Hannya

[1] In Noh plays, the type of mask changes according to the degree of jealousy, resentment, and anger of the female characters.

The hannya is a mask that represents a female onryō (怨霊, vengeful spirit) even more resentful, jealous, and angry than the namanari (生成), a woman on the verge of becoming a demoness.

The shinjya (真蛇), also called honnari (本成), is a mask that represents the appearance of a female onryō (vengeful spirit) that is even more intense than the hannya.

[4] However, the Sarugaku dangi records a performance of the Noh play Aoi no Ue, and it is possible that snake-like demoness masks such as hannya were used.

[5] The differentiation of mask types seems to have progressed in the 16th century, and the name hannya appears in the works of Shimoma Nakataka, a monk, samurai and Noh actor active from the 1580s to the 1610s.

[6] There are several hypotheses as to why the mask used in Noh, which represents a vengeful spirit expressing female jealousy and resentment, was named hannya.

[10] The hannya mask portrays the souls of women who have become demons due to obsession or jealousy, similar to the Buddhist concept of a hungry ghost.

[12][13] In Noh plays, the type of mask changes according to the degree of jealousy, resentment, and anger of the female characters.

[19][15] The namanari (生成) mask represents a woman in the process of becoming a demoness, with short horns sprouting from both sides of her forehead.

While women, unlike men, were regarded as beings incapable of attaining enlightenment, they were often likened to demoness or poisonous or evil snakes, and when their desires were not satisfied, they were believed to kill people in order to take revenge.