n.
orig. Sugimori Nobumori
born 1653, Echizen, Japan
died Jan. 6, 1725, 014C; saka
Japanese playwright.
Born into a samurai family, he was attached to the court aristocracy at Ky 014D; to before moving to 014C; saka to be near its puppet theatre. He is credited with more than 100 plays, mainly historical romances and domestic tragedies, many based on actual incidents. Most were written for the bunraku , which he raised to artistic heights. His most popular work was The Battles of Coxinga (1715), a historical melodrama based on the life of Zheng Chenggong . Also famous is Double Suicide at Amijima (1720). He is widely regarded as the greatest of Japanese dramatists.