Hair

Something that I have always wondered about, in both historical
records and the various movies I have seen over the years is about
the samurai hairstyle.

The now classic depection of kimonoed bushi with shaved head. except
for the long length of tied up hair resting atop thier head. And of
this i have always wondered why they had it in the first place and
why it changed? both the que and amount of shaved head over the
centuries.

I have wondered that perhaps it was a mixture of both thier warrior
cult ways.( i use the term cult in the sence that after the Hideyoshi
sword edics and the rise of the bushi as top of the political and
social prymid. the bushi took the beliefs and ideals of Shinto,
Buddism, and a little Confusionism to make Bushido.) And thier
obvious religious underpinnings. If anyone has any idea's.

Arigato
Kazuri Atsi

Just to let you know that the que resting on the shaved part of the
head was one of several hairstyles worn by the bushi. It has come
down to us as the most seen in movies. If you look at old prints
though a number of styles are shown. The on that I personally have
seen the most in my limited experience ,other than the que on top, is
where the que basicaly sticks straight up in back and the end is
fanned out in a half circle. There were however other styles that
were worn.

Ever wonder why a Japanese bandit covers his hair?
One reason is the dust, under floorboards and under eaves, it
would stick in the heavily oiled hair and it would be obvious to
anyone that you had been crawling around above the ceiling. More
importantly though is the hairstyle. The Nihon Rekishi Zuroku shows
some 60 hairstyles for men and over 100 for women. Each is for a
particular caste or occupation. Edo residents would instantly
recognize a persons status and even occupation by their hairstyle.
For them it would be easy to see and remember even in the dark.
By covering your hair you could enter and a house and even if
seen slip back into the crowd just by uncovering your head!

-t

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]