能面 俊寛 Noumen Shunkan Noh Mask Shunkan
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Shunkan is a Noh mask used in the play “Shunkan,” a story about a Buddhist priest Shunkan (1143-1179) written in the Tale of the Heike. The priest of the Shingon sect, Shunkan, and the two aristocrats, Fujiwara no Naritsune and Taira no Yasuyori were exiled to “Devil’s Island (Kikaigashima)” off the coast of Satsuma province, as punishment for a plot against the ruling Taira clan. As Fujiwara no Naritsune and Taira no Yasuyori were pardoned later because they made 1,000 wooden stupas and floated them into the sea, one of which drifted to the shore of Itsukushima Island in Aki province and attracted attention of Taira no Kiyomori. Shunkan, on the other hand, was accused of being the mastermind of the plot and left alone on the island. Shunkan was deeply depressed and fasted to death there. Zeami was moved by this tragedy and wrote the play “Shunkan.” The Shunkan mask expresses the great woe and despair.
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- Noh Mask Shunkan