Abstract
BackgroundA Noh mask, worn by expert actors during performance on the Japanese traditional Noh drama, conveys various emotional expressions despite its fixed physical properties. How does the mask change its expressions? Shadows change subtly during the actual Noh drama, which plays a key role in creating elusive artistic enchantment. We here describe evidence from two experiments regarding how attached shadows of the Noh masks influence the observers’ recognition of the emotional expressions.Methodology/Principal FindingsIn Experiment 1, neutral-faced Noh masks having the attached shadows of the happy/sad masks were recognized as bearing happy/sad expressions, respectively. This was true for all four types of masks each of which represented a character differing in sex and age, even though the original characteristics of the masks also greatly influenced the evaluation of emotions. Experiment 2 further revealed that frontal Noh mask images having shadows of upward/downward tilted masks were evaluated as sad/happy, respectively. This was consistent with outcomes from preceding studies using actually tilted Noh mask images.Conclusions/SignificanceResults from the two experiments concur that purely manipulating attached shadows of the different types of Noh masks significantly alters the emotion recognition. These findings go in line with the mysterious facial expressions observed in Western paintings, such as the elusive qualities of Mona Lisa’s smile. They also agree with the aesthetic principle of Japanese traditional art “yugen (profound grace and subtlety)”, which highly appreciates subtle emotional expressions in the darkness.
Highlights
Noh is a traditional form of Japanese musical drama originated in the 14th century
Experiment 1 The results revealed that neutral-faced Noh mask images having the attached shadows of a happy face tended to be evaluated as happier, whereas those with the shadows of a sad face as sadder, compared with the comparable images having shadows of a neutral Noh-mask face
This was true regardless of the fact that types of the Noh masks had great impact on the proportions of the happy/sad evaluations. These data are supportive of the notion that shadows extracted from the emotional Noh-mask faces considerably alter the recognition of the emotional expressions
Summary
Noh is a traditional form of Japanese musical drama originated in the 14th century (for an overview, see [1], [2]). A Noh mask can change its intended facial expressions according to various relevant factors including head/body orientation and breathing of the actor, background music, scenes of the drama, etc. Multisensory processing may potentially be involved in the appreciation of the Noh drama [4], it seems important to empirically examine potentially influential factors one by one, by which to specify which ones may play significant roles in characterizing the emotion recognition. A Noh mask, worn by expert actors during performance on the Japanese traditional Noh drama, conveys various emotional expressions despite its fixed physical properties. Shadows change subtly during the actual Noh drama, which plays a key role in creating elusive artistic enchantment. We here describe evidence from two experiments regarding how attached shadows of the Noh masks influence the observers’ recognition of the emotional expressions
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