wakaotoko　若男

KEY WORD :　art history / sculptures

''Young man.' A noh mask *noumen 能面, representing a young commoner with some weakness of character. Two types exist: one along the lines of *kantan otoko 邯鄲男 (Kongou 金剛 school style), the other closer to *chuujou 中将 and *imawaka 今若 (Kanze 観世 school style). There is a strength in the flowing eyebrows, the wide-set brow, and the bared lower teeth. The black rim along the top is thin, and the lack of beard distinguishes this mask from most other young man masks. Used for the ghost of Ono no Yorikaze 小野頼風, who has drowned himself from remorse in OMINAMESHI 女郎花 and for the father soothsayer in UTAURA 歌占. A mask with inscription saying it is the model mask of the Houshou 宝生 school made by the 15c carver Tokuwaka 徳若 (see *jissaku 十作) is housed in the Tokyo National Museum. Wakaiotoko is also used as a descriptive term for early young men's masks made before the name-types were set, such as the 15c mask at Hakusan Jinja 白山神社 in Gifu prefecture.

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