Among the entire population of Japan, samurai in the first place stood out for their original appearance. Their costume and hairstyle caught my eye. Hairstyles were different. It was this or that type of hairstyle that indicated the social status of a person in society. Violation of this gradation had bad consequences. That is why the lower classes had to wear only those hairstyles that were intended only for them. Thus, the highest nobility was different from ordinary samurai. The hairstyle is the hallmark of the samurai in society.
What did the original samurai hairstyle look like?
It should be noted that in ancient times the hairstyle of the Japanese warrior was quite simple. The hair on the head was collected in a strong bun, which was tied with a black cord into one knot at the crown. In some cases, the hair was collected in two bundles and tied in the area of the temples.
After some time, the beads began to shave the front of the head. The new hairstyle has received the laconic name "sakayaki". As a rule, all samurai did this hairstyle after passing the rite - genbuku.
Curl "cobin"
In subsequent years, starting from the first half of the 16th century, one can note the evolution of hairstyles. For example, in the 16th century, samurai wore hairstyles with hair shaved at the forehead and on the crown of the head. But the hair on the temples was absolutely not shaved off. Such a lock of hair was called "kobin". It was the "kobin" that was the key feature of the samurai's hairstyle. If the kobin hung loosely, then all the other hair on the head was collected in a tight bun.
In order to distinguish between samurai and other layers, all artisans and merchants were required to shave off such a curl. At the end of the 16th century, the samurai returned to their old traditions. They just tied a big knot of hair.
This hairstyle was quite practical. She did not require much time, effort, did not close her eyes. With such a hairstyle, it was easy to wear any headdress, in particular a cone-shaped hat.
Samurai beard and mustache
As for the beard or mustache, they were not so popular among the samurai. The hair on the cheeks, chins, forehead samurai shaved almost every day. However, in early times, the beads still launched a beard, mustache, which gave them an image of abomination. Each warrior had to scare away the enemy with his appearance. It was on the basis of such a theory that military face masks were also made, which had a terrifying appearance.
A common type of haircut for beards and mustaches at that time was small tips on the chin and long ends of the mustache. This appearance was not the best and most beautiful. In some cases, the mustache and beard were quite unnatural in color.
What hairstyle did the ronin wear?
The samurai who lost his vassalage and became a ronin wore a completely different hairstyle. He let his hair go long. It was this feature in the image that indicated that the samurai had lost his master-patron.
At the present time, the samurai hairstyle is quite popular. The main secret of its creation is carefully collected hair in one bun. To do this, you need to comb your hair back from your forehead and collect it in the crown area. As a fastener, you should use an elastic band to match the tone of your hair.
See also
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Amagasaki Castle
The founding year of Amagasaki Castle is traditionally considered to be 1617, when Toda Ujikané built his castle here, making it the administrative center of the Amagasaki Domain. However, as early as the Sengoku period, a fortress built by the Hosokawa clan already stood on this site. After the fall of Itami Castle in 1579, Araki Murashige—formerly a vassal of Oda Nobunaga who had rebelled against him—fled to this earlier castle.
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Hiroshima Castle
Mōri Terumoto (1553–1625) was the grandson and rightful heir of the renowned Mōri Motonari. When Terumoto became the head of the Mōri clan in 1571, he inherited vast territories covering a large part of the San’in and San’yō regions in western Honshū. In addition, the Mōri clan possessed the largest and most technologically advanced naval fleet of its time.
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Fukuyama Castle
After the defeat of Toyotomi Hideyori’s supporters in the Osaka Campaigns of 1614–1615, many clans in Japan still remained not fully loyal to the Tokugawa shogunate, especially in the western Chūgoku region. Mizuno Katsunari (1564–1651), a cousin of Tokugawa Ieyasu, became the first of the Tokugawa house’s close retainers, the so-called fudai daimyō, to be relocated to this strategically important area.
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Tiba Castle
The founder of the Chiba clan is considered to be Chiba Tsunesige (1083–1180), who in 1126 moved his residence to the Inohana area and built a strongly fortified stronghold there. Although Tsunesige himself came from the Taira clan, the Chiba clan later supported Minamoto no Yoritomo, the future founder of the first shogunate.
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Sunomata Castle
Oda Nobunaga, as part of his “final solution” to the conflict with the Saitō clan, conceived the construction of a fort in the Sunomata area, which was intended to serve as a forward base for an attack on Inabayama Castle (later renamed Gifu). Sunomata was a swampy area located between Ogaki Castle, a stronghold of the Oda clan, and Inabayama, the main fortress of the Saitō clan. Earlier attempts to build fortifications in this area, carried out by Oda generals Sakuma Nobumori and Shibata Katsuie, had all ended in failure. After that, the task was entrusted to the young vassal Kinoshita Tokichirō, who later became known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
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Shibata Castle
The exact time when structures first appeared on the site of the present-day castle is unknown; however, it is generally believed that the first fortified buildings were constructed here during the Muromachi period, when these lands were controlled by the Shibata clan.
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Okayama Castle
According to a number of accounts, the earliest fortifications on the site of present-day Okayama Castle appeared as early as the 14th century and were built by the Nawa clan. The Asahigawa River was used as a natural defensive barrier, protecting one side of the fortifications.
In the early 16th century, the Kanamitsu clan constructed a new castle here, which at the time was known as Ishiyama. In 1573, it came under the control of the Ukita clan, after which Ukita Naoie (1529–1582) launched large-scale reconstruction efforts. He did not live to see the work completed, and construction was continued by his son Hideie. -
Nagahama Castle
Hashiba, later known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, received Odani Castle and the surrounding lands from Oda Nobunaga after the defeat of the Azai clan. However, Odani Castle was located high in the mountains, which made it poorly suited for the effective administration of the territory. For this reason, in 1575 Hideyoshi began constructing a new castle in the village of Imahama on the shore of Lake Biwa. Taking the character naga from Nobunaga’s name, he renamed both the village and the new castle Nagahama.
