these chisels are made with the same technique used to make japanese swords. the blades are fired...
TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are
fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness
and strength.
![Page 2: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Cypress wood (hinoki), typically dried for 80-90 years
“Since this wood is three times
older than I am, I treat it
carefully, with great respeect”
Bidou Yamaguchi
![Page 3: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Noh carvers do not use the usual verb “horu” meaning to carve; rather we use the verb “utsu” meaning to strike, implying that we enter into the wood as we carve it.
![Page 4: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
![Page 5: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
![Page 6: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
![Page 7: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
![Page 8: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
![Page 9: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
![Page 10: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Usually, only the masks
of demons require
metal eyes.
![Page 11: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
![Page 12: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
This whitewash is made from ground andbaked seashell (gofun), which is mixed with a glue (nikawa) made from the
marrow of animals. Typically deer marrow is used.
![Page 13: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Pigments are made from various minerals.
![Page 14: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
![Page 15: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
Kegaki, or hair painting, is a step where fine brushes
are used. Each line is painted in a single stroke. Several hundred strokes
are required to suggest the hair of a beard.
A mistake here would mean having to go back to the
base coat, so much concentration is required.
![Page 16: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
![Page 17: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
![Page 18: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
This is a fresh mask. The final state is the aging (koshoku-zuke). A new mask would not fit with the atmosphere of Noh; a mask must be made to look aged, as if it had been created 400-600 years ago. Even from the beginning, masks
were made to look older. The aging processes are among the most tightly kept secrets of
Noh mask carvers.
![Page 19: These chisels are made with the same technique used to make Japanese swords. The blades are fired and pounded repeatedly for sharpness and strength](https://reader035.vdocuments.mx/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551b0a595503465e7d8b5cb5/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
"For me, "mask-making" is not a simple expression of representational art of
superficies. It is a task of materializing the "narrative" hidden behind each face.”
Bidou Yamaguchi
This is the mask after the aging process.