[1] During this time, he was a disciple of Kunio Kishida,[1] one of the most prominent Japanese playwrights of the 20th century, as well as the main founder of Bungakuza theatre group.

[3] The revised version was published in book form on 15 October 1946, nine days after Morimoto's death from tuberculosis, which he had been battling with for a long time.

[2][3] The play's staged versions, performed in Japan, China and Russia, saw additional changes made to Morimoto's text after his death.

[6][7] Fallen Blossoms (1938), based on his play and directed by Tamizō Ishida, another Bungakuza affiliate, is nowadays seen as one of the outstanding Japanese films of the 1930s.

[8][9] Dotō (1944), based on the story of Japanese scientist Kitasato Shibasaburō, was performed by the New National Theatre in Tokyo as a part of their 1999–2000 season.