The Hannya is often seen characterized on Japanese masks.
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Introduction
The hannya is a demonic woman with vampire-like qualities from Japanese lore. She is very jealous and is described as having two sharp horns poking from her head, eyes that are known to glare, and a large mouth. When opened, the mouth stretches from ear to ear. She eats children and drinks their blood. She is very popular and can be seen in many mask designs throughout Japan. The masks expression has her mouth open and is suppose to capture her anger and wrath. The oldest hannya mask is from 1558.
The Mask
When the mask is used in popular plays the coloration of the mask will depend on how angry she is. The redder her face the more angry she is. For example in a play known as Dodoji, which is a play about a woman who falls inlove with a priest from the Dodoji Temple, the hannya is very violent. She turns herself into an evil serpent and slithers up to the bell at the top of the temple. She wraps herself around it and eats it then turns against the priest and devours him as well. In other plays when she is not so angry her face is portrayed with a paler yellow mask.
Interesting Fact:
In modern day Japan when a wife gets angry or jealous the man will put his two index fingers out from his forehead to symbolize the hannya.
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