Kan'ami

• Born: 1333
• Died: 1384
• Japanese: 観阿弥 (Kan'ami)

Kan'ami was an actor, dancer, playwright and troupe leader of the Muromachi period, best known as the father of Noh founder Zeami. Patronized alongside his son by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Kan'ami became the first head of the Kanze school of Noh performance.

Prior to the development of Noh, Kan'ami was the head of a traveling troupe of performers based in Nara.

He died in 1384, in Suruga province.

References

• Thomas Hare, Zeami Performance Notes, Columbia University Press (2008), 3.