shigami　顰

KEY WORD :　 art history / sculptures

1　Also shigami 獅噛, "biting lion," or hagami 歯噛, "biting teeth." A noh mask *noumen 能面 representing a bad demon whose defeat ends in celebration. Muscles tense with rage, eyebrows furrowed to the extent that the upper half of the metallic gold eyeballs are hidden, a nose that juts out with its large nostrils, and blunt, large upper and lower teeth emphasize the scowl on the shigami mask, from which its gets its current name, meaning "awful, scowling face." The black painted hair of the eyebrows, mustaches, beard, and head all look as if they are standing up, tousled from anger. The mask is painted a dark skin color. Used for demon roles including the strenuous maibataraki 舞働 dance such as, the devil in RASHOUMON 羅生門, the female devil in MOMIJIGARI 紅葉狩, the spider man in TSUCHIGUMO 土蜘蛛, or the god-devil in HIUN 飛雲. It can also substitute for *yakan 野干to represent the spirit of the death rock in SESSHOUSEKI 殺生石. Shigami, or a variant with sculpted bushy face hair, ikazuchi 雷 ( thunder god), is used for the main role in RAIDEN 雷電 (Thunder God). When shigami is used to play good demon, a court hat, kammuri 冠, is worn on top of the mask. For the play NUE 鵺 a bird-like variant, called either nue or taka 鷹, might be used. The mask type is attributed to Shakuzuru 赤鶴　(see *jissaku 十作) and a fine copy bearing the stamp of the first Oono Deme 大野出目 master, Zekan 是閑 (d. 1616), is kept by Tokyo National Museum. See *kijinmen 鬼神面. 2　Usually written 獅噛. An ornament used on armor, showing the angry face of a lion. Often used on sculpted Buddhist guardian figures, *ten 天, it symbolized the strength and bravery of a lion, and protected against evil. Lion faces were found on the belt, *obikui 帯喰, the shoulders *katakui 肩喰, the knees, *hizakui 膝喰, or on the front of the helmet above the visor (see *kabuto 冑, *mabisashi 眉庇). They are thought to have originated on armor in ancient Greece and Rome eventually spreading east to became part of Buddhist imagery. A good example of shigami can be seen on the Bishamonten 毘沙門天 figure in Kanzeonji 観世音寺, Fukuoka prefecture.

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