Masks are used for many different purposes. Their meanings and uses differ wildly from region to region. The one thing in common with all these masks is that there’s always a deeper meaning to them to discover. Gorillaz aren’t without their iconic masks too. Noodle’s cat mask, the Boogieman’s mask, as well as 2-D’s clown mask, which I recently found out is most likely based on Japanese Tengu masks! Let me explain…
It all started about A month ago at my school’s library. I was looking through random books when I found this book on sorcery from around the world. I landed on a random page and something piqued my interest. There was a red Japanese mask of a demon with a long nose, which was described as a protector and defended stuff from evil spirits. Its protruding nose and permanent grin reminded me a lot of another mask that I’m familiar with… in this text, I will explain the history and mythology surrounding the Tengu mask and how it gives the clown mask’s design more meaning.
The page of the book I found as well as other pics of Tengu masks
After some serching on the web, I found out that this mask is representative of the tengu, a yokaï of Shinto origin. It's personality and species has changed throughout the years, but its current design is that of a red-skinned, long-nosed humanoid - commonly referred to as a Yamabushi Tengu. (Fun fact: the long nose of a tengu derives from one of it’s older interperatations of being a bird-like creature - commonly known as a Karasu Tengu. The beak slowly turned into the long nose that we see in tengus today.) Their long nose relates to their distain towards prejudice and arrogance. They are almost always associated with being protectors of some sort of the mountains and nature. They are strong and wise, but they shouldn’t be messed with since they’re very disruptive and chaotic. Masks representing this yokaï are commonly worn during shinto festivals and traditional theater performances, oftenly to look scary. Some believe the masks have the powers to give strength and ward off evil spirits, while others believe they are meant to be used in ceremonies to exorcise evil spirits from one’s body. Tengu masks are also commonly associated with good luck and worn by those who seek wisdom.
A Karasu Tengu and a Yamabushi Tengu
The tengu’s meaning varies wildly in its history, but one thing that everyone can agree on about the Tengu is how they are a clear example of how folklore and stories can change over time! Fun fact: Tengu masks are such a staple of Japanese culture that they have their own emoji! 👺
Hope you had fun reading about one of the Clown Masks' possible inspirations! I could also talk about how the long nose could be a reference to Pinnochio or the slouched long-nosed peasent of Commedia dell'arte, Zanni, but I wanted to just focus on one for now. Maybe in the future I'll make a part 2 briefly explaining their history and how they could be linked to the mask idk.
(I’m so brainrotted lsodmdmkdkdkeiekdjskskbuhugtf)
Oh, also the mask reminds me of the Jack in the box clown lol.
Bibliography:
HOLY MACKEREL I DIDN'T THINK THE ANNIVERSARY ROLLOUT WOULD BE SO SOON! I hope the video is hinting at a DVD (preferably Blu-Ray) release of all the music à la Celebrity Takedown and Slowboat to Hades. I would KILL for that. Also HALLELUJAH MONEY MENTIONED!!1!!1!11!! I did think that it was a bit sus that they randomly decided to upload the iTunes Deluxe version of Plastic Beach in the morning. I guess we know why now...
I also really like the slogan. Very funny stuff.
They should've called it Nintendo Click smh... Also the fact that the trailer is 2 minutes and 22 seconds if funny to me.
Praying for Tomodachi Life 2 🙏🙏🙏
The following text was written in 2023 and I have no idea if I was just sleep deprived or very bored. You have been warned.
Nature is chaos, we are orderly and that goes against nature. Heaven is chaotic, Hell is orderly. Nature is Heaven, buisness is Hell. What's more of a punishment? Living in chaos or living in order? We build things to try and keep us at one place. Why? Why? Why?
Heaven is nature, Hell is what we make from it. We as humans do not like perfection. Nature isn't perfect, why would Heaven be? Hell is perfect down to the millimeter to make us unconfortable. Organic shapes do not exist there. No cracks, no imperfections means no quirks of personality. That sounds more like Hell than anything. Intelligence is just how easy you can understand things and connect the dots. I should pull my otamatone out and actually learn a piece. Hell is green.
Are ghosts just in Pergatory? Since they're mist, they should go up, but something is keeping them down. Ghosts don't beling in Hell. Zombies probably do though. Almost like a reverse of ghosts. There's something keeping them up. Or maybe they're middle phases. Demon --> Zombie --> Ghost --> Angel. If angels are birds shouldn't demons be bugs or moles or deep sea crustasceans? Why is my hair so greasy? I just washed it yesterday...
This is what I think Hell looks like.
I once was watching this music video with my sibling and just ramdomly said:
"This reminds me of what I think Hell looks like."
They were very confused.
I did not elaborate.
This is my first log. I am currently writing this in my website's infancy (no css in sight). I don't really like writing - or even good at it - but I feel like a personal webite without a blog is blasphemy. Also it's super weird to write personal stuff in a void in which I will never know who will read it. I'm planning on adding a bunch of fancy things to organize all my logs, since I will be talking about a bunch of differnt things. I hope that I (and you) can come back to this log in the future and see the site and all the ideas I have for it implemented. Most of these early logs will just be me transcribing things I wrote in my notepad last year to fill this section up. I mean, I can't have an empty blog on presentation day, can I? I'll be mark them with "notepad thoughts" so then you'll know which ones not to read lol.
