Originally a subordinate of the Echizen-Asakura clan, Noami served Yoshinori ASHIKAGA and Yoshimasa ASHIKAGA as a member of Doboshu (Shogun's cultural curators or experts) and called himself Noami; and he appraised and managed things imported from China such as paintings and writings, and he also established higashiyama gyomotsu (things, such as paintings, tea utensils, flower vases, collected by Yoshimasa ASHIKAGA, shogun of the Muromachi bakufu - Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun).
元は越前朝倉氏の家臣だったが、足利義教、足利義政に同朋衆として仕えて能阿弥と号し、幕府における書画等（唐物）の鑑定や管理を行い、また東山御物の制定を行った。