Nōami (能阿弥) (1397–1471) was a Japanese painter and renga

Renga

' is a genre of Japanese collaborative poetry. A renga consists of at least two or stanzas, usually many more. The opening stanza of the renga, called the , became the basis for the modern haiku form of poetry....

poet in the service of the Ashikaga shogunate

Ashikaga shogunate

The , also known as the , was a Japanese feudal military regime, ruled by the shoguns of the Ashikaga clan.This period is also known as the Muromachi period and gets its name from Muromachi Street of Kyoto where the third shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu established his residence...

. An astute art connoisseur, Nōami collected Chinese paintings and other works of art for the shogunate, and served as an advisor in the ways of Japanese tea ceremony

Japanese tea ceremony

The Japanese tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered green tea. In Japanese, it is called . The manner in which it is performed, or the art of its performance, is called...

, incense and a variety of other elements related to the arts.

An accomplished artist in his own right, Nōami was a student of Shūbun

Shubun

was a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and painter of the Muromachi period.He was born in the late 14th century in Ōmi Province and became a professional painter around 1403, when he made a voyage to Korea. He returned to Japan in 1404 and settled in Kyoto, then the capital city...

, and painted primarily landscapes, in the suiboku (monochrome ink) style. Together with his son Geiami and grandson Sōami

Soami

was a painter and landscape artist in the service of the Ashikaga shogunate who is claimed to have designed the rock garden of the Ginkaku-ji. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Sōami's paintings were in the style of China's Southern School; some of his greatest pieces covered over twenty panels,...

, the three are known as the San-ami or "Three Ami's" and are among the most celebrated landscape painters in the Japanese tradition.

Nōami is also known by his birth name of Nakao Shinnō, and by his other art-name

Art-name

An art-name is a pseudonym, or penname, used by an East Asian artist, which they sometimes change. The word and the idea to use a pseudonym originated from China, then became popular in other East Asian countries ....

s Ōsai and Shun-Ōsai.