hannya

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. However, the records a performance of the Noh play , and it is possible that snake-like demoness masks such as were used. 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.