More glimpses of unfamiliar Japan

Chiyo Inari Shrine Tsuyama Chiyo Inari Shrine is literally right at the base of the massive stone fortifications that made up Tsuyama Castle...

Finally got around to finishing some more masks. This first one is a small Hannya. Made quite a few but the large Hannya are more popula...

The two latest masks I completed. Every winter I have a rather optimistic plan to finish lots of new masks. Summers are too humid to m...

Just finished another couple of masks, and rather being something new they are copies of earlier ones that had been ordered. Whereas m...

Just shipped off a couple of new masks today. This is the fourth Blue Hanya I've sold and am quite pleased as it is an original de...

I just finished another mask. A fairly standard hanya in the Iwami style. Hopefully this winter I can replenish my stock of masks as there...

In the months of December and January there is almost nothing to do in the garden, and with more than enough firewood for this winter I ha...

This is a continuation of an earlier post. As the heroes lay unconscious in a drunken stupor they are visited by Hachiman, the god of war an...

I did manage to find a few example of Hanya masks at the shrines on the Kunisaki Peninsular in Kyushu. Male demons were far more common thou...

It's been a while since I finished any new masks, but a couple of recent sales has prompted me to get off my butt and finish some. With ...

This is the draincover for the town of Mizokuchi in Tottori Prefecture. A story concerning the mythical 7th emperor of Japan visiting the ar...

This is another version of the small Hanya mask in Iwami Kagura style. The hanya masks are the most popular in terms of sales, and its the m...

This is a standard hanya mask in the Iwami Kagura style. I didn't embelish it in any way. I think that some of her sadness shows through...

This was the first Hanya mask in Iwami Kagura style that I completed. I have posted already about the meaning and history of the han...

This is one of my original Iwami Kagura masks. I've never seen a blue hanya, and no-one I know has either, but I was wanting the fe...

Red Hanya mask For the past couple of years, I've been making masks in the Iwami Kagura style. Iwami kagura is the local form of sa...