What’s That Thing? Part 15

I originally made this as a normal answer, but given how many people were interested I decided to make it into a full format feature so that it can be found easier in the future! Anonymous asked: “What is the difference between Tsubushi Shimada and Chu Shimada?” Chū (中), meaning “Middle,” refers to the volume of the mage at the back of the hairstyle. Tsubushi (つぶし/潰し), meaning “Crushed” or “Flat” is the lowest form of the married shimada as its mage is flat and practically horizontal. For a visual example, here’s a Chū Shimada (中島田):

Image courtesy of Outlet Wig. And here’s a Tsubushi Shimada (つぶし島田/潰し島田):

Image courtesy of Outlet Wig. Tsubushi Shimada was worn by older married women and is still worn by older, usually natori, geiko, like Kofumi (小富美) of Masuume (桝梅):

Image courtesy of Onihide-san.