Dennis Keene

Yokomitsu Riichi: Modernist Dennis Keene

In these two works by contemporary Japanese playwright Yamazaki Masakazu, potent figures from Japan's past illuminate the psychological and philosophical concerns of the twentieth century.

Translated here in full are Zeami (1963), based on the life of the great master of the no theater, and Sanetomo (1973), the hero of which is the Kamakura general and poet. The translation by J. Thomas Rimer includes both an introduction, which discusses the plays, placing them in their specific historical contexts, and an interview with Yamazaki, in which the author speaks of his life, work, and the course of Japanese drama over the past decades.