or Seami or Kanze Motokiyo
born 1363, Japan
died Sept. 1, 1443, Ky 014D; to?
Japanese playwright and theorist of the n 014D; theatre .
Under the patronage of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Zeami joined with his father, Kan'ami (133384), to create the n 014D; theatre in its present form. He is credited with about 90 (and most of the greatest) of the approximately 230 plays in the present repertoire. In treatises written as manuals for his pupils, notably Fushi kaden (140018; "The Transmission of the Flower of Acting Style"), he set forth principles of n 014D; theatre that were followed for centuries.