Zenami

Japanese: 善阿弥 - ぜんあみ

Year of death: Bunmei 14.9 (1482)
Year of birth: 1386 (3rd year of the Tenth Year of the Emperor)
A landscape gardener from the Muromachi period. Zenami was considered a master of gardening, and appears in the Inryoken Diary as "Kawaharamono Zenami," where it is written that he was favored by the Shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, and was tasked with constructing gardens for the Muromachi Palace. Zenami, who was already over 75 years old at the time, often fell ill, but Yoshimasa would always send him medicine, dispatch a doctor, and show his attentive consideration. It can be said that the two men were deeply connected through the act of gardening, regardless of their differences in status. There are no remains of Zenami's gardens, but reviews from that time said that his style was "extraordinary." He was probably a different person from Zenami, who was in charge of appraising Song and Yuan paintings at the same time. <References> Haga Koshiro, "Shogun Yoshimasa and Kawaharamono Zenami" (Research in Higashiyama Culture)

(Kumakura Isao)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：文明14.9(1482)
生年：至徳3/元中3(1386)
室町時代の造庭家。善阿弥は造庭の名手とされ,『蔭涼軒日録』に「河原者善阿弥」として登場し,室町幕府将軍足利義政の寵愛を受けて室町殿の築庭に当たった様子が記されている。当時すでに75歳を過ぎていた善阿弥は,しばしば病に倒れるが,そのたびに義政は薬を贈り,医者を遣わし,行きとどいた配慮をみせているように,両者は身分の差をこえて,築庭という行為を通して深く結ばれていたといえよう。善阿弥の作庭の遺構はないが,当時の評論によると「奇絶」の作風であった。また宋元画の鑑識に当たった同期の善阿とは別人であろう。<参考文献>芳賀幸四郎「将軍義政と河原者善阿弥」(『東山文化の研究』)

(熊倉功夫)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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