Owari no Hamanushi (尾張浜主)
OWARI no Hamanushi (733 - year of death unknown) was a gakunin (player) who lived from the Nara Period to the early Heian Period. His surname was REN. He played an important role in the formation of gagaku (ancient Japanese court dance and music) with OTO no Kiyokami and others.
He performed a Mai (a formal, traditional Japanese dance) at the Daijo-sai festival (to celebrate the succession of an emperor) for the enthronement of the Emperor Ninmyo in 833, and went to Tang, China as a member of Kentoshi, a Japanese envoy to Tang Dynasty China three years later in 836. He came back from Tang three years later, and performed Mai in Saisho-e (lecture series based on the Suvarnaprabhasottama-sutra) held at the Daigokuden (Council Hall in the Imperial Palace) at the age of 113 in 845. The two days later, he surprised people by performing Mai again at Seiryoden (literally "Limpid Cool Hall," an imperial summer palace) and was granted imperial garments from the emperor. The next year, in 846, he performed Mai again and became Jugoinoge (Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade). It is said that he danced like a boy when music was played although his back was too bent to straighten up.
His waka 'I go out to dance in this blooming season without shutting myself away in spite of this old age.' selected for Aikoku hyakunin isshu (One Hundred Patriotic Poems by One Hundred Poets) was composed after performing Mai at Seiryoden in 845.