According to 'KANZE Kojiro Nobumitsu ga zo-san' (inscription to the portrait of Kojiro Nobumitsu KANZE) and "Yoza yakusha mokuroku" (Catalog of Actors of the Four Troupes) written by KEIJO Shurin (abbot of Nanzen-ji Temple in Kyoto), when the 15-year-old Nobumitsu took part in a Sarugaku performed before Emperor Gohanazono, the Emperor gave Nobumitsu a fan to honor his performance through Yoshimasa ASHIKAGA who watched Sarugaku with the Emperor.
景徐周鱗の書いた「観世小次郎信光画像讃」や『四座役者目録』などよると、15歳の時後花園天皇の御前での猿楽に参加し,天皇の扇を同席した足利義政の手添えで授けられるという栄誉を受けたという。