are in the current repertory and regularly staged. The volume includes introductions to each play and a new general introduction highlighting kabuki's historical development and relating the plays to their performance context. As the subtitle implies, the plays are translated as if "on stage." Stage directions indicate major scenic effects, stage action, costuming, makeup, music, and sound effects. In some cases, complex stage actions such as stage fights are given in detail. The plays collected here are all marvelous examples of dramatic writing, intended to be acted on the stage before audiences. They reveal kabuki's eras of brilliance and bravado, villainy and vengeance, darkness and desire, and restoration and reform. All continue to stir audiences to admiration and excitement.
Books in Japanese
Iwanami kōza. Kabuki bunraku 岩波講座. 歌舞伎・文楽Call Number: Main Japanese Collection PN2924.5.K3 I93 1997ISBN: 400010781XPublication Date: 1997
Enmokubetsu kabuki no ishō kanshō nyūmon 演目別歌舞伎の衣裳鑑賞入門 by Call Number: Main Japanese Collection PN2924.5.K3 E56 2014ISBN: 4808709791Publication Date: 2014
Kabuki Call Numbers and Subject Headings
Call Numbers
- PL737 Japaense Literature - Kabuki
- PL767 Collection of Kabuki texts
- PN2924.5.K3 Kabuki performance
Subject Headings
- Kabuki: Here are entered general works and those that deal solely with the presentation of Kabuki plays on the stage.
- Kabuki plays: Here are entered the texts of the Kabuki plays and works treating of them from a literary point of view.
Japananese language resources are in the East Asian Collection on the 2nd floor and English language resources are on the 5th floor. To check out DVDs in the Media Collection, go to the Service Desk on the 1st floor.
Reference Sources
Historical Dictionary of Japanese Traditional Theatre by Call Number: Main Reference Collection PN2921 .L45 2006ISBN: 0810855275Publication Date: 2006-01-16
New Kabuki Encyclopedia by Call Number: Main Library PN2924.5.K3 L38 1997ISBN: 0313292884Publication Date: 1997-07-30
- Yomidasu Rekishikan This link opens in a new windowScroll down to The Japan News index section on the top page. Now "Kabuki ABC" is serialized in the Japan News.
Reference Sources in Japanese
Kabuki jiten 歌舞伎事典 by Call Number: Main Japanese Collection Reference PN2924.5.K3 K2318 2011ISBN: 4582126421Publication Date: 2011
JapanKnowledge http://purl.lib.uiowa.edu/japanknowledge
Includes 新版 歌舞伎事典 and 新版 能・狂言事典.
OCLC WorldCat
WorldCat 
: A bibliographic database of over 62,000,000 records from over 2,000 libraries around the world.
If you are looking for the information about specific repertoire, try searching OCLC WorldCat in addition to InfoHawk and SmartSearch. Sometimes bibliographic records in WorldCat include more detailed table of contents.