jidaimono

are Japanese kabuki or plays that feature historical plots and characters, often famous samurai battles. These are in contrast to , contemporary plays, which generally focus on commoners and domestic issues. is usually translated as "period plays". Film and television productions in this mode are called , and share many of the same features.

==Overview== As the stereotypical audience for and kabuki were the merchant classes () of Edo period Japan, stories involving court nobles and heroic samurai were somewhat far removed from daily life, and the more everyday stories that dealt with contemporary, urban themes. Even though many of the viewers may have been samurai, the Edo period in which these plays were largely composed and performed was a period of peace, and so the notion of fierce battles and heroic sacrifices represented something of a romanticised escape in fiction.