The Tsubushi Shimada

This insanely popular hairstyle is one of the more frequently used to this day. In modern Japan brides might opt for this nihongami when going for a traditional look but for karyukai observers the Tsubushi Shimada is known as a popular option for senior Geisha in Kyoto as well as Toyko. Strange how things have changed from the Edo era when this hairstyle rose to popularity, the wearer of the Tsubushi then was a townsgirl in their late teens.

Source: Uemurakiichi on Instagram

The dangling wraps, be it a thick cord or a kanako, was a sign that the wearer was a working girl of the pleasure district. But this little signal was necessary as a majority of Edo women opted for this look specially unmarried girls going on 20. For a girl this age, it was high time to get married so this might actually be her last nihongami before she got engaged but since a yuujo was not married regardless of age, this would be her go to. So in contrast to some of the nihongami that have intricate poetic connotations and hidden messages meant to flatter the patrons intellect and spark a conversation about art and music, the Tsubushi Shimada has a more profane feel to it.

After musing about symbolism and the courtesans evocative play with puns and images in their look, here we have a nihongami that defined the look of many Edo women be it the highest rank of Tayuu to the very low prostitute of the pleasure quarters. Why was this hairstyle so exceptionally popular? It took the elegance of the Shimada and introduced a flat part, a “crushed” look that was considered incredibly iki at the time. A little bit like when we look back at the Grunge aesthetic for effortless 90ies cool, many an Edo townsgirl wanted the Tsubushi look.

Since the women of the pleasure quarters and the merchant daughters were kind of looking at each other for inspiration, oftentimes the source of the inspiration becomes blurred and it is hard to define who came up with the idea first. Now, we can absolutely tell that this hairstyle catered to all types of roles in the Edo period because of the Tsubushi’s simple and elevated elegance.

This mature style even might have been an option for a young Tayuu whenever she wasn’t splurging on an elaborate hairstyle, when there were no festivities or when she had no appointments with important patrons. But i find this scenario hard to grasp in the first place. Maybe a popular Tayuu had the luxury to relax some days instead of working her fingers to the bone but why would she? Her cost of living was immense in comparison with that of her lowlier counterparts.

Source: Tsukasa on Twitter

A Furisode Tayuu had been groomed from a tender age to live this life, the concept of a day off might have been alien to her in a way we don’t understand, on the other hand she was to be studying and training her art just as intensely as she was to accept clients. And this was exactly why she was such a commodity: She was culturally and intellectually superior to her peers, she was well read and always up to date in song, dance and poetry AND she was to wear the most outrageous fashions of the day so not only did this mean she had to reinvest all her income in her look and studies, her servants and retinue, she also had to invest time. And we all know what time is equal to.

If a Tayuu had reached her peak, she might have caught the eye of an important and wealthy Daimyo. Some lucky girls got so much promotion from this that they could refuse any other patrons and it might have been a point of pride for the patron to pour all his money unto the Tayuu for her to simply be with nobody else and spend her days cultivating her gei. A win win situation for everyone involved: The ageya’s owner certainly had no problem with being associated with one of the ruling houses through their Tayuu so no objection there. And a great Tayuu pretty much expected this version of reality as she had been educated to entertain exactly this type of men. But i doubt that there were so many Daimyo to go around. Probably a real life Tayuu had a handful of wealthy samurai patrons, all of them “the only one” to finance her lifestyle until her body or her mind broke and the next girl took over the reigns. Or maybe she did cut off her pinkie or commit love suicide. A Tayuu lived a completely different life not only to us nowadays but also to 99% of the population of the Edo period.

But this was the life they had been brought up to live. And after looking at the alternative scenarios like those of Bando-Shinzo, a Tomesode Shinzo or god forbid, a yuujo, the fate of a Tayuu might have been the more attractive option for the girls of Shimabara. But we kid ourselves if we think that the women were in control of their own fates. It took a strong will and talent to become a Tayuu but she was chosen by men in higher positions to receive this education, it was not her own choice.

I find it fitting to explore the darker aspects of the fates of the women in the pleasure quarters with this post as the Tsubushi Shimada was the link between the extravagance of a regal Tayuu and the simplicity of the yuujo. We have on the one side artists groomed to entertain the wealthy, the powerful. Women who impacted culture through their connections with poets and actors, ladies who inspired art and literature. On the other hand we have hard working girls, bound by contracts and worked to death without a say in their destinies. The Tsubushi Shimada brought them together and made them equal, at least on the outside.