  (c. 1363&nbsp;â c. 1443), also called , was a japanese aesthetician, an actor, and a playwright. his father, kan'ami, introduced him to noh theater performance at a young age, and found that he was a skilled actor. kanami was also skilled in acting and decided to form a family theater ensemble. as the family theater troupe grew in popularity, zeami had the opportunity to perform in front of the shogun, ashikaga yoshimitsu. the shogun was impressed by the young actor and began to compose a friendship with the young actor. zeami was introduced to yoshimitsu's court and was provided with an education in classical literature and philosophy while continuing to act. in 1374, zeami received patronage and made acting his career. after the death of his father in 1385, he led the family troupe, a role in which he found greater success. zeami mixed a variety of classical and modern themes in his writing, and made use of japanese and chinese tradition. he incorporated numerous themes of zen buddhism into his works and later commentators have debated the extent of his personal interest in zen. the exact number of plays that he wrote is unknown, but is likely between 30 and 50. he wrote many treatise about noh, discussing the philosophy of performance. these treatises are the oldest known works on the philosophy of drama in japanese literature, but did not see popular circulation until the 20th-century. after the death of yoshimitsu, his successor ashikaga yoshimochi was less favorable to zeami's drama. zeami successfully sought out patronage from wealthy merchants and continued his career under their support. he became well-known and well-respected in japanese society. after ashikaga yoshinori became shogun in 1429, he became hostile toward zeami. yoshinori held zeami's nephew onnami in high regard, and disagreed with zeami's refusal to declare onnami his successor as leader of his troupe. possibly due to this disagreement, though a variety of competing theories have been advanced, yoshinori sent zeami into exile to sado island. after yoshinori's death in 1441, zeami returned to mainland japan, where he died in 1443. ==early life== zeami was born in 1363 in nagoya and was known as kiyomota as a child.hare 1996, p. 14 his mother was the daughter of a priest and a fief lord.hare 1996, p. 15 his father kanami led a theater troupe which primarily performed in the kyoto region,hare 1996, p. 12 before becoming popular in the late 1360s and early 1370s. as they became better-known, kanami's troupe began to perform in daijogi. zeami acted in the troupe and was considered attractive and highly skilled.hare 1996, p. 18 ebina no naami, an adviser of the shogun ashikaga yoshimitsu, booked the troupe to perform for the shogun, who was then 17 years old. the 
1363_births 1443_deaths 15th-century_philosophers Japanese_aesthetics Japanese_philosophers Japanese_writers Noh_playwrights Philosophers_of_art Shudo