An image of Okuni, the shrine dancer who is supposed to have founded Kabuki around 1603. Note what she is wearing. And scroll down for another, more provocative image of her:

Note what she is wearing around her neck! Why might she be wearing it?

A screen painting of a performance of Okuni Kabuki. Okuni is at the center wearing the hairstyle and two swords of a man about town. The main "plots" involved assignations at tea shops in the pleasure quarters; entertainment for those who couldn't afford to go themselves.

Yujô Kabuki, a section from a screen depicting amusements on the riverbed at Shijô. This is a scene of  a public performance of Kabuki at Shijô in Kyoto by yujô (prostitutes) imitating Okuni Kabuki. The actresses, dressed as young men, dance in a circle around the star. She is seated in the center on a chair covered with an imported tiger skin and plays an importaed shamisen. The women on the right of the stage are also playing the shamisen. The shamisen was first used in yujô Kabuki.

source: painter unknown, late Keichu to early Kan'ei; Seikado Bunko; plate 65 Miracles and Mischief