Okuni Izumo is credited as the person who started the Kabuki art form. It is believed that Okuni Izumo was a miko - a girl who helps out at a shinto shrine - at the Taisha shrine. Because she was a miko, she performed ritual dances with others in the dry riverbeds of Kyoto for those nearby. At other times, when she helped the shrine raise funds, she would travel. While traveling, Okuni put on shows doing new dances based off her ritual dances. During these new dances, she would dress herself in male clothing and play male characters. At this time, there was a word “kabuku” which meant “to deviate from the common sensibilities”. People who did this were known as kabukimonos. Okuni became known as a kabukimono and her performance style became known as Kabuki odori (odori means dancing). Okuni eventually founded her own theater group named Okuni Ichiza. Even though she now had her own theater group, she still continued to raise funds for the Izumo Taisha shrine. Her form of dancing continued to spread; courtesans and even prostitutes adopted this dancing style. Although people loved the dance of kabuki odori, the Tokugawa shogunate forbade women from performing kabuki odori in 1629 with the thought that every woman was becoming a prostitute. Even though women weren’t performing, men still continued to carry on kabuki odori. Following her dancing years, Okuni traveled back to Izumo to become a Buddhist nun while living in a small temple close to Izumo Taisha, where she had worked hard to raise funds for in the past. Okuni Izumo spent the rest of her life writing poetry and reciting Buddhist literature.