Kanze Kjir Nobumitsu is one of the most important n artists in the history of Japanese theater. He wrote and edited many n plays, a third of which are still performed. Besides performing, Nobumitsu was also an important figure in the Kanze Sarugakuza dramatic troupe for many years. The sarugakuza was a professional organization, usually made up of family members, that performed sarugaku, the predecessor of present-day n. Initially formed by the major Buddhist temples to perform at religious ceremonies, the sarugakuza underwent complicated changes and eventually separated from the temples. By Nobumitsu's time, the Kanze troupe was one of four major sarugaku troupes in the Yamato area.

Nobumitsu was born in 1435, the seventh child of Onnami, also known as Kanze Sabur Motoshige. By the time of Nobumitsu's birth the Kanze Sarugakuza had already established itself in Kyoto, and Onnami became the third official leader of the troupe...