Kannami and Zeami - the Kanze school founders who made Noh a great success, their glory, and their surprising end.

今回は、観阿弥と世阿弥という父子について紹介します。ユネスコ無形文化遺産にも登録されている日本の伝統芸能、能楽を大成した、室町時代初期の猿楽者です。子孫にあたる、観世流26代家元の観世清和さんは、天皇陛下と同じ学校の友人としても有名です。現代では、「猿楽」や「能」は、一般的に少しなじみの薄い芸能です。しかし、室町時代には、身分の上下を問わず、大ブームとなっていたエンターテイメントでした。当時のエンターテイメントの状況と共に、観阿弥と世阿弥の生涯を見ていきましょう。(English) This article introduces the father and son, Kannami and Zeami. They were Sarugaku performers of the early Muromachi period (1336-1573) who developed the traditional Japanese performing art of Noh, which is listed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Site. Their descendant, Kiyokazu Kanze(1959- 63 years old), the 26th Iemoto of the Kanze school, is well known as a friend of the Emperor from the same high school. Today, 'Sarugaku' and 'Noh' are generally slightly less familiar performing arts. However, in the Muromachi period (1336-1573), they were entertainment that enjoyed a considerable boom, regardless of rank or status. Let's look at the lives of Kannami and Zeami and the state of entertainment at the time. 

Kannami and Zeami - the Kanze school founders who made Noh a great success, their glory, and their surprising end.

1)

This article introduces the father and son, Kannami and Zeami.

They were Sarugaku performers of the early Muromachi period (1336-1573) who developed the traditional Japanese performing art of Noh, which is listed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Site.

Their descendant, Kiyokazu Kanze(1959- 63 years old), the 26th Iemoto of the Kanze school, is well known as a friend of the Emperor from the same high school.

2)

Today, 'Sarugaku' and 'Noh' are generally slightly less familiar performing arts.

However, in the Muromachi period (1336-1573), they were entertainment that enjoyed a considerable boom, regardless of rank or status.

Let's look at the lives of Kannami and Zeami and the state of entertainment at the time.

A)

3)

Sarugaku? Nohgaku?

Sarugaku is the general term for the performances, songs, dances, and plays from which Noh, Kyogen, Manzai, and street performance originated.

Originally, 'Noh' referred to 'all relatively serious narrative performing arts.'

Later, the term came to mean only 'Sarugaku no noh.'

Among 'Sarugaku no noh,' the term 'Noh' came to refer to those performances that mainly consisted of chants and dances.

Those mainly based on conversation and action were also called 'Kyogen.'

In the Meiji era (1868-1912), these two forms were collectively referred to as 'Nohgaku.'

4)

Sarugaku performers formed theatre troupes called 'za' in various regions and organized entertainment.

In addition to Noh, Sarugaku performances included a variety of other arts, such as comic skits (the roots of kyogen), impersonations, acrobatics, and magic tricks.

The 'Za(Group)' was now called kind of an entertainment production company.

5)

Sarugaku is said to have its roots in a court art form called "Sangaku, " which was introduced during the Tang dynasty in the Nara period (710-794).

This left the support of the imperial court and spread to temples, shrines, and the private sector, where it came to be known as 'Sarugaku.'

It was also a religious art form that included elements of kagura, and Rakushi scholars travelled to temples and shrines across the country to perform.

B)

6)

Yuzaki, the home of sarugaku

The protagonist of this article, the father, Kannami, was born in 1333 as the grandson of Yamada Mino Dayu, a Sarugaku master from Yamada in Yamato Province.

'Tayu' nowadays refers to the head of a troupe, theatre director, or presiding officer.

Kannami's father was from the Hattori clan of Iga Province, whose name was Kamishima Motonari, and was adopted by Yamada Mino Tayu.

It is widely believed that Kannami's mother was the daughter of Tobiza, a Yamato Sarugaku performer.

However, she is also said to have been the daughter of Masato Kusunoki (sister of Masanari Kusunoki) of Tamakushi in Kawachi Province.

If so, Kannami would have been a nephew of Kusunoki Masanari.

7)

Kannami took the name Kanzemaru when he was very young.

Despite his large stature, he was a famous actor who played female roles with great grace.

In his 30s, Kannami established himself as a Tayu in Yuzaki, Yamato Province (Kawanishi Town, Isoshiro County).

His eldest son Zeami was born around this time.

8)

The formation of Za was particularly active in Yamato (Nara Prefecture) and Omi (Shiga Prefecture).

The four Yamato Sarugaku troupes and the six Omi Sarugaku troupes were very popular.

As one of the four Yamato Sarugaku Za, the Yuzaki-za was responsible for Sarugaku dedications at festival events at Kofuku-ji Temple.

C)

9)

Kannami's 'new Sarugaku.'

The 'Ami' in Kannami is the formal name of the Dharma name 'Amida Buddha.'

He performed Odori Nembutsu (chanting the Nembutsu while striking bells and drums and dancing to it).

Many performing artists, as well as Sarugaku performers, had a Dharma name.

Kannami incorporated various performing arts elements into his style and captivated audiences.

10)

For example, Noh had sung verses of waka poems and danced to the verses' melody up to that time.

However, Kannami was taught the fun of Kyokumai, in which the body moves to the rhythm of drums, flutes, and other instruments, by a Kyokumai woman called Otozuru.

He danced to beautiful melodies and lively rhythms, creating a sense of unity between the audience and the performers.

11)

He also incorporated the light, simple rhythms of Dengaku, a preliminary celebration of rice planting, and the elegant costumes and movements of Shirabyoshimai (white-beast dance) into the storyline of the performance.

Many of Kannami's styles expressed reverence for nature and the connection between human beings.

They resonated with a wide range of audiences, regardless of status.

Thus the highly successful Yuzaki-za Sarugaku Noh team, also known as Kanze-za and Kannami as Kanze-tayu, performed in Kyoto.

His eldest son, Zeami, also began performing on the stage early and was famous as a lovely boy.

D)

12)

Zeami, the beautiful boy, dominates the world.

In 1374, at 12 years old, Kanami and Zeami performed a lion dance in front of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate, at Imakumano (Higashiyama-Ku, Kyoto).

Yoshimitsu was struck by Zeami's artistic prowess and beauty and ordered him to serve at his side as his favourite child.

Zeami was also favoured by the Sekihaku, Nijo Yoshimoto.

A love triangle may have caused complications.

13)

At the time, many Sarugaku performers and other entertainers came from a class of discriminated people known as 'beggars' or 'Kawaramono.'

Most of them did not have the opportunity to receive a high level of education.

However, with the support of high-status patrons, Zeami learned waka poetry and kemari from an early age.

He also studied Buddhism at Hogonji Temple in Yamato Province (Tawaramoto Town, Isogi County).

A powerful local family had the same Temple as its family temple. The Senichi clan also supported him.

E)

14)

Zeami's Mugen Noh (Dream Noh).

When Zeami was 20 years old, his father, Kannami, died as a guest at various locations after a performance at Sengen Shrine in Suruga Province aged 52.

Zeami succeeded his father as Kanze-tayu, created some 50 yokyoku (songs), and revised the classics.

Even those who have never seen Noh may be familiar with Takasago, Aoi no Ue, and Yashima.

15)

While Kannami's stories revolved around nature and the relationships between humans, Zeami created his unique Noh plays with dialogue with supernatural beings as the central theme.

Zeami's Noh, known as 'dreamy Noh,' expressed the beauty of the 'Yugen,' the favoured form of beauty at the time, and enthralled his patrons.

16)

What is 'Yugen'?

Yugen is "an atmosphere of mystery, grace, and profound truth."

In Yūgen, Zeami referred to the emotions that arose at the moment as 'Myō' and the power to create 'Myō' as 'Hana' (flower).

17)

Also central to Zeami's Noh was the 'Somoku Kokudo Shikkai jyubutsu' (all the plants, trees, and land are entirely fulfilled).

This is a uniquely Japanese Buddhist philosophy, similar to the 'eight million gods,' which states that Buddha nature resides in flowers, grass, earth, and all things in the world.

Zeami made "non-human things" such as demons, gods, spectres, and ghosts the main characters in his stories.

18)

As the audience watches, the stage setting blurs the boundary between this world and the other world, and they are drawn into a genuinely ethereal world.

At the time, Japanese society was in a state of warfare, including the conflict between the Northern and Southern dynasties, famine, epidemics, and crime.

Life and death were always next to each other in everyday life.

The unique worldview transmitted by Zeami must have captured the hearts and fascinated the people of the time amid such social unrest.

19)

Zeami also wrote numerous biographies of Noh.

He left behind many words that are still applicable today, such as "If you keep a secret, it will bloom" and "Never forget your first spirit."

Fūshi Kaden, written around 1400, is famous as a general theory of Noh and theatre and a book on aesthetics.

In recent years it has been interpreted as a business book.

Fūshi Kaden was a biography based on Kannami's knowledge of the art.

Hana Kagami (Flower Mirror), further development of this, is a book of secrets about the essence of Noh that Zeami learned from his 40s to his 60s and is genuinely the profound secret of Zeami's Noh.

In his later years, Zeami passed on Fushikaden to his son-in-law Konparu Senchiku and Hana Kagami to his eldest son Kanze Motomasa.

F)

20)

Falling Sun, an unhappy end

Zeami pushed Sarugaku, a popular form of entertainment, into a highly spiritual art form and established the Kanze-za as a flourishing institution.

However, in inverse proportion to his achievements, he lost the ardent support of the shogunate family.

In his later years, Yoshimitsu also favoured the Omi Sarugaku master, and later the taste of the shoguns shifted towards Dengaku.

Zeami had adopted his nephew Otoami as his son, but Zeami, who had a high opinion of his son Motoga's talent, gave Motoga the title of Kanze-Tayu in 1422.

21)

However, the sixth shogun, Ashikaga Yoshinori, who favoured Otoami, took away Zeami and Motomasa's place at the forefront of Sarugaku.

In 1432, while still in his thirties, Motomasa died as a guest in Anozu, Ise Province, where he had been performing.

His death is said to have been an assassination attempt.

Two years later, Zeami was exiled to Sado Island.

Zeami was already 72 years old, which must have been very painful for his old body.

22)

The charges of exile at this time are unknown.

Some believe Zeami was exiled because he and Motomasa had close relations with the Southern Court forces (such as the Kusunoki and Senichi clans).

However, it seems reasonable to think that 'Yoshinori made up the crime because he was so patronizing of Otoami.'

23)

Zeami is said to have returned to Yamato Province after Yoshinori's death, through the efforts of Ikkyu Sōjun, and took refuge at Fuganji (補巌寺).

Zeami died in 1443 at 81 years old. His tomb, along with that of his father Kannami, was erected at the Daitoku-ji Temple Shu-an (Kitaku, Kyoto), which is associated with his benefactor Ikkyu.

G)

24)

Conclusion.

Kannami established a refined artistic style by incorporating elements of various dances and performing arts into Sarugaku and established the Kanze-za theatre, which distinguished itself from other theatres.

Zeami was the eldest son of Kannami, who performed on the stage from an early age and was favoured by the shogun, Kanpaku, and other men of the time.

Zeami elevated Sarugaku to a high art form that followed a deep spirituality and aesthetics, and despite his numerous writings, he spent his later years in disgrace.

However, 100 years after Zeami's death, Sarugaku Noh was very much loved by the Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi, from whom it has been handed down to the present day, more than 400 years later.

25)

Compared to Kannami and Zeami eras, Noh has become more difficult to watch live performances.

Nowadays, it can be seen on TV and in the video, and many commentaries have been published.

Why not enjoy the ethereal beauty of Noh in the comfort of your own home after learning about the story, highlights, and commentary?

Kanami and Zeami - the Kanze school founders who made Noh a great success, glory, and surprising end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtR7Kgk0AWY

Kanze Noh Theater Back Stage Tour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sey0ezW5j6Q&t=262s

'The Spirit of Noh 能' - The oldest surviving form of theatre in the world 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=108d4KnZPxo

Interview with a Noh performer Vol. 1 The 26th Kanze Soke Kanze Kiyokazu

At the end of April 2013, we visited the 26th Kanze Soke Kanze Kiyokazu at the Kanze Noh Theatre in Shibuya, Tokyo. This year marks the 680th anniversary of Kan'ami's birth and the 650th anniversary of Zeami's birth.

https://www.the-noh.com/jp/people/actors/001a.html