A mask representing a good-luck sea sprite fond of drinking. Sculpturally of the same conception as dōji and jidō, shōjō is immediately recognizable by the bright red coloring indicative of intoxication. The mouth curls into a broad smile exposing a suggestion of lower teeth as well as upper, painted white at the tip, black at the base. The cheek muscles pull back for the smile and the shaped eyes twinkle. Loose strands of hair fall lightly over rising eyebrows. Used exclusively for the role of shōjō elves in the play Shōjō or the Kanze school Taihei Shōjō. These inebriated sprites present a wine merchant with a spring of wine that never runs dry. A very fine example housed in Tenkawa Daibenzaiten Shrine, Nara prefecture bears an inscription with the date 1591. [MB]
