[1] He helped to promote theatrical exchanges between Japan and the People’s Republic of China, and he traveled broadly in Europe and Asia.

In addition to his international work, Kinoshita joined various societies that focused on the study of folktales and the Japanese language.

Kinoshita attended school in Tokyo until 1925 when his parents moved back to his father's hometown of Kumamoto to retire.

He majored in Shakespeare under the instruction of Yoshio Nakano (中野好夫), who was an eminent translator of English and American literature.

He earned a degree in Elizabethan theater in the early 1940s, but majoring in English literature was not encouraged in Japan at the time since the society was greatly influenced by militarism.

Kinoshita was selected as a member of The Japan Art Academy (日本芸術院) in 1984, and chosen as the honorary citizen of Tokyo (東京名誉都民) in 1998, but he turned down both of these honors.

Kinoshita's professional career started at the end of the war when Yasue Yamamoto (山本安英) used to perform as a leading actress.

Many of his plays are based on Japanese folktales, but he also created works set in contemporary Japan that deal with social issues.

The drama of Kinoshita does not deal with elements of fantasy or poetry, but rather allows the audience to think deeply about death, guilt, and judgment.

[1] His better-known works that have been translated into English include Twilight Crane (夕鶴, Yūzuru), 1949; Wind and Waves (風浪, Fūrō), 1947; Between God and Man (神と人とのあいだ, Kami to hito to no aida), 1972; and A Japanese Called Otto (オットーと呼ばれる日本人,Ottō to yobareru nihonjin), 1962, Kinoshita's rendering of the Sorge spy ring incident on the eve of World War Two.

This part deals with the war crime trial of an imaginary private, Kinohara, on a nameless South Sea island.

[1] The play divides its time between a courtroom on the island soon after the war and a small neighborhood park in Tokyo sometime in the middle of 1950s.

[8] In Shingeki history, following World War II there were some large companies such as Haiyūza (俳優座) and Bungakuza (文学座) in addition to smaller groups of passionate theatre people.

[8] One small groups was called Budō no Kai (ぶどうの会), which was formed in 1947 by Yasue Yamamoto [jp], with the help of some of her colleagues.

[2] Being so immersed in Shakespeare's work made Kinoshita realize that Japanese actors and actresses were lacking in oratory skills.

[4] Though what he meant by “the energy” is unclear, Kinoshita seemed to believe that Shakespeare’s language conveyed more just meaning in live performance.

[9] As transportation developed and the print media became widespread following modernization, folktales gradually came to lose some of what made their way of storytelling and their form unique.

[9] On the other hand, Kinoshita said that, even though folktales are not being passed down to the next generations through old storytellers because of social changes, they still play an important role in the mental development of children.

[9] However, he also mentions that the imaginative elements or development of folktales are often considered unscientific and irrational things by today's children.

[9] Another remarkable Shakespeare translator of the time, Tsuneari Fukuda (福田恆存), was two years Kinoshita's senior and equally as well-known.

[4] Although Kinoshita and Fukuda discussed literature, drama, society and politics, they never agreed with each other's writing, and had very different ideas of how to translate Shakespeare into Japanese.