sankōjō 三光尉

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing a plebeian old man. Deep furrows line the cheeks and forehead. White beard and head hair are implanted with horse hair. Both upper and lower teeth show behind the implanted moustache. Sankōjō is worn in the first act of plays like Akogi 阿漕 and Kuzu 国栖 for the role of a fisherman, and it can also be used for the old fisherman or farmer appearing in the first act of warrior plays like Yashima 八島, Sanemori 実盛 and Tadanori 忠度. In the Konparu 金春, Kongō 金剛, and Kita 喜多 schools, sankōjō often replaces the mask *asakurajō 朝倉尉. Said to have been first made by the late 15th-century carver Sankōbō 三光坊 (see *jissaku 十作), the founder of the Deme 出目 school of mask carvers, after a visionary dream.