JAANUS / saru 猿

saru　猿

KEY WORD :　1　art history / sculptures　2　architecture / general terms

1　Monkey. The monkey is represented in kyougen 狂言 by a masked and costumed figure. The monkey mask has a round or oval face with a large jutting-out jaw. The wide mouth is usually shut, and sometimes appears to smile; other masks have a cleft lip, open to reveal the teeth. The eyes are almond shaped with large round pupils, and are often bordered by a series of parallel lines. Monkey masks may look young and perky, or old and sad. There are masks representing male and female monkeys of different ages, and even a father-in-low monkey and a groom monkey, who appear in the play SARUMUKO 猿婿 (The Monkey Groom). Child monkey masks are used in the plays UTSUBOZARU 靱猿 (The Monkey Skin Quiver) and SARUZATOU 猿座頭 (The Blind Man and the Monkey).
See *kyougenmen 狂言面, *noumen 能面.

2　Lit. monkey. A monkey or cat bar or bolt, so named because of its ability to keep a door securely closed. Myth has it that once a monkey grasps an object, it will never release it. Thus, the name for one type of bar or bolt. A long, slender wooden bar attached to the stile *tatezan 竪桟, or rail san 桟, of a door. The most common saru, called yokozaru 横猿, are designed to slip into a catch horizontally. Others, called agezaru 上げ猿, can be moved up and down vertically from the top rail and inserted into a groove made on the head jamb *kamoi 鴨居 of sliding doors or rain shutters *amado 雨戸. Sagezaru 下げ猿 or otoshizaru 落し猿 are attached to a bottom rail and are pushed down into a groove on the threshold. The crosspiece provided to secure the bar is called yosezaru 寄猿. When the doors *shouji 障子, are flush, the bolt is called horikomizaru 彫込猿 or flush bolt. See *sarudo 猿戸.

a) agezaru 上げ猿　b) yokozaru 横猿　c) sagezaru 下げ猿


left：agezaru 上げ猿　right：yokozaru 横猿 Old Andou 安藤 house (Yamanashi)

sagezaru 下げ猿

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