Biography
Lilico Aso is a Noh mask artist, contemporary artist, face researcher, and scriptwriter based in Japan.
Her work explores the face as a medium of perception, memory, and relation.
Rooted in a 700-year tradition of Noh mask carving, she extends that practice into contemporary art and research.
Noh Mask Artist
Began studying traditional Noh mask carving in 2018,
and continues to create both classical Noh masks and contemporary mask-based works.
Selected Exhibitions
2025 · The Vessel of the Unseen — ′t Japans Cultureel Centrum, Amsterdam
2025 · The Vessel of the Unseen — EARTH+GALLERY, Tokyo
2025 · 52nd Nissho Exhibition – The National Art Center, Tokyo
2024 · Nangain Exhibition — Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo
2023 · 4th Nakamura Mitsue Ichimon Noh Mask Exhibition — Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Tokyo
2023 · Synchro Art — Ginza Six, Tokyo
2022 · Nakamura Mitsue and Four Students Exhibition — Tanaka Yaesu Gallery, Tokyo
Selected Performances
2026 · Umewaka-kai Noh Performance: Yōkihi – Tokyo
2024 · Umewaka-kai Noh Performance: Funabenkei – Tokyo
2024 · Noh Appreciation Program for Students: Tsuchigumo – JMS Aster Plaza, Hiroshima
2024 · Noh Appreciation Program for Students: Yōkihi – Fukuoka
2023 · Asagaya Takigi Noh: Hagoromo – Tokyo
2023 · Umewaka-kai Noh Performance: Chikubushima / Matsukaze – Tokyo
2022 · Otsuki Nohgakudo Noh Appreciation Program for Students: Aoi no Ue – Osaka
2021 · Agency for Cultural Affairs National Tour: Momijigari – Japan
Face Researcher
Associate Director, Japan Academy of Facial Studies (2026–)
Newsletter Editorial Committee Member, Japan Academy of Facial Studies(2024–)
Member, Japan Academy of Facial Studies (2021–)
Selected Publications & Presentations
2025 · Essential Role of Real Faces in Face-to-Face Communication
Japan Academy of Facial Studies Journal
Co-researcher: Prof. Emeritus Yoshiki Oshida, Indiana University
2025 · How Does the Noh Mask Generate Omokage?
Forum on Face Studies 2025, Japan Academy of Facial Studies
Co-researcher: Prof. Emeritus Yoshiki Oshida, Indiana University
2025 · Laughing, Talking Noh Mask — Generating Face-ness in 3D Models through Virtual Light Manipulation · Audience Prize
Forum on Face Studies 2025, Japan Academy of Facial Studies
Co-researcher: Yoshito Tanaka, TOPPAN HD
2023 · How Do People See and Feel the Noh Mask?
Forum on Face Studies 2023, Japan Academy of Facial Studies
2023 · Analysis of Gaze Movement in Noh Mask Appreciation
25th Annual Conference, Japan Society of Kansei Engineering
2023 · Media Art Presenting the Appeal of Noh Masks in a New Form
INTERACTION 2023, Information Processing Society of Japan
Scriptwriter
2012 · Science Drama Award, Grand Prize — Japan Science and Technology Agency
Media
2025 · République des Arts — Featured
2024 · CNN Artisans Documentary – Featured
2023 · The New York Times — "The Female Artisans Honoring, and Reinventing, Japanese Noh Masks"