The hannya (般若) is a mask used in Japanese Noh theater, representing a jealous female demon. It is characterized by two … See more

The word hannya (般若) is a Japanese phonetic transcription of the Sanskrit word prajñā (प्रज्ञा), meaning 'wisdom'. There are several hypotheses as to why the mask used in Noh, which represents a vengeful spirit expre… See more

The hannya mask is used in many Noh and kyōgen plays, as well as in Shinto ritual kagura dances. The hannya mask portrays the souls of women who have become demons due to obsession or jealousy, similar to th… See more

• Aoi no Ue – worn by the Lady Rokujō in her second-half appearance as a demon.
• Dōjōji – can be worn by the dancing woman in her second-half appearance as a snake, though the shinjya (真蛇) mask is also used. … See more

In Noh plays, the type of mask changes according to the degree of jealousy, resentment, and anger of the female characters.
The deigan (泥眼) and hashihime (橋姫) masks des… See more

Hannya also appears in Bunraku, a puppet theater that began in the Edo period. The Japan Arts Council (ja) lists 129 types of puppet heads, and hannya is one of them. A puppet head of the gabu type can also represent h… See more

• In the 1964 Japanese horror film Onibaba, an older woman wears a hannya mask after stealing it from a samurai.
• The 1975 Japanese experimental short film Ātman depicts a figure in an outdoor environment, wearing a r… See more