Thechonmage (丁髷) is a type of traditionalJapanesetopknothaircut worn by men. It is most commonly associated with theEdo period (1603–1868) andsamurai, and in recent times withsumo wrestlers. It was originally a method of using hair to hold a samuraikabuto helmet steady atop the head in battle, and became a status symbol among Japanese society.
In a traditional Edo-periodchonmage, the top of the head is shaved. The remaining hair was oiled and waxed before being tied into a small tail folded onto the top of the head in the characteristic topknot.
The origins of thechonmage can be traced back to theHeian period (794–1185). During this period, aristocrats wore special cap-like crowns as part of their official clothing. To secure the crown in place, the hair would be tied near the back of the head.[citation needed]
Between the 1580s (towards the end of theWarring States period, 1467–1615) and the 1630s (the beginning of theEdo period, 1603–1867), Japanese cultural attitudes to men's hair shifted; where a full head of hair and a beard had been valued as a sign of manliness in the preceding militaristic era, in the ensuing period of peace, this gradually shifted until a beard and an unshaven pate were viewed as barbaric, and resistant of the peace that had resulted from two centuries of civil war.[1]: 217 This change was also enforced during theJapanese invasion of Joseon (1592–1598), where some Japanese commanders forced the submitted Koreans to shave their heads to this hairstyle, as a method of converting their identities to that of Japanese.[1]: 222
A shaven pate (thesakayaki) became required of thesamurai classes by the early Edo period, and by the 1660s, all men, commoner or samurai, were forbidden from wearing beards, with thesakayaki deemed mandatory. The style of thechonmage ("topknot") was dependent on thesocial status of the wearer, with that of the samurai being more pronounced thanartisans ormerchants.[2]Ronin, samurai who did not serve a Lord, were not required to shave their heads. This became an easy way to identify such men.[1]: 211
Under theMeiji Restoration, the practices of the samurai classes, deemed feudal and unsuitable for modern times following the end ofsakoku in 1853, resulted in a number of edicts intended to 'modernise' the appearance of upper class Japanese men.[2] With the Dampatsurei Edict of 1871 issued byEmperor Meiji during the earlyMeiji Era, men of the samurai classes were forced to cut their hair short,[3][4] effectively abandoning thechonmage.[5]: 149
In modern Japan, the only remaining wearers of thechonmage aresumo wrestlers andkabuki actors.[6] Given the uniqueness of the style in modern times, theJapan Sumo Association employs specialist hairdressers calledtokoyama to cut and prepare sumo wrestlers' hair.
The sumo style of thechonmage is slightly different, in that the pate is no longer shaved. However, the hair may be thinned in this region or the crown of the head shaved, callednakazori, to allow the topknot to sit more neatly.[7] This is done around once every three months.[7]
All professional sumo wrestlers wear achonmage as soon as their hair is long enough to do so. Sumo wrestlers withsekitori status are required on certain occasions, such as during ahonbasho, to wear their hair in a more elaborate form of topknot called anōichō, where the end of the topknot is splayed out to form a semicircle, resembling aginkgo leaf.[8][9]
Thechonmage is of such symbolic importance in sumo that snipping it off is the centerpiece of a wrestler's retirement ceremony. Dignitaries and other important people in a wrestler's life are invited to take one snip, with the final one taken by his trainer. For most wrestlers who never reached asekitori rank, his retirement ceremony will be the only time he wears the more elaborateōichōmage.[citation needed]
In 1871 the Dampatsurei edict forced all samurai to cut off their topknots, a traditional source of identity and pride.
With declining orders for samurai movies and TV dramas, about the only people now buying motoyui are sumo wrestlers and Kabuki actors.
