Junko Izumi

Junko Yamawaki, known professionally as Junko Izumi, was born in 1969.^[1][2] She is a descendent of the 19-generation Izumi line of performers of kyōgen, a Japanese comedic stage art.^[3] She began training as a performer at only 18 months old with her father and grandfather, and she began appearing onstage at age 3.^[3][4][5][6]

Izumi also studied at Japan Women's University, where she graduated with a degree in literature.^[5]

In 1989, at age 20, Junko Izumi was the first woman to become a professional kyōgen performer.^[1][3][6][7] Female performers had previously been limited to playing child roles, unable to continue with kyōgen into adulthood.^[5] She is considered a pioneer in this heavily male-dominated art form, with her promotion causing conflict within the conservative world of noh and kyōgen.^[2][8] She would go on to found the Women's Kyōgen Performers' Association in 2001.^[5]

Early in her career, Izumi faced frequent rejections from the major kyogen events.^[1] Nevertheless, she continued to perform across Japan and abroad, with a career spanning over 50 years.^[6][8]

Izumi also worked as a TV host for NHK in the late 1990s.^[5]

Her sister, Tokuro Miyake the 10th, joined her in the early 1990s as another pioneering woman in kyōgen, later followed by Junko's daughter Kyoko and niece Ayame Izumi.^[1][3][7][8] Her brother, Motoya Izumi, is also a kyōgen performer.^[5]