Samurai Mempo

Samurai Mempo is a face mask used by samurai at the time of feudal Japan and probably next most expressive part of the samurai armour after the Kabuto (battle helmet). Beside of its main purpose to protect the wearer, samurai Mempo had a very important function to intimidate an enemy; hence designs of the Mempo and Kabuto were often made in a way to give them an impression of a supernatural look. The Mempo is not the only name for the samurai face mask, it can be called "Menpo", "Mengu", and even "Men Yoroi".

Samurai Mempo is a half mask covering the face below the eyes including the nose. There're other types of samurai face masks as well, including "Somen" – a full face mask, covering the entire face. "Hoate" is a mask that protects only the cheeks; "Happuri" is a full face mask with openings for the eyes, nose, and mouth – there is a chance though that the latter one is just a fictional item of the Japanese folklore. "Hanbo" is a half mask that covers only the chin, jaw, and sometimes cheeks, and "Nodowa" is a throat guard that hangs on the neck.

There're quite a few different types and designs of samurai Mempo and some of them are for military purposes only, but there're also samurai Mempo for celebrations, ceremonies, for theatre use, and for men and women use as well. Just to list a few more popular once: "Resse Men" – a half mask with wrinkles, teeth and usually whiskers bearing savage expression. "Nara Men" is another mask with wrinkles and a broad nose, no whiskers though; both masks were used mostly for military purposes. "Ryubu Bo" is a ceremonial samurai mempo with smooth wrinkles and a relaxed, noble expression. "Uba Ho" and "Bijo" are two masks depicting women; the former one of an aged woman, and latter one of a young beautiful woman. "Tengu Bo" and "Karura" are both masks made in the form of mystical birds and used for dances and theatre plays.

Beside of listed above, there're more different types of samurai Mempo varying in details and designs for different provinces and regions. Currently, samurai Mempo is valuable only for collectors and historians and for collectors, there're a lot of reproductions made. Most valuable authentic samurai Mempo are exhibited in museums, but you still can get an interesting piece online.

You can see current listings for Samurai Mempo below: