Yoshimasa Kanze

Yoshimasa Kanze

The Kanze school shite-kata Noh actor Yoshimasa Kanze was born in Tokyo in 1970 as the eldest son of Yoshiyuki Kanze, the third-generation master of the Yarai Kanze school of Noh that split from the school of Tetsunojo Kanze in the Meiji Period (1868-1912). He performed for the first time on the stage in 1973 at the age of two years and seven months, performing the dance Oimatsu . His first Noh performance was in 1975. He has performed the important Noh roles of Sagi , Ran , Ishibashi , Okina , Dosoji , Antaku and Sotoba Komachi . He is a member of the Kamiasobi group and leads the No-u, No-u, Noh, Ichi kara Hajimeru o-Keiko programs and the Yoshimasa no Kai. He serves as instructor in the graduate school of Hosei University and Kogakukan University. Other activities include Noh instruction for NHK television dramas and the like. The Yarai Noh Theater where Kanze was born and raised was reconstructed in 1952 after WWII and a wood and mortar structure. The theater was registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2011 as a good example of modern Noh theaters.