Keywords
Art History
Sculpture
One horned hermit. A *noh mask *nōmen 能面, made for the role of the one-horned hermit in the play Ikkaku sennin. Of the basic *ayakashi 怪士 type, its features resemble *shinkaku 真角 the most, but it can be easily identified by the single deer horn inserted in the middle of its forehead, reminding the viewer that his mother was a deer. In the play, he has imprisoned the thunder god so that no rain will fall. Plied with wine and fascinated by women dancing seductively, he fails to watch over his prisoner and the rain god escapes to save the crops.