Some Japanese Masks, wood and clay

[waljamada]

I worked at an International Japanese Film Festival in Tokyo for a few years after graduation from University.  One day a visitor came to our offices in Ichigaya and left three masks (one more of a carving...see pics) for whoever wanted them.  All my Japanese coworkers claimed they were haunted or scary but I loved them and was allowed to claim them all.  Sadly an oni clay mask was destroyed during shipping back to the US but I still have two.  Then maybe four years ago I found this other oni mask that must have been produced by Yamaha for some reason or another at a thrift shop.  Thought I'd share them and see if anyone else has cool masks to share.

[waljamada]

[Bugyotsuji]

Nice story. I once spotted a piece of pottery (roof tile?) in an old mountain-top castle, sitting on a rock beside the path. As I picked it up, wondering why it was left there, one of our group said it was probably haunted, which is why no one in their right mind would want such a thing.

 

 

[waljamada]

Not quite the same...but its a positive side of the coin of something like that.  My brother and a childhood friend of mine came to visit me in Japan.  We did this thing I liked to do of hop on the trains, take random transfers and get out at a random place.  We probably switched and rode trains for 2 hours and got out in a more rural town 2 hours outside of Tokyo along the shoreline.  We wandered and wandered and found an empty temple.  These temples have a different air to them when empty.  An old energy.  An aware yet not necessarily Intelligent ancientness.  Like the start of a few horror movies we decide to enter the forest behind it which was mostly pretty tall hills or kind of small mountains.  We hiked for maybe 40 minutes and after we reached the very top of one of the higher hills amongst a beautiful view of the shoreline and horizon we found a small little shrine.  Far away from everything and everyone.  We decided to call it a level-up shrine and that those who reach it level up in some way.  +1 to some attribute of yours, or maybe even a few.  Its one of my favorite memories.

[waljamada]

Not sure if this works but there's a picture of thr level up shrine in this little sideshow video my brother made of the trip.

 

https://www.facebook.com/thebestlaw/videos/619249921723/

 

Its at 6:54

[b.hennick]

Sorry Adam but I can't see the video.

[waljamada]

Bummer its s good little video.  Took screenshots of the view and the little hidden shrine.

[Guido]

Your “oni”  is actually a hannya 般若, the soul of a woman who became a demon due to jealousy.

[waljamada]

Guido, interesting and thank you...I wonder if Yamaha had a meaning behind that when it commissioned those in 1986...