Traditions Transfigured: The Noh Masks of Bidou Yamaguchi

Noh Mask Process "For me, "mask-making" is not a simple expression of representational art of superficies. It is a task of materializing the "narrative" hidden behind each face." -Bidou Yamaguchi

Hinoki, cypress wood, typically aged years is most ofter used.

Kidori is the first step, where the piece of wood is selected based on the character of the mask to be made.

Saws used for cutting

After selecting the piece of wood, the silhouette of the mask is outlined.

These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength. Chisels

These tools are used for the stage of rough carving (arabori). A Noh mask carver may request special dimensions, angle, and density of the blades.

Measuring the wood

After these stages the carving begins. Noh carvers do not use the verb “horu” meaning to carve. Rather they use the verb “utsu” to strike, implying that they enter into the wood as they carve it.

Before the shape of the face appears on the mask Bidou can already see what it will look like.

The back of the mask is carved at the same time as the front so that both sides are worked in tandem.

Gouge and curved chisels are used on the rear.

The next step is the delicate carving to bring out the facial expressions. This step is called shiagebori (carving the finishing touches).

The details of the eyes, mouth, and nose are carved with fine chisels. Sandpaper is not used for 2 reasons. First, in traditional Japanese arts, process is important and sandpaper would be seen as a shortcut. Second, sandpaper actually slightly lifts up the grain of the wood, so the chisel creates a smoother surface.

From left the right, wood chips made with the rough chisel, the medium chisel, and the fine chisel. The pile on the right is the result of one day’s effort.

In the final stages of carving the process becomes very slow. It is only in carving the back of the mask that the carver can deviate from the tradtiioanl and express himself freely. The front requires total concentration.

A completely carved mask, without any color applied. “These new series require modeling from two dimensions into three, which means I have to imagine those parts I cannot actually see. So compared to traditional Noh masks there is much more play for my own creative imagination in shaping the masks.” - Bidou

Uranuri, the next step, is to put lacquer on the back of the mask and to sign it.

Next the metal eyes are put in for the masks that need them, usually for the masks of demons.

The eyes can be copper, brass, bronze, or even gold leaf. They are attached with glue or small metal tacks.

The next stage is applying the first undercoat of pigment (shitanuir). This whitewash is made of ground and baked seashell (gofun) which is mixed with a glue (nikawa) made from the marrow of animals, typically deer.

Various brushes used to coat the entire front surface.

The mask is given 4 or 5 inner coatings (nakanuri), then polished thoroughly. After each coat dries it is polised smooth with chisels, a scouring brush (tokusa), and the ground leaves of the mukunoha (aphanathe aspera).

For the final coat (shiagenuri), mineral and vegetable pigments are used. Pigments are made from various minerals including malachite for the green. Ink (sumi), made from lampblack, is purchased in stick form then mixed with water in the ink stone, before being brushed onto the mask

A mask with some color added

In a step called kegaki, or hair painting, fine brushes are used to make the lines of the beard.

Each line has to be painted with a single stroke. If the brush is lifted the thickness will change which is unacceptable. Strokes are made one at a time. Several hundred are required to suggest the hair of a beard.

The mask shown here looks very fresh. But a mask must be made to look aged, as if it has been created years ago. The final state is the patination or aging (koshoku-zuke).

A new mask would not fit with the atmosphere of the Noh. From the beginning, masks were made so as to appear older.

Aging techniques include abraiding the surface with a whisk made from the bark of the palm tree, and staining it with various materials. The aging processes are among the most tightly kept secrets of the Noh mask carvers.

Fudō. Budhist deity called the Immovable Wisdom King “If I succeed in bringing out some of the same essential sensibility and aesthetic (yugen) as in the Noh masks I've been creating for many years now, then these new series will also be Noh masks — to me at least.” -Bidou