Born into a life of acting and dance with a traveling theater troupe in 14th-century Japan, 12-year old Oniyasha has one problem-he doesn’t know what the point of any of it is. Why must I step with the left foot here instead of the right? Why is one performance good and another, bad? Why do people dance at all? It all seems perfectly arbitrary, until a chance encounter in a run-down shack sets him down a path to revolutionizing the art form and influencing much of Japanese culture to come.A fictionalized account of the early life of Zeami Motokiyo (Oniyasha), the founder of modern Noh theater-the world’s oldest surviving theater art-this coming-of-age artist’s journey vividly brings to life a man far ahead of his time during one of Japan’s most culturally and socially vibrant eras.
Oniyasha’s big debut at Imakumano Shrine ends in disaster when he loses track of the beat. But after a night spent preparing himself for the next day, he redeems himself with a performance that impresses even the shogun, who invites Oniyasha to live and train at his manor alongside talented actors and performers of all different arts. Reluctant at first, Oniyasha accepts with a little prodding from his father, and soon finds himself face to face with a new rival, and the unfamiliar perils of court politics.