Rashōmon (Noh play)

Rashōmon (羅生門) is a Noh play by Kanze Nobumitsu (c.1420).

The title relates to the Rajōmon outer castle gate but Kanze changed it by using the kanji shō for "life" rather than the original jō for "castle." It is one of the few Noh plays where the supporting waki (脇) rather than the normally leading shite (仕手) dominates the action. It is also a play which follows characters from one venue to another. Act 1 takes place in the dining hall of a general, but in Act 2 the waki character, Tsuna, climbs the Rasho Gate to determine the truth of a story that a demon resides on the gate top.