Chifumi Shimazaki – författare

Translations of six shura (battle)-Noh that have for the main character the ghost of a warrior whose story is told in the Tale of Heike. Each Noh has a detailed introduction and footnotes.

The "fourth-group Noh," so designated because they are performed fourth in a formal five-Noh program, includes almost one hundred plays, and is a group of great variety: some plays are supernatural or visional, others realistic; their leading characters include deities, demons, ghosts, mad people, samurai, and street artists. Dividing them into nine sub-groups, the author fully analyses their dramatic characteristics. Includes translations of four Noh chosen from the first four subgroups. Format is line-by-line translation next to the Romanized Japanese text, with introduction and running commentary.

The "fourth-group Noh," so designated because they are performed fourth in a formal five-Noh program, includes almost one hundred plays, and is a group of great variety: some plays are supernatural or visional, others realistic; their leading characters include deities, demons, ghosts, mad people, samurai, and street artists. Dividing them into nine sub-groups, the author fully analyses their dramatic characteristics. Includes translations of four Noh chosen from the first four subgroups. Format is line-by-line translation next to the Romanized Japanese text, with introduction and running commentary.

This volume deals with fiendish women, mad persons, mask-less samurai, street artists, and outcasts. The book showcases six masterpieces from the remaining five subgroups of the Fourth Group Noh.

This long-awaited volume presents the fifth and final category of Noh plays, often called kiri-nō, or "ending Noh," because they are staged last in a formal performance. This group comprises fifty of the most active and exciting of all plays in the Noh repertoire. They include deities, ghosts, or living humans, as well as a plethora of supernatural beings such as tengu (strange long-nosed creatures), monstrous creatures, demons, and fiends. The fifth-group Noh with such shite are all supernatural or visional. None of them is totally realistic. These ghosts, deities, and monsters sometimes appear to attack men, sometimes to help them, and sometimes just to tell their stories. Dividing the plays into seven subgroups according to structure, the authors fully analyze their dramatic characteristics. The book includes line-by-line translations of eight Noh representing all of the subgroups, together with the Romanized original Japanese texts, detailed introductions, and running commentaries.