20 (female demon used in Adachigahara and Yamamba) to mention some.

Names and instructions for usage of masks in writings of the Muromachi period are mainly for Okina, old men, god and demon masks. There is hardly any mention of young men or women until the end of this period.

20 Ibid., p.37•

21 Nakamura Yasuo, Noh. p.135*

Some writings on Noh that appear at the end of the seventeenth century, such as Nö-no kummo zui (l687) and Bügaku zuiyo taizen

(1699) also contain simple sketches of Noh masks. The Jinrin kummo zui, which describes the many professions of the Edo period, accompanied by diagrams of everything from swordsmen and

acupuncturists to combmakers and a variety of itinerant performers, also has a sketch of a mask maker sitting with the soles of his feet together, resting a mask he is carving on his heel. Hung up behind him are finished masks. The profession is listed as men- utchi, and the description includes some names of mask makers and where they lived. (See Jinrin kummo zui, Nihon koten zenshü, pp.177-79).

In 1797 appeared the Kamenfu (’A Record of Masks’) and the Men mokuri shö (’A Mask Connoisseur’s Book’), both by Kita Konö, ninth

generation head of the Kita School, which was officially recognized' in l6l8. Both of these writings list mask makers from the early legendary ones down to the various families of the Edo period mask making profession. They are first, the shinsaku: Shötoku Taishi,

Tankai-kö, Kobo daishi, Kasuga. Then, the jissaku (’the ten

masters’); Nikkö, Miroku, Yasha, Bunzö2 Koushi, Shakuzuru, Tatsuemon, Himi, Echi, and Sankö (as given in the Qno Deme Kadensho, ’The Book of the Tradition of the Öno Deme House’, 1770, which aside from a detailed listing of 131 masks by name and usage for a number of them, lists masks owned by the various schools and mask makers under the same labels as Kamenfu. They differ slightly, Kamenfu including Tokuwaka among the jissaku, instead of Sankö, including him instead in the following rokusaku as Sanköbö. Rokusaku (’the six masters’) are Zöami, Chigusa, Fukurai, Hörai, Shunwaka, Ishiöbyöe (from Qno Dome Kadonshö; Kamen Tu identifies Fukurai with the latter and lists Sanköbö as the sixth.) Next follow the kosaku (’the old masters’) and the chüsaku (’the middle masters’), which will be mentioned in

Zeami mentions the following mask makers in Sarügaku dangi and indicates what type of mask or mentions a particular mask for which some of them are famous:

Miroku and Nikko Okina

Echi Shakuzuru

women's masks

demon masks: in particular Kanze group's Tenjin, Obeshimi and Kobeshimi, Tobide

Ishi5by5e Tatsuemon Yasha Bunzö Koushi Tokuwaka Chigusa

young men's masks Warai-jö

old men's masks

old men (second part of Oimatsu)

men's masks

21 (contd)

the next chapter. The abovementioned three documents have been published together as Nomen shiryd No.l in 1966 by Nö-men kenkyükai, Hinoki shoten, Kyoto. Considered rather reliable on the Edo period mask makers, they are hardly so on the Muromachi period, and can at best suggest the identity and approximate period of some of the mask makers of the creative period before and at Zeami's time when the honmen were originally conceived.

When Noh became formalized and adopted as official ceremonial art form in the Edo period the shogunate became concerned with the orthodoxy of the different schools and demanded detailed catalogues of the masks in their possession. The first such official catalogue was compiled in 1721 and lists 131 Noh masks and l6 Okina. A

revised version was published in 1771 as Shökamen mokuroku ( 'A Catalogue of Masks of All Schools')and lists a total of 162 honmen, not including Okina. (.See Nogami Toyoichirö, Nomen ronkö, p.107.) For most masks the name of the maker as upheld by the tradition of each school is given, but by then these can hardly be considered entirely reliable. The Kanze actor who wrote the catalogue refers to some masks of other schools as naninaniden ('in the something-or- other tradition') suggesting attribution may not have been taken too seriously even then or that what is called one thing in one place may not be called the same across the street. ('Omote dangi', Kanze, July 1959, p •20.)

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Because of the lack of proof that the many masks in famous collections that are attributed to the early mask makers really were by them, it may seem pointless to go into detail about the particular honmen attributed to these people. However, even if the masks extant are merely the best of the later copies made in the Edo period, they may still reflect the style and creative power of the old originals and can thus give some basis for discussing individual characteristics of the best known mask makers of Zeami’s time and before his time.

Masks attributed to the early masters can at least give an indication of their varied styles, as the designated originals or model masks (honmen) of the main schools were carefully copied. The earliest known type of mask used in Noh is the Okina, which may well have existed in the Heian period. It is often treated as a special category, quite set apart from other Noh masks. Known exclusively for their Okina type masks are Nikkö and Miroku, both thought to have lived in the tenth century when the Okina dance probably existed, but not Noh as independent plays. They were

possibly priests and carvers of Buddhist images, judging by their names. Zeami says that his own group’s Okina was carved by Miroku. But he gives no further mention of Nikkö and Miroku. They were probably legendary even by that time. Nikkö is thought to have been a resident priest of Miidera Temple. The Höshö school has an Okina honmen

attributed to Nikkö. So do Kanze and Kongo, and there are a number of masks attributed to him elsewhere. Kanze’s main collection has both a white and flesh coloured Okina attributed to Miroku, as well as a

Chichi-no-jö.

The period of Kan-ami and Zeami until the end of the Muromachi period, roughly the fourteenth to the sixteenth century, was one of original creativity in mask making. It is aptly referred to as the

66

This is the period when most of the honmen emerged. Most representative of the period are those mask makers who specialized in the earliest

type of Noh masks: those suited to the Noh of gods, demons and supernatural beings. Outstanding among them was Shakuzuru, master of masks of violent and extreme expression caught in the flash of a moment. One of the ’ten masters’ (jissaku), Shakuzuru is said to have lived at the end of the thirteenth century. He is mentioned by Zeami as a Dengaku player from Omi province, Shiga Prefecture, and his name as an actor was Kandayü. If the many masks attributed to him all over the country were really his creation, he would have been an amazingly

prolific, dynamic and technically superb mask maker. Even if they are not, there is enough evidence of his significance in the history mask making. He could hardly have made all the masks for which he is given credit, but the eagerness to use his name is obviously due to the fact that he was an ideal later mask makers tried to live up to and imitate.

Not only the Five Schools of Noh have honmen said to be by Shakuzuru, but even shrine and temple collections all over Japan - from Toyohashi city (Aumi Shrine’s collection) to the masks used in Kurokawa Noh in Yamagata Prefecture. He has become legendary to the extent that there are stories of his exile for murder to Sado Island, (a favourite place of exile imposed also on Zeami from lU3^ to lUUl). He was then known as Ittö. The mask types accredited to him were perhaps original in their strength and artistic power, but were surely also inspired by either existing masks or sculpture. If the variety in types attributed to him are any indication, he himself obviously went through periods of

experimentation and vacillation, as any artist does before finding his form. There is, for instance, a Ilachimaki-men, a demon mask with a head-band (hachimaki) attributed to him in Shizuoka. It may have been

22 associated with rainmaking.

6

One cannot be sure of the exact period of Shakuzuru's life, but his masks were known already at Kan-ami's time. Then, there was hardly any fixed standard or pattern for mask types yet, nor any sacred sense

23

of honmen. Shakuzuru probably experimented with different existing types before developing those that have since become the standard or model mask. Regardless, therefore, of how many masks can actually be proven to be his, his significance in the history of mask making is unchanged.

It is rather his symbolic value as one who saw and created the ideal of the god and demon mask. Once the ideal is there, symbolized by this particular mask maker, it cannot be touched by historical inaccuracies about the actual maker of a particular mask.

Signalling the coming change in Noh towards greater emphasis on human emotions and on yügen are the masks of Tatsuemon, some of them very subtle young men's and even young women's masks. Characteristic of masks said to be in his style are subtleness of expression and a soft touch in the painting of the masks. All the five schools have masks attributed to him, in particular boy or young men's masks such as Kasshiki, Doji, Jüroku, and Chüjö. Ishikawa Tatsuemon Shigemasa is thought to have lived in Kyoto, but his dates are uncertain. He is mentioned by Zeami. There are young women's masks attributed to him, such as the Sayohime in Kanze's main collection. Yet it is not possible to assume that such subtle women's masks existed already by Zeami's time. Most likely the Ko-omote attributed to Tatsuemon are by later mask makers, but attributed to him as he was seen as an ideal for

this type of mask.

Roles and Mask Usage

The earliest Noh mask types wore, as mentioned, the Okina and the god and demon masks. It is easy to see the reason why these were

23 Toita Michizo, 'N5-men no minzokugakuteki kosatsu', Kanze, July 1959, P-17•

68

considered necessary, as the human face could not pretend to replace them. New aesthetic ideals led to more frequent use of masks in human roles that could have teen done hitarnen, that is, treating the unmasked face as a mask and controlling, maintaining the expression throughout. Another reason, however, may have teen that low-class people such as Sarugaku actors could hardly te expected to have features refined enough to play the notle men and women who dominate the shite roles in many of Zeami’s plays.

In one section of Kadensh5 Zeami talks of the unmasked face of the actor (hitarnen, which is included in classifications of Noh masks as one category of mask). It is clear from this that Zeami thought masks should not be used when not necessary.

Hitamen (from Kadensho)

’This, too, is very important. On the whole this is rather easy to perform because the hitamen role is usually that of an ordinary man; yet, strangely enough, unless the

degree (kurai) of the performance has reached a high level, the hitamen is unbearable to watch. First of all, each role must inevitably be played for the most part

according to its particular character. But, although there is no reason to imitate even the expression of the face [of such a character!], sometimes an actor will change the usual expression of his face and adjust it [to the role]. This is even more unbearable to look at. It is by his deportment [manner, gestures], and his whole appearance that he should imitate the character. His

face should indeed retain his own normal expression without the least adjustment'. 2k

The emphasis on control, high level of performance, and on the actor retaining his natural expression, suggest that Zeami considered hitamen difficult and not to be attempted by just any actor. The face, also, should not change its basic expression throughout. This emphasis on control is in harmony with the ideal of yügen. But to project visually

2k Translated from text in Nose Asaji, Zeami jtirokubushu hyoshaku, vol. 1, pp.U6, k^J.

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the tranquility and mystery inherent in the concept, the mask became more and more important, even in roles of men that might otherwise have been performed hitamen. The ability to appear beautiful was to Zeami the seed of yügen.

Zeami further suggests that a child actor should not wear a mask in 25

order to retain his youthful appearance. It is common to find a child playing Yoshitsune or the Emperor (ko-kata). Here yügen comes before monomane as the actual age of the character portrayed is given

secondary importance.

When a boy attains manhood (at about sixteen) he wears a mask

2 3

except where the shite is an ordinary man. When an actor is old (forty-five and above), however, he should not perform unmasked unless

27 he is exceptionally beautiful, said Zeami.

Zeami says in the monomane section of the Kadensh5 that it is impossible for the actors (being of lowly rank) to imitate realistically

23