The Ohatsu

The next hairstyle was historically not worn by Tayuu. After the Wareshinobu, this is the second one that the modern Tayuu have adopted into their repertoire. It kind of resembles the modern Maiko’s Ofuku hairstyle and to add to the confusion, there is a Tayuu Ofuku hairstyle that looks completely different from both Maiko Ofuku and Tayuu Ohatsu but today we will be looking at the modern Ohatsu and we will discuss where the name came from and who used to wear this particular hairstyle.

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After the Kamuro graduated the first big decision in her career was made: Was she pretty and very talented, intelligent and hard working? Then she would be promoted to be a Furisode-Shinzo, a promise was made to groom her to become the next big thing. In this sense she was still forbidden to take her own clients and had not an official Myoseki but a simple name that was still attributed to her great and famous onesan. Her hair was set in Wareshinobu again and she stayed in her Tayuu’s care for a while longer until she was old enough to earn her own income.

But what happened to all the other Kamuro? The ones who didn’t display as much potential but were of better use than as mere maids had to take on their first paying clients to earn their keep. They were called Tomesode-Shinzo and they were the ones who got their hair set in Ohatsu.

The name Ohatsu is famously tied to a Courtesan from Osaka’s Shinmachi. She is still known today as a protagonist of the famous Kabuki play “The Love Suicides Of Sonezaki” where she and her troubled lover take their own lives in hopes of being together in the afterlife. The play is quite tragic and unique in its very raw depictions of simple folk. For once not the Goddess like Oiran is center of a romance but a popular but rather plain courtesan is. And Ohatsu was not portrayed wearing lavish uchikake and flashy kimono but an attire that was more suited for her rank. Another tidbit is that Ohatsu was 19 when she died in the play so this indicates how old the Tomesode-Shinzo might have been when they wore the Ohatsu hairstyle.

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The youth of the wearer is still hinted to today with modern Tayuu displaing a huge selection of ornaments. The bigde kanzashi is very prominent and the big red accents are a nod to connections to Kamuro-culture while the roundness of the look allude to the wearers inexperience as a full Tayuu.

Source: Goshokoichiro