kaminashijou 髪無尉
KEY WORD : art history / sculptures
 
Hairless old man. Also written 上無尉. Alternate name, inarijou 稲荷尉. A noh mask *noumen 能面 representing an old man. Unlike all other old men's masks, kaminashijou is bald, and has no implanted hair along the upper ridge of the mask. It is used exclusively for the main role in the first act of the shirokashira 白頭 variant performance of the play KOKAJI 小鍛冶 (Fox Swordsmith), where in place of a young boy the god of grain, Inari Myoujin 稲荷明神, appears. Although not generally used today, it seems to have been popular in the Muromachi period. A special mask of the Kongou 金剛 school, which belongs to the 'lower' branch of noh schools, the alternative characters imply that the mask is not found in the 'upper' kami 上 schools of Kanze 観世 and Houshou 宝生.
 
 

 
REFERENCES:
*joumen 尉面
EXTERNAL LINKS: 
  
NOTES
 

(C)2001 Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System. No reproduction or republication without written permission.
掲載のテキスト・写真・イラストなど、全てのコンテンツの無断複製・転載を禁じます。