In the same way that Japanese poetry often alludes to or derives from the poetic canon that precedes it, Noh plays are often based on classical Japanese literary sources that form the framework of the themes and morals of the 'work. message. Many of these plays reference poems from venerated anthologies, such as Shinkokinshū, within the play's dialogue, but it is the monogatari or short stories that provide the basis for some noh plots due to their wide range of character references and plots. These stories constitute the primary source of information for two plays in particular written by the famous Japanese playwright Zeami: Atsumori and Matsukaze. The play Atsumori draws inspiration from the famous war epic The Tale of Heike to promote an anti-war message rooted in the original text, as well as to further explore Buddhist themes of attachment and karmic bonds. Matsukaze draws its origins and background from Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji and Ariwara no Narihira's The Tales of Ise for its location, tone, and themes of desire in order to juxtapose the Buddhist duality of attachment and detachment from this world . Zeami's Atsumori directly uses the characters of Kumagai and Atsumori from "The Death of Atsumori" in Heike's Tale as the central characters (waki and shit respectively) of the work. Having these established characters and their well-known background story allows the plot of the work to move in a different direction than the original text in terms of message and meaning. Atsumori's original text in The Tale of Heike focuses on the contrasts between the characters of Kumagai and Atsumori in terms of class and sophistication, as well as the Buddhist theme of non-violence and salvation through prayer in the... paper medium.. ....if emotions as a foundation for a Buddhist message on attachment. At the end of the play, Matsukaze is unable to abandon his love for Yukihira, while his sister Murasame finally recognizes the madness in their yearning and leaves her sister behind, detaching herself from the world and her passionate desire. Works Cited Narihira, Ariwara. "Tales of Ise." Anthology of Japanese literature. Ed. Donald Keene. New York: Grove Press, 1955. 67-71.Watson, Burton, and Haruo Shirane. "The Death of Atsumori." Heike's Tales. Columbia University Press, 2006. April 11, 2011.Zeami. "Atsumori." Japanese Noh dramas. Ed. Royall Tyler. London: Penguin Books, 1992. 37-48.Zeami. "Matsukaze." Japanese Noh dramas. Ed. Royall Tyler. London: Penguin Books, 1992. 183-204.