Rashōmon (Noh play)


Rashōmon is a Noh play by Kanze Nobumitsu. Like other celebrated dramas such as the Maodori-hasi and Ibaraki, it is based on the legend of Watanabe no Tsuna and the demon of Rashōmon.
The title is a pun, which involves the Rajōmon outer castle gate but Kanze changed it by using the kanji shō for "life" rather than the original jō for "castle." It is one of the few Noh plays where the supporting waki rather than the normally leading shite dominates the action. It is suggested that this can be attributed to the fact that Nobumitsu used to play waki roles when he was an actor. The shite character in this play only makes an appearance at the end and has no dialogue.
Rashōmon is also a play which follows characters from one venue to another. Act 1 takes place in the dining hall of a general, but in Act 2 the waki character, Tsuna, climbs the Rasho Gate to determine the truth of a story that a demon resides on the gate top.