Hannya Explained

The is a mask used in Japanese Noh theater, representing a jealous female demon. It is characterized by two sharp bull-like horns, metallic eyes, and a leering mouth. In Noh plays, the type of mask changes according to the degree of jealousy, resentment, and anger of the female characters. The is a mask that represents a female even more resentful, jealous, and angry than the, a woman on the verge of becoming a demoness.

The is also called . The, also called, is a mask that represents the appearance of a female that is even more intense than the . These masks, which represent the jealousy, resentment, and anger of female demons, are classified as masks.

It is said that there are now more than 250 types of Noh masks, but the oldest historical record of Noh masks,, mentions only about 14 types of masks, and the name is not found among them.^[1] However, the records a performance of the Noh play, and it is possible that snake-like demoness masks such as were used.^[2]

The differentiation of mask types seems to have progressed in the 16th century, and the name appears in the works of Shimoma Nakataka, a monk, samurai and Noh actor active from the 1580s to the 1610s.^[1]

Etymology

The word is a Japanese phonetic transcription of the Sanskrit word (Sanskrit: प्रज्ञा), meaning 'wisdom'.^[3] There are several hypotheses as to why the mask used in Noh, which represents a vengeful spirit expressing female jealousy and resentment, was named .^[4] According to the first hypothesis, the mask was named because it is said to have been perfected by, a Japanese monk of the Bunmei era (1469–1487).^{[4] [5] [6]} The second hypothesis is that it was named after the line in the Noh play .^[4] The in this line refers to the voice reciting the Heart Sutra, which repels evil spirits.^[7] An alternative explanation is that the artist would need a great deal of wisdom in order to create this mask.^[5]

Characteristics

The mask is used in many Noh and plays, as well as in Shinto ritual dances.^[8] The mask portrays the souls of women who have become demons due to obsession or jealousy, similar to the Buddhist concept of a hungry ghost. Plays in which a person may wear the mask include and ; its use in these two plays, two of the most famous of the Noh repertoire, and its distinctive and frightening appearance make it one of the most recognizable Noh masks.^{[5] [6]}

The mask is said to be demonic and dangerous but also sorrowful and tormented, displaying the complexity of human emotions. When the actor looks straight ahead, the mask appears frightening and angry; when tilted slightly down, the face of the demon appears to be sorrowful, as though crying. The ability to change the expression of the mask through use of perspective is a feature commonly seen in Noh theatre.^[9]

masks appear in various skin tones: a white mask indicates a woman with a refined character (such as the aristocratic Lady Rokujō in), a red mask depicts a less refined character (like the spirit of peasant girl seen in), and the darkest red depicts true demons (revealed after appearing as women, as in and).^{[10] [11]}

Plays associated with

• – worn by the Lady Rokujō in her second-half appearance as a demon.^{[5] [6]}
• – can be worn by the dancing woman in her second-half appearance as a snake, though the mask is also used.^{[5] [6]}
• – The story is about a woman who appears to Nichiren and reveals her true identity as a giant snake, but is transformed into a heavenly maiden by the Nichiren's recitation of sutras. In the scene where the serpent transforms into a heavenly maiden, appears wearing a woman's mask overlaid with mask, and removes the mask in the middle of the scene.^[12]
• – the story of a woman who is divorced from her husband and becomes a demon, cursing him and his future wife, but is repelled by the prayers of Abe no Seimei.^[12]
• (known in the Kanze school as) – worn by the spinning woman of Adachigahara after she is revealed to be a demon.^{[5] [6]}
• – can be worn by the noblewoman after she is revealed to be a demon.^{[5] [6]}

Masks similar to

In Noh plays, the type of mask changes according to the degree of jealousy, resentment, and anger of the female characters.

The and masks described below are each classified as a separate mask type, while the,,, and masks are classified as masks. The mask type is a type of mask and is used exclusively in the performance.

The mask is a mask that represents the first stage of a woman's transformation into a demoness as her emotions begin to rise. The gold-painted eyes and tooth tips on the masks indicate that the women have already begun the transformation from human to or . It is used in the Noh plays and .^{[13] [14]} The mask is also used as a mask that is not associated with a woman's resentment, jealousy, or anger, but simply represents that she has gone from human to supernatural beings. For example, in the and performances, the mask is used to represent a woman who has become a dragoness or a bodhisattva.^[15]

The mask is painted red from the eyes down, and has more disheveled hair and more prominent golden eyes than the mask. These features of the mask indicate that the woman has a strong desire for revenge. It is used in the Noh plays and .^{[16] [17]}

The mask represents a woman in the process of becoming a demoness, with short horns sprouting from both sides of her forehead. Compared to the, the mask represents the psychological state of a woman who is still emotionally attached to her husband. is used exclusively as a mask for the Noh play .^{[18] [15]}

The mask that represents a woman who has become a demoness is, and is also called or in contrast to .^[19]

The mask that represents a demoness who becomes even more furious and looks like a snake is a, meaning 'snake', and the one that is even more furious is, meaning 'true snake'. These masks are sometimes called in contrast to and .^[19] The masks of and have tongues peeking out of their mouths, and some masks have no ears, making them look more like snakes than humans.^[20] In Buddhism, a person who hindered enlightenment was sometimes likened to a poisonous snake. While women, unlike men, were regarded as beings incapable of attaining enlightenment, they were often likened to demoness or poisonous or evil snakes, and when their desires were not satisfied, they were believed to kill people in order to take revenge.^[21] In some schools, or is used as an alternative mask to in .^[20]

in

also appears in, a puppet theater that began in the Edo period. The Japan Arts Council (ja) lists 129 types of puppet heads, and is one of them.^[22] A puppet head of the type can also represent . The is equipped with a device that allows the puppet to change its facial expression instantly by pulling a string. In this way, a single head can represent the transformation of a beautiful woman into . When the puppeteer pulls the string attached to the, the puppet with the face of a beautiful woman is transformed into a terrifying with golden horns, large golden eyes, a mouth that reaches to the ears, and fangs.^{[23] [24]}

In popular culture

• In the 1964 Japanese horror film, an older woman wears a mask after stealing it from a samurai.
• The 1975 Japanese experimental short film depicts a figure in an outdoor environment, wearing a robe and a mask.^{[25] [26]}
• , a stop-motion short film by Kihachirō Kawamoto, features an with the face of a .^[27]
• In the mobile game, the character Hannya is a who has a mask on his forehead and another on his back.
• In the manga and anime Rurouni Kenshin, a character named Hannya wears one of these masks and it is his namesake.
• In the Yakuza video game series, the character Goro Majima has a large tattoo of a on his back. He also has an alter-ego, Hannya-Man, in, that wears a mask.
• In a Detective Conan anime-only case, a woman who killed the people who drove her sister to suicide used the as a murder motif. The legend also influences a local tradition that follows the story of two envious girls who set up another named Ohana to be executed so they can steal her various kimono, but end up murdered by Ohana's vengeful soul, reborn as an immortal demon.
• In the 1995 platform game Mega Man 7, the boss of the third Wily Fortress stage is HannyaNED², a -shaped flying robot Dr. Wily had found frozen in a glacier and that swore loyalty to him after being rescued.
• In the 1998 survival horror video game , a character named George Maxwell wears a mask while wielding a large hatchet, implying when he was infected with a parasitic bacteria and became insane, he concealed his face with the mask.
• In the 2001 horror video game Fatal Frame, the Himuro family master wears a hannya mask. The game also features puzzles involving other Noh masks.
• In 2011 the game Team Fortress 2 in collaboration with featured a cosmetic item called Noh Mercy.
• In the 2013 video game Tomb Raider there are three masks that can be found but one of them is called Hannya Mask which is founded during Lara Croft's adventures in the fictional area of the Dragon's Tooth. It can be found at Coastal Forest. Further examining the mask will give the player that this mask has traces of white paint inside indicating whoever used it was of noble birth.
• In the 2014 video game The Battle Cats there is a boss that wears a Hannya mask, and is called "Hannya"
• In the 2019 action adventure video game , one of the bosses named the Corrupted Monk wears a mask to conceal her true face. She is based on the story of Yao Bikuni and the Ningyo and bears a likeness to her story, being an immortal monk who gained immortality due to eating a type of meat.
• In the 2019 gacha mobile-game Arknights, one of the characters named Hoshiguma - a defender operator has a triange-like shield named Hannya.
• In the 2022 action-adventure video game , the main antagonists conceals their identities with masks.
• The popular Vocaloid producer Masa Works Design referenced hannya in a lot of his series. His most notable inclusion of hannyas is in the Sister's Story series, where the main characters (or character) are referred to as a hannya split in two.

See also

• Hungry ghost

External links

• Netsuke: masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains many examples of Hannya
• Hannya Mask Tattoo Meaning): Unveiling The Symbolism And Significance]

Notes and References

1. Book: 11–12. 能面を科学する 世界の仮面と演劇. Research Center of Classic Performing Arts, Kobe Women's University. Benseisha Publishing Inc.. 2016. 978-4585270270.
2. Book: 210–211. 能面を科学する 世界の仮面と演劇. Research Center of Classic Performing Arts, Kobe Women's University. Benseisha Publishing Inc.. 2016. 978-4585270270.
3. Web site: https://kotobank.jp/word/%E8%88%AC%E8%8B%A5-118535. https://web.archive.org/web/20230102080617/https://kotobank.jp/word/%E8%88%AC%E8%8B%A5-118535. ja:般若. ja. Kotobank. 2 January 2023. 14 January 2023.
4. Web site: https://www.tamagawa.ac.jp/museum/archive/2007/186.html. https://web.archive.org/web/20220628065834/https://www.tamagawa.ac.jp/museum/archive/2007/186.html. ja:能面「般若（白）」. ja. Tamagawa University Museum of Education. 28 June 2022. 14 January 2023.
5. Web site: Onryô - Hannya. https://web.archive.org/web/20221019061925/http://www.the-noh.com/sub/jp/index.php?mode=db&action=e_view_detail&data_id=11&class_id=1. the-noh.com. 19 October 2022. 14 January 2023.
6. Web site: hannya . https://web.archive.org/web/20221221115836/http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/h/hannya.htm. Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System JAANUS. 21 December 2022. 14 January 2023.
7. Web site: https://kotobank.jp/word/%E8%88%AC%E8%8B%A5%E5%A3%B0-607123. https://web.archive.org/web/20220103125234/https://kotobank.jp/word/%E8%88%AC%E8%8B%A5%E5%A3%B0-607123. ja:般若声. ja. Kotobank. 3 January 2022. 14 January 2023.
8. Sadler . A.W . 'O-Kagura'. Field Notes on the Festival Drama in Modern Tokyo . Asian Folklore Studies . 29 . 294 . 1177614. 1970 . 10.2307/1177614 .
9. Book: Komparu . Kunio . The Noh Theater: Principles and Perspectives . 1983 . John Weatherhill . New York / Tokyo . 0-8348-1529-X.
10. Coldiron . Margaret . Lions, Witches, and Happy Old Men: Some Parallels between Balinese and Japanese Ritual Masks . Asian Theatre Journal . 22 . 2 . 227–248 . 2005. 10.1353/atj.2005.0021 . 4137132. 161312412 .
11. Book: Bethe . Monica . Emmert . Richard . Aoi no Ue, Noh Performance Guide 7 . National Noh Theatre . 1997 . Tokyo.
12. Book: 200, 307, 741. 能楽大事典. Seki Kobayashi, Tetsuo Nishi, and Hisashi Hata. Chikuma Shobō. 2012. 978-4480873576.
13. Web site: ColBase . https://web.archive.org/web/20230208174354/https://colbase.nich.go.jp/collection_items/tnm/C-1538?locale=ja. ja:能面 泥眼 天下一河内. ja. ColBase. 8 February 2023. 8 February 2023 .
14. Web site: ColBase . https://web.archive.org/web/20230208174352/https://colbase.nich.go.jp/collection_items/tnm/C-43?locale=ja. ja:能面 泥眼 越智作/満昆（花押）. ja. ColBase. 8 February 2023. 8 February 2023 .
15. Web site: http://museum.city.fukuoka.jp/archives/leaflet/186/index02.html. https://web.archive.org/web/20220707161010/http://museum.city.fukuoka.jp/archives/leaflet/186/index02.html. ja:能面の世界 女面. ja. Fukuoka City Museum. 7 July 2022. 8 February 2023.
16. Web site: http://www.city.yatsushiro.kumamoto.jp/museum/event/per_ex2/pdf/noh_m.pdf. https://web.archive.org/web/20150209040009/http://www.city.yatsushiro.kumamoto.jp/museum/event/per_ex2/pdf/noh_m.pdf. ja:やさしい能面入門講座. ja. Yatsushiro Municipal Museum. 9 February 2015. 8 February 2023.
17. Book: 26, 42. 能面の世界. Haruo Nishino. Heibonsha. 2012. 978-4582634716.
18. Book: 651. 能楽大事典. Seki Kobayashi, Tetsuo Nishi, and Hisashi Hata. Chikuma Shobō. 2012. 978-4480873576.
19. Book: 6, 7, 39. 般若面を打つ 原寸型紙と詳細なプロセス写真で学ぶ. Akira Kurabayashi. Japan Publications, Inc.. 2013. 978-4817050823.
20. Book: 439, 478. 能楽大事典. Seki Kobayashi, Tetsuo Nishi, and Hisashi Hata. Chikuma Shobō. 2012. 978-4480873576.
21. Book: 713, 714. 能とは何か 下 (専門篇) ― 野上豊一郎批評集成. Toyoichiro Nogami. Shoshi Shinsui. 2009. 978-4902854657.
22. Web site: https://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/dglib/plays/search?division=plays&class=bunraku&type=head&istart=all. https://web.archive.org/web/20230512074014/https://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/dglib/plays/search?division=plays&class=bunraku&type=head&istart=all. ja:首（かしら）で探す. ja. Japan Arts Council. 12 May 2023. 12 May 2023.
23. Web site: https://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/dglib/contents/learn/edc26/ningyo/kashira1.html. https://web.archive.org/web/20230113022949/https://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/dglib/contents/learn/edc26/ningyo/kashira1.html. ja:かしらの種類. ja. Japan Arts Council. 13 January 2023. 12 May 2023.
24. Web site: Bunraku Dolls: Types of Heads. https://web.archive.org/web/20220815235718/https://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/bunraku/en/doll/head3.html. Japan Arts Council. 15 August 2022. 12 May 2023.
25. Book: Belina. Mirna. Kožul. Marina. 2005. 25 FPS Internatnacionalni festival eskperimentalnog filma i videa, Zagreb, 21-25/09/05. hr. 25 FPS udruga za audio-vizualna istraživanja. 149. 9789539518804. 16 June 2021. "Maska s dva kratka roga ic zvana Hannya predstavlja ženskoga demona ljubomore i gnjeva, kojeg c se često koristilo u nô drami.".
26. 1978. Millennium Film Journal. Millennium Film Journal. 2. 88. 16 June 2021.
27. Web site: - YouTube. YouTube.