Zeami Motokiyo (世阿弥 元清; c.1363–c.1443), also called Kanze Motokiyo (観世 元清), was a Japanese aesthetician, actor and playwright. In addition to writing brilliant plays and his major theoretical work, Fūshi kaden (風姿花伝), Zeami wrote practical instructions for actors and established the Noh theatre as a serious art form. His books are not only instructions but also aesthetic treatises based on the spiritual culture of Japan.

Zeami was educated by his father, Kan'ami, who was also an actor. This father-son team established the Noh theatre. When Kan'ami's company performed for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the Shogun of Japan, he asked for Zeami to have a court education in the arts. The Shogun took the boy as his lover, in the shudo tradition, in 1374.

After Zeami succeeded his father, he continued to perform and adapt his style into what is today Noh. A mixture of pantomime and vocal acrobatics, this style has fascinated the Japanese for hundreds of years.

Scholars attribute nearly 50 plays to Zeami. Among them are the masterworks Izutsu, Hagoromo (The Feather Mantle), Koi no omoni (The Load of Love) and Takasago.

There is a historical novel about Zeami's life written by Noboku Albery.

Further reading

• On the Art of the No Drama: The Major Treatises of Zeami. M. Yamazaki (ed.), J. T. Rimer (tr.)
• The Hose Of Kanze, Noboku Albery, 1985, Simon And Schuster, New York, ISBN 0-671-60520-8 (novel)

( Princeton, 1984)

Japanese writers | 1363 births | 1443 deaths | Japanese dramatists and playwrights | Pederasts

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