zō-onna 増女

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面, representing a young angel, goddess or enlightened woman. A cool reserve seen in the passive expression, flat cheeks, unsmiling lips, and intelligent high forehead lends this mask a stately dignity that contrasts with the open expression of *ko-omote 小面, and other standard young women's masks. The downcast eyes, narrow features, and horizontal brush strokes heighten the effect of other worldliness. The hairlines are drawn in the same style as *waka-onna 若女, but the lips have a darker hue.
Zō-onna is used by all schools for celestial women, such as the angel in Hagoromo 羽衣 (Feather Robe), the mother goddess of the West in Seiōbo 西王母 (Ch: Xiwangmu), and the sun goddess Amaterasu 天照 in Ema 絵馬 (Votive Tablets). At times the severity of zō-onna's expression is deemed fit for roles of women who are really disguised demons, such as in Momijigari 紅葉狩 (Maple Viewing) or Sesshōseki 殺生石 (Death Rock).
The mask type is reputed to have been created by the talented dengaku 田楽 player Zōami 増阿弥, who was a contemporary of Zeami Motokiyo 世阿弥元清 (1363-1443) and favored by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu 足利義滿 (1358-1408). Variations on the mask include nakizō 泣増 (weeping zō), with narrower eyes and more piqued features and the still more introverted hōrai-onna 宝来女, said to have been invented by the Muromachi period carver Hōrai 宝来. Many fine examples of zō-onna exist, including several older masks at the Tokyo National Museum.
Sculpturally, the standard young woman's mask of the Hōshō 宝生 school, *fushikizō 節木増, belongs within the zō 増 category.