Kanze Nobumitsu

Kanze Kojiro Nobumitsu (観世 小次郎 信光 ?1435 or 1450 – July 7, 1516) was a Japanese noh playwright and secondary actor during the Muromachi Era, from the house of Kanze. He was the grandson of Noh playwright Zeami Motokiyo, and is considered one of the last important playwrights of the golden age of Noh. He was the author of around 30 plays.^[1][2]

Among his most famous plays is the play Rashōmon, which spelled the title of the Rajōmon gate by using the kanji shō for "life" (羅生門) rather than the original jō for "castle." This reading has been corrected back in modern Japanese, but left its trace in the title of later stories named Rashōmon and the film of Akira Kurosawa.^[3][4]

Selected plays

• Ataka
• Momijigari
• Dōjōji
• Funa benkei
• Rashōmon

References

1. The Ethos of Noh: Actors And Their Art - Page 283 Eric C. Rath - 2006 "120. Kanze Motonobu, Yoza yakusha mokuroku, p. 8. Nobumitsu authored some thirty noh plays including Tama no i, Kuse no to, Funa Ben- kei, Ataka, and Rashomon. 121. Kanze Motonobu, Yoza yakusha mokuroku, p. 177. 122. Ibid., p. 14."
2. Japan Encyclopedia - Page 479 Louis Frédéric, Käthe Roth - 2002 "Kanze (Kojiro) Nobumitsu (1435-1516), On-ami's son. His most famous plays are Funa Benkei, Kao 480 Dojo-ji, Momijigari, and Rashomon. Also known as Kanze."
3. Rashomon: Akira Kurosawa, Director - Page 114 Akira Kurosawa, Donald Richie - 1987 "Noh1 play written by Kanze Nobumitsu. ... The gate for my film Rashomon was the main gate to the outer precincts of the ancient capital — Kyoto was at that time called "Heian-Kyo." If one ... The Noh plays are the classical drama of Japan."
4. Akira Kurosawa Something like an autobiography - - 1983 Page 180 ""Rashomon" actually refers to the Rajomon gate; the name was changed in a Noh play written by Kanze Nobumitsu. "Rajo" indicates the outer precincts of the castle, so "Rajomon" means the main gate to the castle's outer grounds. The gate "