What is the legendary “chonmage”? A haircut which was made while covered in blood.

Sunday 01/12/2024 | 18:46 PM

To all the men in the world who long to be a samurai,

The traditional samurai style was that of a cool kimono and a Japanese sword at the waist. The samurai’s good posture and polite behavior have won the hearts of many men, but if there is one thing you wouldn’t want to imitate, it’s the hairstyle. Japan’s enigmatic hairstyle: The so-called chonmage.

However, did you know that it’s a haircut made while covered in blood?

Why the chonmage?

Samurai originally fought on the battlefield. They fought wearing armor and helmets, but it was quite hot under the helmets due to sweat, body heat, and the sun, so they got steamed up.

Sweat dripping down can get into the eyes, which can be a disadvantage in combat. Therefore, the haircut was an attempt to create space and make it a little cooler. The pursuit of functionality resulted in that strange haircut.

Personally, I don’t want to imitate it.

Are bald areas not shaved?

It is characterised by the absence of hair on the top part of the head. This part of the hairstyle is called the “sakayaki”. Do you know how it is made? I originally thought it was shaved with a razor, but that is not true. The hairs are plucked out, one by one. As this is a considerable area, a laughably large number of hairs need to be plucked. Compared to removing grey hairs, the amount of hairs that need to be plucked for the sakayaki are a bigger order of magnitude.

Bloodshed to make a chonmage

Making a chonmage was certainly painful, but it was also accompanied by quite a bit of bleeding. If you’ve ever had a facial hair removed, you know that sometimes bleeding occurs. Imagine that but a vast area of hair, and denser too. Some people would have bled considerably.

It was documented at the time with the words, “The amount of blood loss is awful”. A document left by a Portuguese missionary also states that it, “Looks really painful”.

Why did they go to such lengths?

It seems to have been meant to show the spirit of always being ready to fight for the lord, even if it hurt. Furthermore, it is said that if there was even a little bit of hair on this part of the sakayaki, the samurai was considered ill-groomed.

After hearing so much about the chonmage hairstyle, you’ll probably find it hard to laugh at it, and personally, I won’t call it “cool”. Even in times of peace, when there were no more big wars or battles, the samurai who had continued to follow these rules can still be called cool men, can’t they?

Conversely, some hairy samurais did not make the sakayaki. They were mainly ronin, people who did not serve a particular lord.

Incidentally, Miyamoto Musashi is world-famous as a strong samurai, but he didn’t have a sakayaki. He had a large boil (or swelling?) on the top of his head, so if he made a sakayaki, the boil would have been visible and made him look ugly. Even if the boil healed, it would have left a scar, so he did not make a sakayaki for the rest of his life. In truth, he may have wanted to make a chonmage.

ABE KENGO