竹本

Gidayū-bushi is the school of narrative chanting said to have been founded by Takemoto Gidayū in Osaka, developed as the music of the puppet theatre. When gidayū is performed in kabuki, it is called takemoto after its founder's name; in older usage it was also known as chobo.

Takemoto is indispensable to gidayū kyōgen—plays adapted into kabuki from the puppet theatre. The chanter narrates scenery and inner feeling and drives the plot forward, breathing in unison with the actors; that union of narration and acting is its essence.

The old name for takemoto—chobo—is said to come from the playbook itself: the passages for the chanter were marked with small dots, called chobo, beside the text. The word later carried a slighting ring, it is said, and today the respectful name takemoto is the norm.

Takemoto belongs not to any one acting house but to kabuki as a whole. Centered on the great history plays, it continues to underpin the stages of every actor—including the Ichikawa Sōke—today.