Translations requested

[Saionji Shonagon]

For any of our Japanese readers.




Inscription/label are from some Noh character masks a lady in my kingdom acquired at a thrift store. This being the Bay area, they could be the real deal or souvenirs. (I have not seen the originals in person.) She is hoping someone can read the above and provide a translation.

Many thanks!

[Yamanouchi Eidou]

2nd pic:

ninkai: Sea of Endurance, Ninja Sea, All the Stealth

[AJBryant]

The first one makes my head hurt -- I am severely out of practice in reading cursive Japanese. The second one is Oshimi 忍海, which can either be a surname, or a district in Nara.

EDIT to add:

Okay, feeling curious.

The first one ---

The second part begins with a problematic kanji. I'm going through my kuzushi-ji dictionary now, looking at all the calligraphic variants for all the kanji with the 辶 radical. One thing that emerges as a possibility is a character that is no longer used in the original form (邊) but simplified in modern Japanese as 辺 -- but historically calligraphic styles have allowed it to be abbreviated as 辶 enclosing カ (but that's not a か). A very good possibility is 返, several calligraphic versions of which are VERY close to 辶 enclosing か. There *is* a kanji 迦, which is VERY close 辶 enclosing 加), but none of the calligraphic forms represent a single line or tick (丶) for the mouth radical on the right (口) -- invariably, the line is doubled or looping, to indicate the more complex shape of the box.

The second kanji is also a puzzler. It looks (at least partially) like a cursive form of 様 ("sama" "yo") but... well, I can't think of anything combining that with any of the possible kanji I have listed in the previous 'graph. Now, "迦様" shows up a lot as the last two of the three kanji in "Shaka-sama" (Shakyamuni), but that's irrelevant here, I think. Also, the top isn't quite right for a cursive 様 as it is usually drawn. The bottom swirl is commonly used for bottoms of characters that look like the bottom right of 様 (a vertical line intersecting with four diagonal strokes forming a kind of X), and for the final strokes in 女, so the trick now is to find a kanji with a tree radical (木) that has one of those two possible forms at the bottom right of whatever is left. 様 doesn't seem to fit, though part of it is possible. So we have to look for *more* calligraphic form (assuming a MORE complex character that's *really* been simplified). 棲 and 樓 are the only choices, and comparing calligraphic forms, the latter is the most likely.

The last two kanji are easy: 羅 ("ra") and 面 ("men"=mask).

It occurs to me that actual photos of the MASK would also be useful -- moreso, perhaps, than anything else. We might use that to qualify the thing, and if it is likely that the kanji indicates a character or style, seeing the mask would help in that extent. There are something like 75 different masks, so identifying the thing would help. That's part of the "context" that I constantly harp about in Japanese fora when someone asks what a random word out of context means. Especially given that the last character is "men."

Anyway... a long process of elimination has finally yielded an answer. It's 迦樓羅面 (Karuramen), or a "mask of Garuda." (See: www.nme.com/awards/video/id/ce5sLOCTc9g/search/shoso )

Rather than just answering "Karuramen" I decided to leave all the other stuff above to show the process that went through finding the bloody thing. And that was an interestingly spent half hour.

For now, let's just say that the TOP half also ends with the character for "mask" -- and while parts of it are (possibly) clear, given the possibility that the "obvious" kanji may actually be calligraphically simplified forms of other more complex ones (e.g., just cause the third kanji LOOKS like 伎, there's no guarantee that that's what it really is....) I'd have to do this same process with the top... and I really have too much to do right now...

[Saionji Shonagon]

Thanks, Sensei. I owe you a nice housewarming gift.

I should mention that the lady did send me another photo after I posted this. The masks were a Karuma, a Hannya and a third demon I'd have to look up to identify. I can put the photo up later if you're curious.

[solveig]

Noble Cousin!

Greetings from Solveig! I rather suspect that they are not noh theatre masks. Specifically, I suspect that the one with the calligraphed label is not a noh mask. You really do need to show the fronts of the masks to provide context. Also, I should point out that there are several theatrical and dance forms in Japan which employ masks.

[Saionji Shonagon]

Apologies for not posting this sooner, but with two classes to teach this weekend and a mess of onigiri to make, I got a bit sidetracked last night.

[AJBryant]

Way cool. The Garuda mask is definitely the fellow on the left. Sweet! Rare as garuda-teeth.
Garuda in action: www11.ocn.ne.jp/~kanamaru/site4.htm http www.kyuhaku.jp/exhibition/images/s_16/p04-l.jpg

I've always thought hannya were cool, albeit a bit cliche in being the most recognized of the masks.

The one in the middle is, I believe, 顰 (Shikami).