Gojo 呉女

Maid of (the country of) Wu 呉. The only female mask in the *gigaku 伎楽 repertory, Gojo represents a beautiful young lady with pert mouth, crescent eyebrows, and hair done up in two knots, the style (which varies slightly with each mask) represents the 8th-9th-century fashion of the Tang dynasty. Compared to most other types of gigaku masks *gigakumen 伎楽面, the portrayal is refined and naturalistic. In the skit, the lecher *Kuron 崑崙 makes advances to the maid, but is ridiculed by her Buddhist guardian *Rikishi 力士. Two early examples are in the *Shōsōin 正倉院 Repository and two in the Tokyo National Museum. Compare to *bugakumen 舞楽面, *Ayakiri 綾切, *nōmen 能面.