TITLE: Okame (Otafuku) Folk Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Asia
COUNTRY: Japan
ETHNICITY: Japanese
DESCRIPTION: Okame / Otafuku Folk Mask
CATALOG ID: ASJP028
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Dengaku Dance
AGE: 2000s
MAIN MATERIAL: paper
OTHER MATERIALS: paint; wood; glue; glitter
Okame, also known as Otafuku, is a comical Japanese folk character used in the dengaku dance ceremonies accompanying rice planting, accompanied by the sasara, a wooden clapper. She supposedly represents a homely and chubby but cheerful, good-natured, and virtuous woman who brings good luck. She is sometimes identified as the goddess of mirth and is sometimes used as a symbol of fertility.
