Japan to Push Noh Master Zeami’s “Fushikaden” for UNESCO Listing

Tokyo, Nov. 25 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s culture ministry said Tuesday it will recommend “Fushikaden,” Noh master Zeami’s 15th-century treatise on the traditional Japanese theater performances, for inscription on UNESCO’s Memory of the World register. The government will soon submit a formal application to UNESCO. The Executive Board of the U.N. agency is expected to review the bid in spring 2027. In the seven-volume Fushikaden, Zeami, a seminal figure who helped establish the classical form of Noh masked dramas featuring dances and songs, described the essence of Noh through a metaphor of a flower. The nomination covers three of the seven produced in the first half of the 15th century and passed down by the head of the Kanze school of Noh, including two that were written by Zeami himself. The two are believed to be among the world’s oldest surviving autographed manuscripts of an acting theory, according to the ministry. The application to the ministry was filed by Kanze Bunko in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward, which preserves cultural assets related to the Kanze school head. Separately, Chinese classic books and manuscripts preserved at Ashikaga Gakko, the country’s oldest school in Ashikaga in the eastern prefecture of Tochigi designated as a national historic site, were also proposed to the ministry for Memory of the World registration. But they were not selected for UNESCO recommendation. The Memory of the World program is aimed at preserving the historical documentary and other heritages of global significance. Japan currently has nine internationally registered items, including “Three Editions of Buddhist Sacred Canons” stored at Zojoji, a temple in Tokyo. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]