It can be seen that you are not enough
Mom in childhood pulled by the nose, Snub-nosed doll! …
Buson
Very often, images of parts of armor, in particular helmets and face masks, were used to decorate inro boxes, such as, for example, this one. Inro is a box for storing especially small items. Since there are no pockets in traditional Japanese clothing, they were often worn on the belt (obi) in various sagemono containers, and in particular, in inro, where medicines and the personal seal of the samurai were kept. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Well, for starters, let's remember the European helmets. Let us recall the helmet with a mask from Sactton Hoo, which had a mustache, but did not have an opening for the mouth, remember the famous "Vendel helmets" or "sports helmets" of the ancient Romans. In all cases, the mask itself, or, if I may say so, the "second face", did not fit very tightly to the face itself. And that was a definite and serious problem. A warrior with such a "mask" had to look into the viewing pupils from afar and, although this distance was small, nevertheless, even this significantly narrowed the field of view. Then the European "dog helmets" appeared, but in them, too, the visual slits were at some distance from the face. It turned out that the man looked out from his helmet like a shooter from the embrasure of the pillbox. And that was dangerous. He could easily miss the fatal blow.
Happuri mask (modern replica) with characteristic yadome protrusions on the sides to ward off arrows.
We especially note the so-called "grotesque helmets" of Europeans of the 16th century, whose visors had the forms of brutal faces with hooked noses and protruding wire mustaches. They made the impression, of course, a terrible one, but these "faces" did not improve the situation with an overview.
Hoate mask. Front side with yodare-kake throat cover. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
The same mask, inside view.
Not so with the samurai. There, the warrior, even though he fought on horseback, was a horse archer. For this purpose, his armor was also "sharpened", at first uncomfortable, box-shaped (but strong and reliable), and then tight-fitting and more comfortable. After all, even at first, the left sleeve in the armor was not armored - for her, since she was holding the bow, maximum mobility was required.
Samurai mannequins in full gear. The left figure is shown with a menpo half mask, the right one with a hambo half mask, (Kunstkamera, St. Petersburg)
Therefore, the protection of the face was also specific. It was supposed to protect against arrows as much as possible, but at the same time not interfere with the archer to aim, that is, to correctly determine the distance to the target and find the desired aiming angle to ensure the optimal flight path of the arrow. British infantry archers fired volleys at the command of an experienced commander. At the same time, the accuracy of one shooter did not matter. As a result, arrows fell from the sky like rain, and it was the frequency of the shots that was crucial. But the samurai shot each by himself. Therefore, the review was extremely important for them.
Therefore, the kabuto samurai helmet was designed in such a way that it reliably protected the warrior's head - and its upper part and ears, and the back of the head, but the face was deliberately left open. To protect the face, the Japanese have come up with special devices - masks and half masks. These were special masks (happuri) and half masks (hoate) that covered the face either completely or partially.
The common name for samurai face masks is men-gu. Moreover, they did not appear immediately. The first type of protection of the face was the cheek pads of the helmet, tied under the chin. They were wide and in this position created a V-shaped structure that allowed the samurai to look only forward, but protected his face from the sides. Only in the Heian period (end of the 8th century - 12th century) did the samurai have a happuri mask, which they wore on their face under a helmet. Happuri was a curved plate covered with varnish or leather, but made of metal, which covered the forehead, temples and cheeks of the wearer. She had no throat protection. The helmet was worn over this mask. For lower-ranking servants, it was combined with a jingasa helmet, and warrior monks often wore it along with a muslin turban hat. Poor warriors used the happuri as their only face protection. And some - the poorest, were completely content with a hachimaki headband, on which, where it covered her forehead, a metal or multi-layer leather plate was sewn, curved so as to cover the forehead and part of the head … and that's it! In the movie "Seven Samurai" by Aikira Kurasawa, the head of the samurai squad Kambey wore this. But the samurai impostor Kikuchiyo removes a typical lacquered happuri with cheek pads from a fugitive bandit killed by his own.
Menpo half mask from 1730, signed by the master Miochin Munetomo. Edo era. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
The same mask, inside view.
In the Kamakura era (end of the 12th century - 14th century), among the noble warriors, half masks of hoate became fashionable, which began to cover not the upper part of the face, but the lower part - the chin and cheeks to eye level. The nose and mouth of these masks remained open. Since the throat was open in the armor of the o-yoroi, haramaki-do and d-maru, they figured out how to best protect it. For this purpose, the Nodov plate necklace was invented. Moreover, one should remember that it was necessary to wear it without a mask, since the protective cover of yodare-kake was attached to the masks. All these details were tied with thick and durable silk cords.
A full somen mask with three sweat tubes on the chin. The work of the master Miochin Muneakir 1673 - 1745 (Anna and Gabrielle Barbier Museum-Muller, Dallas, TX)
By the XV century. new types of masks have appeared, for example, the mempo half mask. She, like the hoate, covered the lower part of her face, but unlike her, she also covered her nose, and left only her eyes and forehead open. Moreover, the plate that protected the nose was quite often, although not always, removable and attached to the mask using hinges or special hooks. Such masks often had a lush mustache and beard.
The half-mask hambo covered only the chin and lower jaw. She was usually equipped under the chin with a pipe protruding forward - tsuyo-otoshi-no-kubo, which served to drain sweat. She, too, had a throat cover, as did the mempo half mask.
Somen mask with an old man's face. Numerous wrinkles had not only aesthetic, but also practical significance - they collected sweat. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
But the whole face was completely covered only by the somen mask: it had openings for the mouth and eyes, but it completely covered the forehead, temples, nose, cheeks and chin. Moreover, the middle part of the mask was usually attached to it on hinges and pins and it, that is, the "nose", could be removed. Since men-gu still limited the view, they were worn mainly by commanders and noble samurai, who themselves did not have to shoot from a bow and did not participate in battles. Many of the somen masks were solid and resembled masks from the Noh theater.
Somen by Miochin Munemitsu, Edo period. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Since the masks were intended for protection, they were usually made from either metal or from several layers of leather. A feature of Japanese protective masks was their characteristic "duality". That is, its inner surface was supposed to fit comfortably to the skin of the face and not cause any inconvenience to its owner in wearing. On the other hand, its external features most often had nothing to do with the portrait of the owner. Some men-gu masks were specially made so that they resemble masks of popular actors in the Japanese Noh theater. All wrinkles, eyebrows, mustaches, beards and even teeth (which were also covered with gold or silver) were very carefully reproduced on them. But just the portrait resemblance was usually not observed: among young warriors, for example, it was customary to order masks with the faces of old men (okina-men), but older samurai, on the contrary, preferred masks of young men (warawazura). Such is the funny Japanese "humor". Moreover, masks depicting female faces (onna-men) were known and even popular. Of course, the masks were supposed to be intimidating in the first place. Therefore, the masks of the goblin tengu, evil spirits akuryo, and kidjo demonic women were also very popular. Since the XVI century. Nanbanbo masks (that is, the faces of "southern barbarians"), which depicted Europeans who sailed to Japan from the south, came into vogue. But … at the same time, masks with snub noses and a puppet face were also known! But this image was most often deceiving, and under such a serene appearance of the mask, the most cruel killer could be hiding!
But this is a very curious mask with a tengu demon face and a removable nose. It is believed that such a "nose" could also be used as a dildo. After all, samurai fought for many months far from the centers of civilization and were often inclined, at least some, to specific forms of intimate relationships. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
The mask, like the helmet, was not worn “just like that”, but always used fabric pads: an eboshi hat under the helmet, a hachimaki headband, but before putting on the mask, a fucus scarf (or pillow) should be placed between it and the chin. Firstly, the fabric absorbed sweat well, and secondly, it was a softening layer and additional protection against impacts. The masks were finished in a very whimsical way. For example, they were covered with the famous Japanese varnish. Most often black, but also red. The color "cha" - "the color of strong tea" was very popular. Even completely new iron masks were often deliberately "aged" by subjecting them to a rusting process, and only then varnished to preserve the coating of rust. This is how the most beloved Japanese "new old mask" was obtained.
Full Somen Mask and Attachment with Helmet Drawstrings. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
The inner surface of the masks was usually covered with red lacquer, apparently to hide the blood that might have stained it. Since the face under the mask was sweating a lot, all men-gu masks had an asa-nagashi-no-ana hole on the chin (or even three holes!) Through which sweat flowed out.
Since by the end of the 15th century. the helmets were signed by the master gunsmiths, and it became possible to identify them, and the masks for these helmets (and they were always ordered in the same style and to the same master!), it became possible to identify them by the name of their manufacturer. Interestingly, according to etiquette, the samurai considered it extremely indecent, considering someone else's helmet or mask, turn them over and look for the master's brand on them. As well as hitting the scabbard with the scabbard, this was considered a public insult, after which a call to a deadly duel followed without fail.
Another somen mask, along with the "hairy helmet" of the fiery kabuto and armor in the katanuga-do style, is the "monk torso." (Tokyo National Museum)
The mask on the helmet of the Japanese, in fact, was the same visor as that of the Europeans, but only it fit snugly to the face and was, as it were, a continuation of the helmet. It was required to secure the helmet on the head in the most reliable way, and the mask on the face, and so that they would form a single whole. For this, special L-shaped hooks and pins were provided on the "cheeks" of the masks (primarily mempo and somen), for which the cords of the helmet were wound. With the correct tying, such a cord connected the mask and helmet into one whole, and there was a whole system of tying these cords and securing them to the masks. That is why the masks were not made separately from the helmet, but were ordered for each specific person.
