Note

Otoko (Men) – Chūjō
Chūjō represents a male mask, and it has been considered to have been inspired by the historical person “Ariwara no Narihira”. The mask is used for the noble character who has an elegant and gentle mood. Tenjō-mayu (the practice of removing the natural eyebrows and painting smudge-like eyebrows on the forehead) and ohaguro (the custom of dyeing ones teeth black) are symbol of the nobleman of the historical period. The face also expresses the sorrow for the ruin of the old “Heike” nobles who were defeated by the war. The Chūjō mask is used especially in the stories “Kiyotsune”, “Michimori”, “Tadanori”, “Un’in-rin” and “Tōru”.


Shime Waki (和 知 七五 三) (1934-2012, born in Ibaraki, Japan), Photographer,
As a photographer of art was very attracted by the Noh masks. After he began to produce the Noh mask as a hobby rather than for the theater in Yokohama, Japan, and showed his works at various national and international exhibitions.