Kanze Kojirō Nobumitsu (1435-1516) was the seventh son of the very accomplished actor Kanze Saburō Motoshige (1398–1467), more commonly known as On’ami. On’ami’s excellence as a performer is recorded in various medieval diaries such as Mansai Juggō nikki (The diary of High Priest Mansai). On’ami’s father, Shirō, was a younger brother of Zeami Motokiyo (1363?–1443?). While On’ami had a congenial relationship with Zeami early on, his relationship with his uncle eventually worsened. After the death of Zeami’s son Motomasa (? – 1432), On’ami’s line in the family took over the Kanze troupe leadership.
Among On’ami’s children, only two, Nobumitsu and his eldest brother Matasaburō Masamori (? -1470), have left their names to history. Masamori became the tayū (troupe leader) after On’ami’s death in 1467, but he himself died unexpectedly a few years later. Nobumitsu never became the official Kanze troupe leader, instead he supported and nurtured Masamori’s young child who succeeded as the next troupe leader. In his later years, Nobumitsu assumed the title of Gonnogami (a designation for honored elder members in nō troupes; the precise implications of the title in Nobumitsu’s case remain unclear). Nobumitsu’s biography is documented in an inscription that once accompanied a portrait of Nobumitsu (Kanze Kojirō Nobumitsu gazō san, circa 1488). The inscription was written by the Gozan Zen monk Keijō Shūrin, (1429–1518), probably on the occasion of Nobumitsu’s second marriage. The inscription presents high praise of On’ami’s enchanting performances before embarking on a description of Nobumitsu’s life.
According to the inscription, Nobumitsu learned to play the stick drum (taiko, 太 鼓) when he was little. He was also known as an accomplished actor, playing both waki and shite roles. His talent attracted the eighth Ashikaga shogun, Yoshimasa (1436-1490, r. 1449-1473), who became Nobumitsu’s patron and accompanied Nobumitsu to the first known performance that he gave at the Imperial Palace. The cloistered emperor Go-Hanazono (1419-1470, r. 1428-1464) was so pleased with the performance that he rewarded Nobumitsu with a fan.
Another well-known gift that Nobumitsu received was a calligraphy piece known as Saika (Making the flowers bloom; Nogami Memorial Noh Theatre Research Institute of Hosei University) with the caption, “Inscribed for Kanze Kojirō of Japan by Yūbai from the Land of the Great Ming.” Scholars trace the name to a Chinese tale of the Tang Emperor Gensō, who played a magical drum so beautifully that all the flowers bloomed. (Kōsai 1979, 212–213.) The origin of this gift, like several other issues in Nobumitsu’s life, remains a mystery, but the gift suggests high contemporary praise for Nobumitsu. That someone from as far away as China would send a compliment to Nobumitsu reaffirmed his significance as a nō performer, and indirectly also reaffirmed the cultural and social status of nō.
Although Nobumitsu’s father, On’ami, retired from the troupe leadership in 1457 and was succeeded by Masamori, all three performers appeared together on various occasions until On’ami died in 1467. This was also the year that the Ōnin War (1467 – 1477) started. The constant social unrest and political struggles among military leaders during this time led to great changes in the social and economic environment that affected nō troupes. Nō troupes had fewer performing opportunities, and gradually began to travel further afield from their familiar territory of the Kyoto and Nara region. Nobumitsu led the Kanze troupe through this difficult period with support from the Ashikaga military leader Yoshihisa (1465-1489) and Yoshihisa’s mother Hino Tomiko (1440-1496). Nō historians generally agree that it was due to Nobumitsu’s leadership that the Kanze family continued to maintain its important position as one of the major nō troupes.
Over the course of his life, Nobumitsu contributed to his troupe’s success in multiple ways, including as default Kanze troupe leader, versatile performer, and playwright. He was also an active member of significant social circles of literati and nobles like Sanjōnishi Sanetaka (1455-1537) or the Gozan Zen writers connected to the Inryōken (a private shogunal retreat whose head priest also had important secular duties in service to the shogun). His activities and interactions among the social elite and Zen monks indicate that nō had become a popular genre with a special cultural role.
Many people who attended performances also became keen students of nō. This trend is reflected in the treatises that Nobumitsu wrote which detail technical aspects of performance rather than focusing on nō’s philosophical underpinnings. Unlike his granduncle Zeami, Nobumitsu wrote only two very short treatise-type works that we know of. These two treatises are the Koetsu kau koto (On singing, 1511; see Omote 1972, 566–570) and Kanze Kojirō Gonnogami densho (The teachings of Kanze Kojirō Gonnogami, 1497; Omote and Itō, 1969.) Both address specific aspects of performance – vocal production and the use of hand props. Nobumitsu’s contemporary Konparu Zenpō (1454-1530) also wrote a treatise, the three-volume Zenpō Zōdan, that discusses various aspects of nō. It is clear that nō practitioners of the late Muromachi period were using a new strategy to sustain and promote their profession. Instead of secret teachings and performance techniques aimed at outdoing competitors, they reached out to growing audiences who often doubled as their students.
While his treatises were few, Nobumitsu was a productive nō playwright and composer, unlike his father and brother who did not leave behind any written plays. Thirty-one nō plays have been attributed to Nobumitsu. This number is second only to Zeami, giving Nobumitsu high stature as a playwright. His first play is believed to be Hoshi (also called Kan no Kōso, 1452) which he composed at around age eighteen. It was first performed by his father On’ami.
Hoshi is a karamono, a play with a Chinese setting and theme. It is about the Chinese warrior Kan Shin and his lord Kōu who became the first Emperor of Kan (Han). It has a prayer scene to the Deity of War in the second part. Even though some scholars have critiqued this play as immature and awkward, there are hints of characteristics that are found in Nobumitsu’s later plays. (Nishino 1975, 47.) These include a relatively elaborate stage setting, a visually-enticing performance, emphasis on the waki role (Kan Shin in Hoshi), and a generally large cast. The various features just enumerated came to be associated with Nobumitsu as a playwright.
Nobumitsu wrote plays with multiple characters and relatively strong dramatic action (furyū plays). He is probably best known for these furyū plays, such as Funa Benkei and Momijigari. He also composed pieces closer to the quieter, refined style of the older plays (yūgen plays). Some of his karamono plays such as Kōtei and Chōryō, and some of his yūgen plays such as Yugyō yanagi and Kochō have also remained very popular.
Nobumitsu’s last performance was the shite role in Yugyō Yanagi. With its slower pace and focus on the shite impersonating a willow tree, it is a good example of a yūgen play, distinctly different from the style of his furyū plays. Nobumitsu died in his eighties, not long after this last performance. He is believed to be buried at Shōkokuji in Kyoto. He had three sons from his second marriage, Yajirō Nagatoshi (1488-1541), Matajirō Nobushige (?–?), and Yasaburō Mototomo (?–1529?). All three were trained to be nō practitioners. The first two took up acting, while the youngest son, Yasaburō, specialized in drumming. There are sixteen extant nō plays attributed to Nagatoshi, although only a few, such as Ōyashiro and Enoshima are performed today.
For more information on Nobumitsu, see Lim Beng Choo. Another Stage: Kanze Nobumitsu and the Late Muromachi Noh Theater. (Cornell East Asia Series, 163.) 2012.
Contributor: Lim Beng Choo