Nomura Mansaku II (born 1931) is a Japanese Kyogen performer of the Izumi school from Tokyo. Trained by his grandfather, Nomura Mansai I, and his father, Nomura Manzo VI, he made his stage debut at the age of three and succeeded to the name Nomura Mansaku II in 1950. After graduating from Waseda University, he established Mansaku no Kai, devoting himself to the performance of classical Kyogen and the training of younger actors while also bringing its physical techniques into modern theatrical works such as “Pierrot Lunaire” and “The Meridian Festival.” He received the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ Grand Prize for his performance of the demanding secret play “Tsurigitsune,” was designated a Living National Treasure in 2007, named a Person of Cultural Merit in 2015, and awarded the Order of Culture in 2023. In his representative book, “Kyogen o Ikiru,” he draws on his stage experience from the postwar period onward to explain that Kyogen is not preserved automatically but recreated by performers in every generation as they respond to their time and audiences.
