Hannya

Uncommon card · No. 90279

The hannya (般若) is a mask used in a traditional 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 hannya is a mask that represents a female onryō, even more resentful, jealous, and angry than the namanari (生成), a woman on the verge of becoming a demoness. The hannya is also called chūnari (中成). The shinjya (真蛇), also called honnari (本成), is a mask that represents the appearance of a female onryō, even more intense than the hannya. These masks, which represent the jealousy, resentment, and anger of female demons, are classified as jya (蛇, snake) masks. It is said that there are now more than 250 types of Noh masks, but the oldest historical record of Noh masks, Sarugaku dangi, mentions only about 14 types of masks, and the name hannya is not found among them. However,...

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