A mask representing a middle-aged woman torn by separation from a loved one, either man or child. Gentle and mature, Fukai's face is filled with a melancholy that comes from experience and feeling. The features are deep cut, with crevices along the lower cheeks and deep-set eyes with heavy eyelids and drooping corners. The well-modulated lips neither smile nor frown. The fleshy face has a protruding forehead and chin, creating a slightly concave silhouette. The hairline is the same as wakaonna. The writings of Zeami mention a fine Fukai by the carver Echi, possibly the very same as a Muromachi period mask presently owned by the Kanze family. Fukai is the standard Kanze school mask for roles of mothers who have lost their child in plays like Sumidagawa (Sumida River) or Fujito; wives separated from their husbands in plays like Kinuta (The Fulling Block); or other middle-aged woman roles, like the mountain woman in the first act of Yamanba. The Hōshō school has a special variation, Asai (shallow). [MB]
thumbnail list view
