enmeikaja　延命冠者

KEY WORD :　art history / sculptures

Lit. Lengthened life Kaja. A noh mask *noumen 能面 representing a cheerful young man who possesses a divinely blessed longevity, it is used in the *okina 翁 (also SHIKISANBA 式三番) ritual. Like the other three masks　of this category, the eyes are slit holes curled in a deep smile that spreads through the entire face and a black line runs across the upper border of the mask to mark the rim of a lacquer hat kanmuri 冠. The pronounced upward swing of the lips, their bright red color, and the smooth white skin set this mask apart from others of the okina mask *okinamen 翁面 category. A fine example of enmeikaja with dimples in the cheeks and holes indicating that once it had a beard of real hair belongs to the Kanze 観世 house and is an Important Cultural Property from the 14c. Other examples from the same period are housed in Niu Jinja 丹生神社 and Nagao Jinja 長尾神社, Nara, and a beardless one in Kamogawa Sumiyoshi Jinja 住吉神社, Hyougo prefecture. Even older masks labeled enmeikaja and dating from the Kamakura period are housed at Chuusonji 中尊寺, Iwate prefecture and Nagataki Hakusan Jinja 長滝白山神社, Gifu prefecture. These have a close affinity to some bugaku masks *bugakumen 舞楽面, like *Shintoriso 新鳥蘇 and *Ayakiri 綾切. The curved black strip running not only across the forehead, but down the side of the cheeks to suggest long hair, as well as the bright red of the lips of these two masks suggest a female visage. The mask of enmeikaja can also be used in special performances of the celebratory play SAGI 鷺.

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