I’m sure you’ve seen this mask often in Japanese horror anime and video games. This is actually a mask called 小面 Ko-omoté, which is originally used in the Japanese ancient stage art: Noh Theater.
With such a scary face, it must represent a horrible monster or something right? But it actually stands for a young and beautiful woman. Yes you heard me correctly. lol
There are three main reasons why this mask looks so scary.
1. They represent gods and spirits
The reason why masks are used in noh theater in the first place, is because “performers want to act as someone/something that they are not.”
2. The aesthetic sense was different from what it is now
Expressionlessness was the standard of beauty for people of high ranks in the past.
3. There are multiple emotions expressed with one face
Every noh mask’s facial expression is created by combining multiple emotions with one face, so it might seem unnatural and somewhat ominous.
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