Ataka is a Noh

Noh

, or - derived from the Sino-Japanese word for "skill" or "talent" - is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Many characters are masked, with men playing male and female roles. Traditionally, a Noh "performance day" lasts all day and...

 play written in 1465, during the Muromachi Era of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 by playwright Kanze Nobumitsu

Kanze Nobumitsu

Kanze Kojiro Nobumitsu 観世小次郎信光 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.-Selected plays:* Ataka*...

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It has been adapted as a Kabuki

Kabuki

is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...

 play, Kanjinchō

Kanjincho

Kanjinchō is a Japanese kabuki play by Namiki Gohei III, based on the Noh play Ataka. It is one of the most popular plays in the modern kabuki repertory....

, and as a movie, Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi

The Men Who Tread On the Tiger's Tail

is a 1945 film, written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is based on the kabuki play Kanjinchō, which is in turn based on the Noh play Ataka.The film stars Hanshiro Iwai, Susumu Fujita, Kenichi Enomoto, and Denjirō Ōkōchi....

, directed by Kurosawa Akira

Akira Kurosawa

was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...

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Synopsis

Minamoto no Yoshitsune

Minamoto no Yoshitsune

was a general of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and the third and final son and child that Yoshitomo would father with Tokiwa Gozen. Yoshitsune's older brother Minamoto no Yoritomo founded the Kamakura...

 falls out of favor with his brother, the Shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo

Minamoto no Yoritomo

was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate of Japan. He ruled from 1192 until 1199.-Early life and exile :Yoritomo was the third son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, heir of the Minamoto clan, and his official wife, a daughter of Fujiwara no Suenori, who was a member of the...

, and escapes with his followers to Mutsu Province

Mutsu Province

was an old province of Japan in the area of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori prefecture and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture...

, disguised as priests. They head for a temple called Todaiji (a local branch of the Todaiji Temple in Nara), but are stopped along the way by a suspicious guard. The recitation of a fake letter of intent

Letter of intent

A letter of intent is a document outlining an agreement between two or more parties before the agreement is finalized. The concept is similar to a heads of agreement...

 by Yoshitsune's companion Benkei, which convinces the guard to let them pass, is the main highlight of the play.