There are many kabuki plays in existence and they vary in their plots, characters, specific details, dance steps, songs, and more. With all of this diversity, there is also similarity. It is with these similarities that kabuki plays can be categorized. The first set of categories group plays based off of their content and plots. Jidaimono plays are set in a time prior to the Edo period in which the Tokugawa Shogunate reigned. Samurai and nobles are the typical characters to appear on stage during one of these performances, and a battle scene or two can be expected to occur. This is because jidaimono plays are historical and based off of gunkimono stories (Japanese legends about the samurai and their battles) or other well-known Japanese legends. Tragedies usually befall the characters, but a bit of comedy is usually woven into these kabuki performances as well, not unlike William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The next plot-based category is sewamono. Sewamono plays are set during the Edo period and encompass the daily struggles and lives of the chonin (commoners) and merchants. More specifically, they covered topics such as murders, double suicides (love stories in which both husband and wife would commit suicide), and robberies. Costumes in these plays are more representative of the current fashion while jidaimono plays utilize the elaborate wigs, make-up, and costumes that are associated with kabuki theater. The last content based category is shosagoto. Shosagoto plays were unique due to their large amounts of dancing. Shosagoto actually means Buyo, which translates to “kabuki dance”. Kabuki plays can also be classified based on their origins and their authors. Again, there are three categories into which the plays can be placed, and the first of these categories is gidayu-kogen. Gidayu-kyogen performances are works that originally were written to be performed as puppet plays called bunraku. These puppet plays, after their publication, were dramatized and transformed into kabuki plays. This type of kabuki tends to have actions and movements that are synchronized or “on beat” with the music being played on and off of the stage. Jun-kabuki plays are “pure kabuki”, meaning that they were written to be kabuki and they are performed as kabuki. Authors who create jun-kabuki are called kyogen-sakusa. The third and final category is shin-kabuki. Shin-kabuki is “new kabuki”, meaning that these plays were written after the mid 1800s by writers who were influenced by European, North American, and other foreign theater performances. Plays written by these others also tend to use more modern acting techniques as opposed to the traditional techniques found in jun-kabuki.