| Matsuoka Shinpei | |
| Birth Date: | 29 October 1954 |
| Birth Place: | Okayama Prefecture |
| Nationality: | Japanese |
| Occupation: | Noh Scholar |
| Years Active: | 1984-present |
| Known For: | Todai Professor |
| Notable Works: | Basara kara Zeami e Nō: Chūsei kara no hibiki |
is a Japanese Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Liberal Arts faculty, and considered to be the preeminent living scholar of Nōgaku, the 14th century style of Japanese theater.[1] [2]
Born in Okayama Prefecture, Shinpei was a son of Yoshiaki Matsuoka (1918-1995), president of Sanyo Shimbun. Graduating from Okayama Sozan High School, Shipei intended to study law at University of Tokyo when he saw Hisao Kanze perform a shimai (Noh in plain clothes) of Fujito, and was so inspired that he would switch his major to the Department of Japanese Literature, graduating in 1978.
Continuing on an academic path, Shinpei completed a doctorate in 1984, becoming a full-time lecturer at the Faculty of Letters in 1987, assistant professor at the College of Arts and Sciences in 1990, and fully tenured at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 2001. Shinpei retired from full-time instruction in 2020, but remains active in his research of Noh and feudal Japan from an interdisciplinary perspective.[3]
A prolific author and writer, Shinpei has published numerous works on Noh, Nōgaku, and medieval Japan.[4] [5]