Ō-tobide (大飛出)wooden mask

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Ō-tobide (大 飛出)

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The name Tobide comes from tobideru (to protrude), and the mask is so called because its eyes stick out of the face. The mask has wide-open eyes and mouth, and portrays the face of a shrewd deity. It was once called Hiten, meaning a divine spirit soaring in the sky. According to "Sarugaku-dangi" (Lectures on Sarugaku) by Zeami, the mask portrays the vengeful ghost of Lord Sugawara no Michizane (a politician and scholar of the Heian era). Ō-tobide has an exaggerated appearance befitting the fierce and powerful celestial deity flying swiftly. It is used in first-group pieces ( shobanme-mono) such as "Kamo" or "Arashiyama", which convey an atmosphere of celebration. Tobide is the antithesis of Beshimi in the same way that alpha (the start of the world) is the opposite of omega (the end of the world).