question about cone masks worn on noses in Mononoke

i'm watching Mononoke on Netflix (2007 tv series) and in episode 8 there's a character that wears essentially a cone over their nose, but idk why. i've attached a pic at the bottom so you know what i'm talking about. it's half white and half red, and it only covers his nose. my best guess for why someone in this period of japan would be wearing that kind of mask is to conceal maybe facial damage from syphillis or something like that, but i've never seen this kind of mask in anything before, and i'm fascinated. is it bc of syphillis? is it something else? any answers would be appreciated, as i tried all the forms of googling i could think of but could not find anything. this will haunt me to my grave if i can't figure out why this man has a cone on his nose.

[Nakarai Tansui from Mononoke \(2007\) Episode 8 wearing a white and red cone over his nose, secured by two red strings around his ears, like a face mask](https://preview.redd.it/nx6wgajo2deg1.jpg?width=225&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f356516e7c115eae3a0f4978a8c0d973867db625)

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MagDorito2026-01-19 22:37

I wondered about that too. My best guess is that it's supposed to be reminiscent of a tengu beak/nose since tengu are supposed to be wise, sage beings & it's not a full mask bc of the Nopperabo arc & the nose is bc it's supposed to be some fancy schmancy sniffing ceremony to say he's really sophisticated & good at this

juances192026-01-19 22:45

On the first scene he shows up, he's hitting a wooden column with it, pretty much like a woodpecker uses his beak. And they are all after that piece of wood, woodpeckers like wood I guess?

I'm sure there's deeper symbolism than that tho.