The hannya (般若) is a mask used in Japanese Noh theater, representing a jealous female demon. It is characterized by two sharp bull-like horns, metallic eyes, and a leering mouth. In Noh plays, the type of mask … 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 … 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 … 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 hannya. The gabu is equipped with a … See more

The word hannya (般若) is a Japanese phonetic transcription of the Sanskrit word prajñā (प्रज्ञा), meaning 'wisdom'. There are several … 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 described below are each classified as a separate mask … See more

• In the 1964 Japanese horror film Onibaba, an older woman wears a hannya mask after stealing it from a samurai.
• The … See more