Men

These masks are used for roles of male characters, with an age range spanning to youth to middle-age. Old men masks are categorized separately as jō-men 尉面. Following the convention, characters such as male ghosts, deities or demons are performed with a mask, while roles of male human beings who are alive in the narrative present are performed without a mask (hita-men). Exceptions to this rule are the ‘three blinds’ (Semimaru, Yoroboshi, Kagekiyo); roles of young temple acolyte (Kasshiki); roles of Chinese men (Kantan-otoko); the bandit Kumasaka (Chōrei-beshimi); the exiled priest Shunkan (Shunkan).

Dōji 童子

Roles	Deity in disguise; Chinese immortal
Plays	Iwafune, Tamura, Kokaji, Kiku-jiō (Makura-jidō), Shakkyō (tsure)
Act	First or second
Play category	First, second, fourth, fifth.
Shite school	All
Features	Straight painted hair; arched eyebrows; smiling mouth
Wig	Kuro-gashira

Notes: The oval shape of the mask, devoid of wrinkles or furrows, the arched eyebrows and smiling mouth result in a youthful appearance. This mask is used for roles of a supernatural being in the form of a boy. Its uncombed hair matches the large kashira wig used in combination with this mask.

Kasshiki 喝食

Roles	Temple acolyte
Plays	Jinen-koji, Kagetsu
Act	First or second
Play category	Fourth
Shite school	All
Features	Gingko leaf-shaped bangs, hair painted combed to the sides of the face to match the black wig used with this mask; up-swerving eyebrows.
Wig	Kasshiki-kazura

Notes: This mask is used for roles of young acolyte serving a Buddhist temple.The bangs indicate that the boy is yet to take the tonsure. Kasshiki bangs can be straight or flared like a gingko leaf. The mask is used in combination with the kasshiki-kazurawig.

Chūjō 中将

Roles	Taira warrior or courtier
Plays	Kiyotsune, Tadanori, Michimori, Tōru, Oshio, Unrin’in, Genjō, Suma Genji, etc.
Act	Second
Play category	Second, third, fifth.
Shite school	All
Features	hat line; painted eyebrows high on forehead; furrows between eyes; light painted mustache; teeth painted black.
Wig	Kuro-tare or no wig (ji-gami).

Notes: The face represented by this mask sports the same make up style of young women masks, such as ko-omote, with eyebrows plucked and painted on the forehead and blackened teeth. Because of its refined appearance, it is used to represent warrior-courtier members of the Taira clan (Kiyotsune, Tadanori, Michimori), or courtier aristocrats such as the minister Minamoto no Tōru (Tōru) or Ariwara no Narihira (Unrin’in, Oshio).

Heita 平太

Roles	Strong warrior
Plays	Yashima, Tamura, Kanehira, Ebira, etc.
Act	Second
Play category	Second
Shite school	All
Features	hat line; reddish complexion; natural eyebrows, pointing up; painted mustache; wide, round pupils, sunken eyes.
Wig	Kuro-tare

Notes: This mask is used for roles of strong warriors such as members of the Minamoto clan, or Sakanoue Tamuramarō. Compared with the more refined Chūjō (above), its wider mouth and eye openings, its pointed eyebrows and wide swerving mustache, and its darker complexion evoke the visage of an experienced warrior.

Kantan-otoko 邯鄲男

Roles	Commoner; Rōsei in Kantan; young deity; ghost of a troubled nobleman
Plays	Kantan, Ominameshi, Takasago, Ema, Yōrō, etc.
Act	First or second
Play category	First, fourth
Shite school	All
Features	furrows between  the eyes; natural eyebrows;  terse cheeks; light mustache; upper and lower teeth.
Wig	Kuro-tare

Notes: the name of the mask derives from the play Kantan, in which it is used to portray Rōsei, a Chinese man. It belongs to a group of masks used to portray male characters who are alive in the narrative present of a play, hence would be conventionally staged without a mask (hita-men).

In the case of the play Kantan, the mask kantan-otoko has been used in order to provide a slightly troubled air to the character. However, the use of the mask extends to other characters types, such as an aristocrat (Ominameshi), the deity of Sumiyoshi (Takasago), the deity Tajikarao (Ema) or the mountain deity in Yōrō.

Contributor: Diego Pellecchia