page_title: Chonmage
hierarchical_section_title: Chonmage
caption_attribution_description: Japanese Samurai - hand colored albumen
context_page_description: The chonmage is a form of Japanese traditional topknot haircut worn by men. It is most commonly associated with the Edo period and samurai, and in recent times with sumo wrestlers. It was originally a method of using hair to hold a samurai helmet steady atop the head in battle, and became a status symbol among Japanese society.
  In a traditional Edo-era chonmage the top of the head is shaved. The remaining hair was oiled and waxed before being tied into a small tail folded onto the top of the head in the characteristic topknot.
context_section_description: The chonmage (Japanese: 丁髷) is a form of Japanese traditional topknot haircut worn by men. It is most commonly associated with the Edo period and samurai, and in recent times with sumo wrestlers. It was originally a method of using hair to hold a samurai helmet steady atop the head in battle, and became a status symbol among Japanese society.
  In a traditional Edo-era chonmage the top of the head is shaved. The remaining hair was oiled and waxed before being tied into a small tail folded onto the top of the head in the characteristic topknot.
caption: A 19th-century samurai with a chonmage
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