There are said to be more than a hundred different ways, new and old, of dressing the hair; and even at the present time there are a score of them in vogue. But as most of them are combinations or modifications of the three coiffures above mentioned, we need not describe them. In all three the forelock is taken in a triangular tuft and tied with a piece of string, and held down with a comb just in front of the knot on the crown.
Both the shimada and the marumage are heavy as they require false hair. The hair needs also to be well oiled. The hair is done once in three or four days, but is seldom washed, not more than once a month. The head is consequently heated and a headache is often the result. Lighter than either of these is the “inverted maidenhair,” which needs no false hair unless the natural hair is too thin. It is preferred when one is at home, and especially when a long spell of either of the other forms of coiffure has ended in a headache. It is also in favour sometimes for the reason that it does not, like the others, require hair ornaments. A Japanese woman has no need of jewelry as it is not the custom to wear brooches, ear-rings, necklaces, or bracelets; and the only articles of gold or silver are, if we except the watch and chain and the finger-rings, which are all of recent introduction, her pipe, the clasp of the obi-fastener, ornamental hair-pins, and sometimes other articles for the hair.
BARS, COMBS, AND BANDS.
The married woman’s coiffure requires a bar through the chignon. This bar varies in length with the width of the chignon, beyond which it appears from a quarter to half an inch. The regulation bar is square or oblong in section with flat or slightly rounded ends. It should be made of transparent, light-yellow tortoise-shell; but dark tortoise-shell or lacquered wood with gold figures is also worn. There are artists of high repute who make a speciality of the designing and lacquering of these bars. Inferior kinds are made of black lacquered wood or celluloid. Sometimes floral or other designs in gold or silver are attached to the ends of bars intended for young women.
The comb, on formal occasions, should be of the same material as the bar. Such combs are usually of light-yellow tortoise-shell; they are worn in front of the chignon and hold down the tip of the hair over the forehead. They have curved backs and straight ends, and are thicker than those used in hair-dressing, which are of boxwood. Other ornamental combs are of various shapes; they may be curved toward the tips, or may be longer and narrower or more rounded and wider than the tortoise-shells. They are made, like the bars, of lacquered wood, common tortoise-shell, or celluloid. The commonest kinds are of boxwood. The combs used for combing the side-hair are wider at one end than at the other, while those for gathering in stray locks are only about an inch wide, close-toothed, and with a long, pointed handle, and for removing scurf fine-toothed double combs are used.
In the case of the marumage and sometimes of the shimada, the knot of the root is hidden from sight by tying around it a thin strip of metal, or a string of paste or coral beads. In the shimada a narrow strip of white paper is also sometimes worn. The piece of cloth wound round the loop of the marumage is usually of plain common silk crimpled or netted, and often mottled. That worn by young girls in coiffure that requires such pieces is plain red; but their elders prefer quieter tints.
The greatest variety is, however, to be seen in ornamental hair-pins. These hair-pins have mostly two legs, though very simple ones are one-legged. They are made of horn, ivory, wood, metal, or celluloid, and have above the fork, if two-legged, some ornament, a bead, or a design in metal, horn, ivory, bone, or other material. These designs, if of the better quality, consist of figures in gold on lacquer background or on ivory, or chasings of gold or silver. The hair-pins worn on formal occasions by young girls are surmounted with a large flower in metal, from which hangs a red silk tassel. Grown-up women set most value on silver or gold pins with a coral bead, about half an inch in diameter. The coral most esteemed is pink or flesh-coloured, though one of a darker hue is preferred by some people. In the commoner kinds the legs are of German silver as wood or horn is liable to snap. There is no rule as to the length of these hair-pins. They are stuck in under the chignon, or a little in front or behind, but never in the chignon itself.
ORNAMENTAL HAIR-PINS.