About the Lecturer

Teiichi IBA is a Noh-mask artist based in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. He was born in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture in 1951. After working at a company, unable to forget his ambitions of working with wood and his experience of Zen training in his youth, he jumped into the world of craftsmen for making wooden masks used in Noh theater. Without having any background, he started to learn how to make Noh-masks from a teacher in Shiga. Then, in order to gain deeper knowledge of Noh masks, he studied under Mitsue Nakamura, a craftswoman who is devoted to having rich emotions expressed on her masks.

Having received many prizes, Iba opened his own Noh-mask school based in Shiga for the promotion of Noh-mask culture. Thanks to the fact that he lives in the area where “Sarugaku,” the root of Noh culture, thrived in the medieval Samurai period, he has researched and saved ancient masks in Omi District (Shiga) for passing down the tradition. To prevent degeneration of Noh culture, at the same time, he assisted to produce a modern Noh drama based on the famous local samurai “Takatora.”

• Teiichi Iba's website (links to the English pages on top right)