Giant masks from ancient times are stored at Shosoin, a repository in Todaiji Temple and at Horyuji, a temple in Nara. The curious expressions and lavish colors of these masks can only be described as strange and unusual. Who used the masks and for what purpose? The questions prompted by the existence of these masks stir the imagination. With roots in the masque of ancient Greece, gigaku traveled along the Silk Road, picking up aspects of local performing arts as the masked drama journeyed through Asia.