Kabuki theatre, popular entertainment in Edo Period Japan, is a colorful and lively genre that has thrived in the island nation for the past four centuries. Influenced by Japan’s other theatre arts—noh, kyogen, and bunraku—kabuki grew up from simple (if not sordid) origins, and worked for decades to create for itself a memorable style that would keep the townsfolk returning to its theatres. Facing governmental restrictions due to their social status under the Tokugawa shogunate, the actors of the time worked inside and outside the law to give their audiences what was in demand. The popularity of this art, despite the government’s disapproval, was picked up by artists of the era who contributed to the commercialization growing within Japanese cities at the time. Kabuki developed uniquely Japanese aesthetics and conventions, but the art traveled abroad in the years since Commodore Perry forcibly reopened the nation’s harbors to international trade. My intention in this thesis was to research the ways in which kabuki has affected art traditions both inside and outside of Japan. To carry out the study, I have taken a class from a kabuki specialist and read journals and online sources about the history of kabuki—what arts influenced it, how it grew in popularity, how its conventions spread, and how it has been received abroad. In the postmodern art world, where any style from any time period is used, it’s important to look back at traditions and understand from whence our influences came.