kentoku 賢徳

Also written 見徳. A comic mask used in kyōgen 狂言 plays. Kentoku has a timid, clownish expression, with upward-looking round eyes, sometimes cross-eyed, and a large jaw with buck teeth. The creases that border the nostrils form a broad oval. Kentoku is used for a great variety of kyōgen roles, especially animals. He represents the spirit of the horse in Shidō Hōgaku the Hourse Shidō Hōgaku 止動方角, the dog in The Dog and the Warrior Priest Inu Yamabushi 犬山伏, the crab in The Warrior Priest and the Crab Kani Yamabushi 蟹山伏, and the cow in Yokoza 横座.