Kanzashi

Kanzashi (簪) are hair ornaments used in traditional Japanese hairstyles. The term kanzashi refers to a wide variety of accessories, including long, rigid hairpins, barrettes, fabric flowers and fabric hair ties.
In the English-speaking world, the term kanzashi is typically used to refer to hair ornaments made from layers of folded cloth used to form flowers (tsumami kanzashi), or the technique of folding used to make the flowers.
Kanzashi were first used in Japan during the Jōmon period. During that time, the wearing of a single thin rod or stick was considered to hold powers to ward off evil spirits, with people wearing them in their hair for protective purposes. The Jōmon period also saw the introduction of hair combs.
During the Nara period, a variety of Chinese cultural aspects and items were brought to Japan through mutual trade and envoys. The items brought back from China included Chinese hairpins (zan, 簪; written with the same Chinese character as kanzashi), amongst other hair ornaments such as Chinese combs.
During the Heian period, hairstyles shifted from being worn up to being worn long, and tied back relatively low. During this time period, the term kanzashi began to be used as a general term for any hair ornament, including combs and hairpins.
During the Azuchi-Momoyama period, hairstyles changed from the taregami (垂髪, "hair hanging down") style, to the wider variety of styles worn up – predecessors of modern nihongami styles, which made more use of hair ornaments.
Kanzashi came into wider use during the Edo period, when hairstyles became larger and more complicated, using a larger number of ornaments. Artisans began to produce more finely crafted products, including some hair ornaments that could be used as defensive weapons. During the latter part of the Edo period, the craftsmanship of kanzashi is considered to have reached a high point, with a number of styles and designs created, many of which persist to the modern day.
In the present day, traditional Japanese hairstyles are not commonly worn, typically being worn only by geisha, maiko, sumo wrestlers, brides, modern tayū and oiran re-enactors, with both geisha, brides, tayū and oiran, and some apprentice geisha in some regions of Japan, using pre-styled wigs instead of their own hair.
As such, few people wear kanzashi with traditional hairstyles. However, kanzashi can be, and still are, worn with everyday hairstyles as simple hair accessories; there are a number of varieties and styles of wearing kanzashi, with modern varieties worn as hairclips both common and popular. In 1982, tsumami kanzashi were officially designated as a traditional Japanese handcraft in the Tokyo region.
Professional kanzashi craftspeople typically undergo a five- to 10-year traditional apprenticeship to learn the trade. Similarly to the combs used to create nihongami hairstyles, only a small number of traditionally-trained kanzashi craftspeople are left practising the trade within Japan; from 2002 to 2010, their estimated number in the country decreased from 15 to five.
However, the tsumami kanzashi technique of petal-folded fabric kanzashi has become a popular craft amongst hobbyists, with a number of books, kits and lessons available on the subject, from sources such as the Tsumami Kanzashi Museum in Shinjuku. Some hobbyists have bypassed the traditional apprenticeship system to establish themselves as independent artisans of tsumami kanzashi in Japan.
Kanzashi are fabricated from a wide range of materials, such as lacquered wood, gold and silver plated metal, tortoiseshell, silk, and recently, plastic. Early plastic kanzashi made out of materials such as bakelite are considered to be highly valued as collectables.
There are a number of basic kanzashi styles, with the wear of each typically and traditionally following seasonal arrangements; however, in the present day, the use of seasonal kanzashi is observed only by geisha, their apprentices, tayū, oiran re-enactors and in the costumes for kabuki plays. The use of kanzashi to finely indicate age and status is a tradition also only held by geisha and maiko.
For maiko, the size, shape, variety and number of kanzashi can indicate seniority and the stage of apprenticeship, used in tangent with a number of different hairstyles throughout the apprenticeship. Though geisha also wear seasonal kanzashi, this is typically confined to a change in the colour of tama kanzashi.
Despite seasonal and (in the instance of bridalwear) occasional variation, most kanzashi that are not considered to be tsumami kanzashi fall into one of a number of basic shapes and appearances.
A number of other styles of kanzashi also exist, though these are typically only worn for specific, uncommon hairstyles, such as by maiko in certain geisha districts or by characters in some kabuki plays.
Tsumami kanzashi – literally meaning "pinched kanzashi" – are traditional kanzashi made of squares of dyed or printed silk, folded into a number of shapes to represent flowers, plants and animals.
Each square is folded multiple times with the aid of tweezers and glued onto a base using rice glue. A finished tsumami kanzashi piece may contain anything from five to 75 squares of silk or more. Tsumami kanzashi pieces are intended to closely represent the plant or animal they depict; tsumami kanzashi depicting flowers are known as hana kanzashi (literally meaning "flower kanzashi").
Hana kanzashi are usually made from a cluster of tsumami kanzashi flowers, and may include bira-bira-style strips of metal or long streamers of petals dangling from the main kanzashi piece. Maiko are well-known for wearing hana kanzashi that are typically larger than average.
Generally, hana kanzashi are worn in pairs, one on either side of the head, often with a complementary kushi. The flowers are glued to backings of metal or cardboard that are attached to a wire and are bunched together to make bouquets and other arrangements. Additional detailing of stamens is created by the use of mizuhiki, a strong, thin twine made from washi paper, often coloured and used for decorative works.
Geisha, and especially maiko, wear different hana kanzashi for each month of the year.
Hana kanzashi are highly seasonal, though typically the only people in Japan who follow the seasons closely enough to register seasonal changes are geisha and their apprentices. Since maiko wear more elaborate kanzashi than their senior geisha, seasonal changes are even more important for them.