was a Japanese Noh actor, author, and musician during the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by ...

. Born in

Iga Province was a province of Japan located in what is today part of western Mie Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Iga" in . Its abbreviated name was . Iga is classified as one of the provinces of the Tōkaidō. Under the '' Engishiki'' cl ...

, Kan'ami also went by and . He is the father of the well-known playwright .

Theater

Kan'ami's career began in Obata, Nabari-shi, Mie when he founded a sarugaku theater group in the

Kansai The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...

region on the main Honshu island. The troupe moved to Yamato and formed the Yuzaki theater company, which would become the school of Noh theater. He grew in popularity and began making trips to

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...

to give performances. In 1374, the

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamaku ...

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was the third '' shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate, ruling from 1368 to 1394 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimitsu was Ashikaga Yoshiakira's third son but the oldest son to survive, his childhood name being Haruō (). Yoshimitsu ...

was in the audience of a performance and was so impressed by it that he became Kan'ami's patron. Kan'ami was the first playwright to incorporate the Kusemai song and dance style and Dengaku dances from rustic harvest celebrations. He trained his son

Zeami Motokiyo (c. 1363 – c. 1443), also called , was a Japanese Aesthetics, aesthetician, actor, and playwright. His father, Kan'ami, Kan'ami Kiyotsugu, introduced him to Noh theater performance at a young age, and found that he was a skilled actor. Kan ...

in his style, and his son eventually succeeded him as director of the Kanze school of Noh. Kan'ami died in

Suruga Province was an old province in the area that is today the central part of Shizuoka Prefecture. Suruga bordered on Izu, Kai, Sagami, Shinano, and Tōtōmi provinces; and was bordered by the Pacific Ocean through Suruga Bay to the south. Its abbrev ...

Notable works

*''

Sotoba Komachi The aged Komachi rests upon the ''Sotoba Komachi'' is a Noh play written by Kan'ami, and is one of the most compelling and best-known of the type. Plot and themes Much of the strength of the play derives from the variety provided by the three ...

'' *''Ji'nen koji'' *''Shiino shōshō'' *'' Matsukaze'' *''

Motomezuka ''Motomezuka'' () is a Noh play of the fourth category, written by Kan'ami and revised by Zeami. The name is either a corruption of, or a pun on, ''Otomezuka'' ("The Maiden's Grave"), the original story from episode 147 of ''Yamato Monogatari''. ...

'' *'' Eguchi''

Theater

Notable works

Further reading