Ivory Fang Mask

牙の面 (kiba no men): "the fanged mask."

On New Year's Eve on the Oga Peninsula in Akita, men in straw capes and fierce masks stomp into family homes as namahage, roaring "Naku ko wa inee ga," roughly "any crybabies in here." Lazy kids hide behind their parents while the head of the house calms the visitors with sake and food and promises the children will behave. In 2018 the ritual went onto the world's list of intangible heritage.

The face is split in two: an ivory brow with spiral curls over the eyes, and a dark brown lower face cut with deep lines and a cream line around the mouth. Rows of pointed teeth sit between two long ivory tusks, and the whole thing looks worn, darker in the grooves.

It's a face built to scare on purpose, so give it a Halloween, a haunted house party or a dark shelf where the tusks catch the light. Next to the reds in our demon masks, the ivory and brown look like something dug up.

• Type: decorative full-face mask with eye holes
• Material: resin
• Colors: white brow, dark brown lower face, cream line work
• Details: spiral curls over the eyes, pointed teeth, two long tusks
• Look: worn and aged, darker in the grooves
• Use: display, cosplay, costume and photos