What’s In a Book? Part 25

I originally had another book planned for this installment, but the book(s) that I had been waiting for just happened to arrive today (happy early birthday to me!). Since I’ve been waiting to get this book since it came out in December 2016 I knew I had to review this for you all as soon as possible!

Books’ covers courtesy of myself. Nihongami No Sekai: Nihongami No Yuikata (日本髪の世界日本髪の結い方編) - The World of Japanese Traditional Hairstyles: How To Set Japanese Hairstyles by Tetsuo Ishihara 石原哲男 (ISBN 978-4-909031-03-7) Date of Publication: 2016 Language: Dual Japanese and English Format: 2 Hardcover and 1 Softcover Books Availability: Can Only Be Purchased At Takashimaya Department Store. Limited To 1,000 Copies Printed. Price: Around $200 USD New Errors: 0 Upon closing his hair style museum in 2016 Tetsuo Ishihara has been busy teaching and trying to pass on his decades of knowledge, to which this book set can easily be called his magnum opus. It is the ultimate visual step-by-step guide to traditional hairstyles, spread out over three books. They are: Book 1: Third Century Through Modernity I doubt that any book has ever been this thorough nor will there ever be another one as I have no clue how this could even be possible. The book recreates traditional hairstyles starting from the 3rd century and goes through to modern day, and each style is shown as a step by step guide. For this book there are 35 different hairstyles shown with an explanation of when it was popular, who wore it, and how it developed. They are: 1) Taiko Shimada - 太古島田 2) Sōkei - 双髺 3) Kōkei - 高髺 4) Tamamusubi - 玉結び 5) Nage Shimada - 投島田 6) Agemaki - 上げ巻 7) Aigo - あいご 8) Katatemage - 片手髷 9) Ryōtemage - 両手髷 10) Shinobumage - しのぶ髷 11) Genroku Shimada - 元禄島田 12) Utsuo Sakkō - うつお先笄 13) Kushimaki - 櫛巻 14) Shinojimage - 志の字髷 15) Baimage - ばい髷 16) Katsuyama - 勝山 17) Katahazushi - 片外し 18) Sakichigomage - 先稚児髷 19) Ryōwamage - 両輪髷 20) Wariganoko - 割り鹿の子 21) Darumagaeshi - だるまがえし 22) Meotomage - 女夫髷 23) Oshidori (Osu) (Male Bird) - おしどり雄 (Also known as Hina - 雛) 24) Oshidori (Mesu) (Female Bird) - おしどり雌 25) Oshun - お俊 26) Fukurasuzume - ふくら雀 27) Marumage - 丸髷 28) Suisho - 粋書 29) Meotomage - 夫婦髷 30) Chigomage -  稚児髷 31) Kikugasane - 菊重ね 32) Edo Sakkō - 江戸先笄 33) Baichōchō - 貝蝶々 34) Suisha - 水車 35) Taka Shimada - 高島田 Some of them should be familiar as they’re also used by maiko and geiko today, but usually for Setsubun or pre-sakkō styles. For those of you looking to build on the fantastic books on both tayū and maiko hairstyles (all three of which I’ve covered in the past) look no further than the next entry! Book 2: Styles of Maiko and Tayū This is the holy grail of hair styling! It takes all of the styles found in the maiko and tayū books and lays them all out here in a step by step guide. This one features 29 unique hairstyles including: 1) Wareshinobu - 割れしのぶ (Maiko) 2) Fukumage/Ofuku - ふく髷/お福 (Maiko) 3) Katsuyama - 勝山 (Maiko) 4) Yakko Shimada  - 奴島田 (Maiko) 5) Sakkō - 先笄 (Maiko) 6) Geiko Shimada - 芸妓島田 (Geiko) 7) Chū Shimada - 中島田 (Maiko and Geiko) 8) Wareshinobu - 割れしのぶ (Tayū) 9) Ohatsu - お初 (Tayū) 10) Oshidori - おしどり (Tayū) 11) Osome - お染 (Tayū) 12) Tachibana - 橘 (Tayū) 13) Tachibana Kuzushi - 橘くずし (Tayū) 14) Kansuzume - 寒雀 (Tayū) 15) Tsubushi Shimada - つぶし島田 (Tayū) 16) Mitsumage - 三つ髷 (Tayū) 17) Nage Shimada  - 投島田 (Tayū) 18) Sakkō - 先笄 (Tayū) 19) Kinshōjō - 錦祥女 (Tayū) 20) Otoko Genroku - 男元禄 (Tayū) 21) Onna Genroku - 女元禄 (Tayū) 22) Ofuku - お福 (Tayū) 23) Katsuyama  - 勝山 (Tayū) 24) Kago Shimada - かご島田 (Tayū) 25) Genroku Shimada - 元禄島田 (Tayū) 26) Tatehyogo - 立兵庫 (Tayū) 27) Yoshinomage - 吉野髷 (Tayū) 28) Osafune - 長舟 (Tayū) 29) Osuberakashi - おすべらかし (Tayū) I was a bit confused on the spelling of “ofuku” as they use both the hiragana fuku (ふく) and the kanji fuku (福), but it may have just been a slight issue that was overlooked or changed by one of the two English editors. As for geiko shimada, it’s what we’d call “Kyō Shimada” (京島田). This makes sense though as this book looks at styles for people and not wigs (not that there’s anything bad about that!). If you thought that this couldn’t get any better, look no further than... Book 3: Foundation The shortest of the three and the only softcover piece, it truly is the foundation for which all hairstyles can be produced. It includes a huge and very detailed glossary of terms for just about every tool and item involved in styling hair. But, more importantly, it includes the physical measurements that form the literal base for the three main maiko and tayū hairstyles. From there it sets up how the measurements are applied and how the styles are done in painstaking detail of over 100 visual steps each. The four styles shown are wareshinobu, ofuku, sakkō, and tayū ofuku. It’s easy to see that the entire purpose of this little book is to provide the most in-depth knowledge possible for the hairstyles of maiko and tayū and, yes, should you have the proper tools I have no doubt that you could recreate these styles (it’s that detailed). The only thing that I missed from previous versions were the added visual parts that looked at accessories, but with so much information it would have gone off track. It is simply amazing and I can’t recommend it enough if you manage to get your hands on a copy. Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪ (out of 5)

What’s In a Book? Part 8

The second part of a requested set of books that was eluded to a few times last week. This book will likely set you back the most out of any other karyukai book (should you get a copy) but, it is truly in a class of its own.

Image of book’s hardcover courtesy of Japanese Traditional Hairstyle "Nihongami" in Tokyo, Japan Blog (link at the end).   日本髪の世界-舞妓の髪型編 - Nihongami No Sekai - Maiko No Kamigata (Translated into English as “The World of Traditional Japanese Hairstyles/Hairstyles of The Maiko”) by Tetsuo Ishihara 石原 哲男 Date of Publication: 2004 Language: Dual Japanese and English Text Format: Hardcover Plus DVD Availability: Extremely Rare. Copies were snatched up quickly when it came out Price: About $250 If you manage to find someone willing to part with a copy Errors: 1 (English Issue) While other books have focused completely on karyukai information, this one is the definitive guide for the hair styles of maiko. What sets itself apart from its 1993 counterpart is that all major maiko hair styles are shown in glorious step-by-step images and it is full of beautiful bonuses. The model for this book is Shinahide (志奈英) of Hatsunoya (初乃屋) in Pontocho, further continuing the ties that this author has to the Pontocho community. This book goes over Wareshinobu (割れしのぶ), Ofuku (おふく), Yakko Shimada (奴島田), Katsuyama (勝山), and Sakkō (先笄) in such detailed images that, should you be so inclined, you could likely do these hair styles by yourself at home (warning though: they are very hard to pull off without training, so having this book will not suddenly make you able to do these hair styles by yourself). It also shows special hair styles that Pontocho uses before sakkō including Oshidori (おしどり), Kikugasane (菊重ね), Suisha (水車), Edo Sakkō (江戸先笄), and Osafune (長舟). Like its earlier counterpart, it does include the step-by-step guide of the maiko make-up and dressing process and the kanzashi calendar.  What it does improve upon from the older version is its images of maiko pocchiri (obidome) and even adds in kanokodome (the kanzashi that sit on top of the mage section of the wareshinobu style). There are dozens upon dozens of them taken from okiya in all five kagai and it is truly a feast for the eyes to see examples that are well over 100 years old and special ones that were commissioned during the height of Western art styles (the Art Nouveau and Art Deco ones are among my favorites). After this it then goes into the erikae process with Shinahide (just like with Momino) but has far more images than the previous book. It also includes small biographies (a few pages) on each kagai along with images of maiko and geiko who were active at that time. For those who are wondering, Shinahide is no longer active as she left the profession to be married. The only error I could find for this book was on the English side of the text, with Gion Kobu being written as “Gion Cobu” (I really don’t like when people change Ks to Cs for no reason. In this case, I feel like I’m reading “Gion Cob Salad”). On top of its lovely images, it also includes a DVD that shows the ofuku styling in a very detailed 30 minute video (it is in Japanese but does have English subtitles) along with the make-up and dressing process. Overall, I can’t even begin to describe how beautiful and thorough this book is. I managed to purchase it some years back directly from the museum at the cover price of 10,000 yen (around $100 USD) but, since the museum is now closed, I don’t think that you can find a brand new copy. If you do manage to find a used one I highly suggest buying it if you can afford the steep cover price. For those of you who live in the Toronto area I managed to find out that the University of Toronto has a copy of this book in their library! You likely have to be a student to access this book, but it is so far the only example I can find of a library owning a copy outside of Japan.  Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪ (out of 5) To check out the Tokyo Kamiyui’s blog you can see it here at http://kamiyui2010.blog133.fc2.com/.