Women

Women masks include some of the most famous noh masks, such as Ko-omote, the face of a young girl. This category of masks cover a wide range of ages, from the prime of adolescence to the decrepitude of old age. Most female masks follow the aesthetics of the Heian period court women and feature parted hair, eyebrows plucked and redrawn at the top of the forehead and blackened teeth. Shite schools follow different conventions for the portrayal of characters of women. A chart at the end of the page summarizes such differences.

Ko-omote 小面

Roles	Young woman; deity or spirit in the form of young woman
Plays	This mask is used in a great number of plays. These are only a few examples – in brackets is the role type. Yuya (woman – alive), Matsukaze (woman – ghost), Kamo (deity – tsure), Fuji (flower spirit).
Act	First or second
Play category	All
Shite school	All
Features	Fair complexion; three thick hairlines neatly combed along the sides; fuzzy eyebrows painted high on the forehead; plump cheeks; eyes, nose and mouth are close to the center of the mask.
Wig	Kazura or kuro-tare

Notes: The name of this type of mask literally means ‘small face’, though it implies beauty rather than just small dimensions. The use varies depending on the shite school. Traditionally, it is used by the Kongō, Komparu, and Kita schools for shite roles of young woman or female spirits. It is the only young woman mask used for tsure roles. The same mask is used to portray rustic country women and ladies at court.

Waka-onna 若女

Roles	Young woman; deity or spirit in the form of young woman.
Plays	Izutsu, Eguchi, Hashitomi, Funa-Benkei, Motomezuka, Dōjō-ji, etc.
Act	First or second
Play category	Second, third, fourth.
Shite school	Kanze
Features	Similar to ko-omote, but with thinner eyebrows; more strands of hair, and less full cheeks.
Wig	Kazura or kuro-tare

Notes: The name of this type mask means ‘young woman’. Traditionally, it is used by the Kanze school for shite roles of young woman or female spirit. It expresses a more refined and mature beauty than Ko-omote.

Magojirō 孫次郎

Roles	Young woman; deity or spirit in the form of young woman.
Plays	Izutsu, Nonomiya, Dōjōji, etc.
Act	First or second
Play category	All
Shite school	Kongō
Features	Similar to Ko-omote, but with brushed hair lines; sharper nose; larger, more elongated eyes, and thicker lips.
Wig	Kazura or kuro-tare

Notes: The name of this type of mask derives from the name of its creator, the performer and carver Kongō Magojirō, who is thought to have carved the model for this mask based on the features of his deceased wife. Traditionally, it is used by the Kongō school for shite roles of young woman or female spirits.

Zō-onna 増女

Roles	Deity or female spirit
Plays	Ema, Hagoromo, Miwa, Kazuraki, etc.
Act	First or second
Play category	First, third, fourth
Shite school	All
Features	Thin eyebrows; sharp nose; thin, m-shaped upper lip; plump lower lip; upper teeth fairly visible.
Wig	Kazura or kuro-tare

Notes: The name of this type of mask (‘zо̄ woman’) derives from its creator, the dengaku actor contemporary of Zeami, Zо̄ami. This is the mask of choice for roles of high-ranking deities or spirits, and used exclusively for shite roles. Its large forehead with thin eyebrows, elongated eyes, sharp nose and spare cheeks give the mask an elegant and detached expression.

Fukai 深井

Roles	Middle-aged woman
Plays	Sumidagawa, Sakuragawa, Miidera, Hyakuman, Kinuta, Mochizuki, Tanikō, etc.
Act	First or second
Play category	Fourth
Shite school	Kanze, Hōshō
Features	High, thin eyebrows; sunken cheeks; eyes point down; thin and sharp upper lip; mouth corners point down.
Wig	Kazura

Notes: The name of this type of mask means ‘deep well’. This type of mask is traditionally used by Kanze and Hōshō schools for roles of mother or wife. The human expression emerging from this rather conventional face of a middle-age woman makes the mask appropriate to portray the character of a woman undergoing emotional suffering or distress, for example because of the loss of a child or husband. Notice how the mask is mostly used in fourth-category, genzai (‘present-time’) plays. As a consequence, the mask is unsuitable for representing roles of deity or spirit, for which masks of young or old women are used.

Shakumi 曲見

Roles	Middle-aged woman
Plays	Sumidagawa, Sakuragawa, Miidera, Hyakuman, Kinuta, Mochizuki, Tanikō, etc.
Act	First or second
Play category	Fourth
Shite school	Komparu, Kongō, Kita
Features	High, thin eyebrows; sunken cheeks; eyes point down; thin and sharp upper lip; mouth corners point down.
Wig	Kazura

Notes: The name of this type of mask mask means ‘slanted gaze’, referring to how the mask appears to be looking down. This type of mask is traditionally used by Komparu, Kongō and Kita schools for roles of mother or wife. The human expression emerging from this rather conventional face of a middle-age woman makes the mask appropriate to portray the character of a woman undergoing emotional suffering or distress, for example because of the loss of a child or husband. The swollen eyelids suggest that the woman has cried. Notice how the mask is mostly used in fourth-category, genzai (‘present-time’) plays. As a consequence, the mask is unsuitable for representing roles of deity or spirit, for which masks of young or old women are used.

Uba 姥

Roles	Old woman; deity or spirit in the form of an old woman.
Plays	Takasago (tsure), Kuzu (tsure), Kurozuka, Sotoba-komachi, Ubasute, etc.
Act	First or second
Play category	First, third
Shite school	All
Features	Mixed black and white hair; downward-looking eye openings stretch from inner to outer corner; numerous wrinkles; sunken cheeks, down-turned mouth.
Wig	Kazura

Notes: The name of this type of mask means ‘old woman’. This mask is used both for roles of woman and of deity in disguise, as in Takasago and Kuzu or in the kogaki (variant performance) of plays such as Kurozuka, in which the shite in the standard version wears Fukai or Shakumi.

Note about women masks

Shite schools have different standard masks  used to portray the young and middle-aged women in shite roles.  Tsure roles of young woman are invariably portrayed using Ko-omote.

Also, two middle-aged woman masks are used as follow:

Kanze, Hōshō: Fukai

Komparu, Kongō, Kita: Shakumi

Contributor: Diego Pellecchia