Komparu Zempo
Encyclopedia
Komparu Zempo was a Japanese Noh
actor and playwright of the Komparu school. He was the grandson of Komparu Zenchiku
. Zempo's plays were more popular and dramatic, novel and crowd-pleasing with large casts and more elaborate effects and sets, than the plays of his grandfather's, or his great-grandfather Zeami's, although he did have an appreciation of yugen and wabi
(Zempo was a pupil of Shuko and quoted him as saying "The moon not glimpsed through rifts in clouds holds no interest").
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...
actor and playwright of the Komparu school. He was the grandson of Komparu Zenchiku
Komparu Zenchiku
Komparu Zenchiku was a skilled Japanese Noh actor, troupe leader, and playwright. His plays are particularly characterized by an intricate, allusive, and subtle style inherited from Zeami which convolved yūgen with influences from Zen Buddhism and Kegon...
. Zempo's plays were more popular and dramatic, novel and crowd-pleasing with large casts and more elaborate effects and sets, than the plays of his grandfather's, or his great-grandfather Zeami's, although he did have an appreciation of yugen and wabi
Wabi-sabi
represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete"...
(Zempo was a pupil of Shuko and quoted him as saying "The moon not glimpsed through rifts in clouds holds no interest").
Plays
- Arashiyama (嵐山)
- Hatsuyuki ("Virgin Snow" or "First Snow"; 初雪; written in the yugen Zenchiku style)
- Ikarikazuki ("The Anchor Draping"; 碇潜)
- Ikkaku sennin ("One-Horned Wizard"; 一角仙人; there is a kabukiKabukiis 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...
adaptation of this and is well-known abroad) - Ikuta AtsumoriIkuta AtsumoriIkuta Atsumori , sometimes known simply as Ikuta, is one of many Noh plays derived from the story of Taira no Atsumori, a young Taira clan samurai who was killed in the 1184 battle of Ichi-no-Tani...
(生田敦盛) - Kamo (賀茂)
- Tōbōsaku (東方朔)
Further reading
- Four classical Asian plays in modern translation (1972), by Vera Rushforth Irwin. ISBN 9780140212495. (Contains a translation of Ikkaku sennin.)
- Furyuno no jidai: Konparu Zenpo to sono shuhen ("Komparu Zempo and the age of furyu (spectacle) noh performance"; 1998), by Tomoko Ishii. Published in Tokyo by Tokyo Daigaku Shuppankai; ISBN: 9784130860277http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/asian_theatre_journal/v022/22.1lim.html