--- "SFC Robert B. Munsey" <
robert.munsey@...>
wrote:
> Thanks everyone on the help for the book.
>
> I have another questions, as I understand it, the
> coming of age
> ceremony involves the shaving the forehead-top of
> the head for the
> Samurai, do I have this correct or incorrect.
Possibly, but not necessarily. Plenty of samurai did
not shave the forehead. This became a little more
formalized in the Edo period, but it was never a
"requirement" that the forehead be shaved.
Also what is the significance of the top of the head
> shaved or not,
> Does this mean obedience to a particular lord?
It was a hairstyle, nothing more. Shaving the
forelocks was a mark of an adult samurai, but not
shaving it didn't mean the person wasn't samurai, and
in the Edo period the lower classes also shaved their
forelocks, but arranged the hair differently (check
out old episodes of Abarenbou Shogun to see this).
Having it shaved didn't mean you were a retainer of
Lord X--it wasn;t like wearing a unit patch on your
shoulder.
Turnbull's 'Samurai Sourcebook' I believe has a
section on hairstyles with a good explanation.
Nice to see another tanker on the board--I was a 12A
until they made me go MI. If you ain't cav...
Nate
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