Page 375 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

Masks for female roles usually register categories of age and worldly experience by presenting
idealized types of feminine beauty. For instance, the Zo onna mask represents a serene, ethereal female
beauty (cat. 212). The smooth oval shape and high forehead, with shaved eyebrows and painted replace-
ments near the hairline, recall ancient court ideals of beauty and are features of most female masks.
The face seems about to break into a smile, but retains an otherworldly calm. Exceptions to the rule

that no masks for female roles do not betray strong emotion are the masks of female demons known as
Hannya (cat. 214, 215). In their angry expressions and devil-like horns these masks convey a woman's
jealousy of a romantic rival.
The first thing one notices about no masks in performances today is their small size; they do
374 not completely cover the face, complicating the illusion of transformation. This appearance in modern
performances may be attributable in part to conservative sculpturing practices, which as a rule adhere cat. 212
No mask: Zo onna,
to measurements of famous masks of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries rather than adjust to the seventeenth century,
carved wood, gesso,
actual face sizes of contemporary actors. Still, as early as the sixteenth century the Portuguese mission- and pigment,
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ary Luis Frois records the disconcerting effect of the diminutive masks: "In our theaters the masks 2ixi3.6(8V 4 X5 /8),
Ishikawa Prefectural
cover the chin starting from the beard downward; the Japanese ones are so small that an actor who Museum of Art
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appears in a woman's role has his beard always protruding from below." We may suspect, recalling
Chikamatsu's dictum, that the sculptor did not intend to create an illusion of reality. A balance of styliza-
tion and reality was more dramatically expressive than pure representation. It was up to the actor to
complete the transformation of the character.
The elaborate robes used in no further contribute to the overall majestic ambiance of the per-
formance. During the medieval period wealthy samurai patrons often bestowed lavish robes — the
finest gold brocades or silk damasks — on their favorite actors. In the course of the Edo period certain
types of garments, with specified patterns and colors, became associated with particular roles, leading
to a standardization of costume types. Generally speaking, no robes have a transhistorical quality, not
accurately reflecting the fashion or decorative style of any particular period but rather an accretion of

the dress customs of court and samurai elites over the course of the entire medieval period. No troupes
to this day continue to use robes that date to the Edo period or are based on styles codified then.
Male characters wear heavy silk robes called atsuita, a reference to the kind of cloth from which
they were made, which are often elaborately decorated with motifs that conjure poetic sentiments.
One magnificent atsuita no robe (cat. 217) is created from panels of silk — half gold and half red — over- cat. 215
No mask: Hannya,
laid with calligraphy transcribing poems from the early eleventh-century anthology Wakan roeishu seventeenth century,
carved wood, gesso, gold,
(Japanese and Chinese Poems for Singing). Robes for female characters are called surihaku, which refers to and pigment,
the traditional technique of decorating the textiles of which they are commonly made. Surihaku no 2i.2xi6.6(8 /8x6V 2 )
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Tokyo National Museum
robes in general adhere to an understated aesthetic in comparison to atsuita, but still often have elegant
decorative motifs. One surihaku (cat. 216) is decorated with a brisk design of grasses with dew and
snow on a crisp white ground.
In contrast, players in kyôgen drama, traditionally performed during the interludes in a cycle of
no plays, don garments made of hemp cloth dyed in somber colors. Rather than the lyrical associations
of no robe designs, kyôgen robes are commonly decorated with mundane motifs such as a radish and
mallet (see cat. 225), attributes of Daikokuten, a god of good fortune. Kyôgen costumes reflect the
character of these plebeian dramas, which flourished during the Edo period in no small part as a result
of their capacity to capture the humor and occasional absurdities that arise in daily social interaction.