Book chapter from Edo Culture: Daily Life and Diversions in Urban Japan, 1600-1868. Explores theater throughout the social strata from the poor to the ruling government.
While created for a popular rather than scholarly audience, this site also includes a number of links to other helpful sites for the study of Japanese theatre.
Though older, an excellent article setting context by addressing the early history of struggle of kabuki theater against the shogunate Tokugawa government.
A site that helps set the historical context for kabuki by exploring 18th-century Edo (Tokyo). Use the site map to find the section “Tsukiji: A Visit to the Kabuki Theater.”