fushikizō 節木増

Knotted zō. A noh mask, *nōmen 能面, representing a mature young woman. A mere suggestion of a smile lingers on the lips of this beautiful mask with high forehead (not as broad as *ko-omote 小面 or *magojirō 孫次郎), and smooth cheeks. The oval outlines of the face and wide-set eyes, high eyebrows, and hair style (two loose strands eminating at the part and pulled back above the eyebrows where three new strands begin to fall down along the side of the cheek, and three extra strands loop across the juncture) are almost identical to the features of a young woman's mask, *wakaonna 若女, used by the Kanze 観世 school. Fushikizō has a joyous sobriety, the horizontal brush strokes of the final coat of white-wash, *gofun 胡粉, lending the mask a reserved and dignified expression. A resin stain from a knot in the wood at the nose bridge forms the identifying feature of the original mask and inspires its name. This blemish is often simulated in copies of the mask.
This original is said to have been carved by Zōami Hisatsugu 増阿弥久次, a prominent actor belonging to the Ōmi Sarugaku 近江申楽 group of the late 14th and early 15th century, who was admired by Zeami Motokiyo 世阿弥元清 (1363-1443) for his graceful dancing. The Hōshō 宝生 school uses fushikizō as their standard mask for young woman protagonists, shite シテ, in such plays as Nonomiya 野宮 (The Shrine in the Fields), *Izutsu 井筒 (The Well), Eguchi 江口 (The River Mouth), or *Yōkihi 楊貴妃 (Yang Guifei). Other schools may use fushikizō as a substitute for zō 増 in roles of angels or divine women.