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EveryHairstyle

School or museum, Japan

Kushi Kanzashi Museum, Ōme

A museum in the hills west of Tokyo devoted to Japanese combs and hairpins from the Edo period onwards.

In Sawai, a village in the Tama river valley in Ōme on the western edge of Tokyo, a small museum is devoted to kushi and kanzashi, the combs and hairpins of traditional Japanese hairstyles. Its collection of thousands of pieces, mainly from the Edo period to the early 20th century, shows how women of different classes dressed their nihongami, and how craftsmen worked lacquer, tortoiseshell, silver, coral and silk.

Combs and pins

In the Edo period, from 1603 to 1868, as women's hairstyles grew larger and more elaborate, combs and pins became a main way of showing wealth and taste. Kushi, combs, were worn on the front of the bun; kanzashi, pins with ornaments, were pushed into the sides. Laws against luxury sometimes banned expensive materials, so craftsmen made imitation tortoiseshell and new lacquer techniques. Ornaments changed with the seasons and the wearer's age.

A living craft

Kanzashi are still made for maiko, brides, kabuki and traditional dance, and for wearing with kimono and yukata. The tsumami kanzashi, small squares of silk folded and glued into flowers, is a recognised traditional craft of Tokyo. Museums such as this one, along with collections in Kyoto, keep examples of the styles and the craft, and show how the nihongami was assembled.

Hairstyles of Kushi Kanzashi Museum, Ōme

KanzashiJapanese hair ornaments, the heart of the collectionNihongamiThe hairstyles the combs and pins were made for

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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