Site of Kano Motonobu’s Mansion

A simple stone monument in a residential street marks the site where Kano Motonobu lived and worked. Motonobu (1476 to 1559) was the son of Kano Masanobu, chief painter to the Ashikaga shogunate, and together they established the Kano school of painting that dominated Japanese art for nearly three centuries. Motonobu developed a hybrid style combining the subtle ink brushwork of Chinese painting with traditional Japanese techniques, which allowed the school to take on a wide range of subjects and attract large numbers of students. The monument is a modest stop but connects a quiet Kyoto street to the origins of Japan's most influential artistic lineage.