You’ll surely be surprised when you visit the “Namahage Museum.” You will probably think “Huh? Are these all Namahage?” Over 150 masks from 60 different regions are on display at the Namahage Museum. Among these, 30 are still actively used in events to this day. The oldest mask in the Museum appears to be around 300 years old. Namahage first appeared in literature in 1811, during the Edo Period, but the existence of older masks suggests that they existed long before then.
The masks are made from various materials. Some were made from cedar and zelkova wood, others incorporate bamboo basket foundations, and others still use sheet metal and plywood. Some masks are even made from papier-mache and plastic.
Presently, more regions appear to be using masks made from master crafted carved wood, but originally, the denizens from the many different regions of Oga made their own masks. Artist Taro Okamoto is quoted in the magazine “Geijutsu Shincho” remarking on the simplicity of these masks, “I love this. It’s simple, serene, and yet mysterious. They smell strongly of everyday life.”
There’s more to the Namahage than the red and blue ogre masks we imagine. But where did all of these diverse styles originally come from?
Even the born-and-bred Oga locals are shocked when they see the masks on display at the Museum. There are masks from regions they know, and many more from completely different areas. The Namahage visit Japan once a year and are only visible on New Year’s Eve. On that day, the entire peninsula holds Namahage-themed events at the same time, which is why the people from the various regions had never seen Namahage outside their own until the advent of mass media.
Let’s compare the different masks, shall we? Many of them are horned and ogre-esque, but further in you’ll find masks that don’t have any horns. Then there are also masks that, for whatever reason, have Western-looking visages.
Though we know them as “Namahage” nowadays, in the past, the name appears to have differed depending on the region. With variations like “Namage,”, “Namabage,” “Namahagi,” “Namami-hagi,” “Nagame,” and “Namumyo-hagi,” the names were as abundantly varied as the masks themselves. In the olden days, during the cold seasons, people would warm themselves near their sunken fireplaces, and those who sat too long eventually developed burns. Oga locals called those burns “namomi,” “nagame,” or “namomyo,” and took them as proof of a person’s laziness, as the person seemingly did nothing but sit at the hearth without working. The word “namahage” appears to originate from the practice of “namomi-hagi,” or stripping the burned skin with a knife as punishment for slacking off.
