Tokoyama
A tokoyama (床山) is a traditional Japanese hairdresser specializing in the theatrical arts (kabuki and bunraku) and professional sumo.
The tokoyama trade is the result of a slow evolution from the traditional Japanese barbers of the Edo period, some of whom gradually started to specialize in hairstyles of actors, puppets, and rikishi.
The word tokoyama uses a Japanese character meaning 'floor', because in the Edo period barbers had shops on simple raised floors.
[1][2] Tokoyama use a variety of traditional techniques and tools, mainly combs, spikes and strings, to style the hair after oiling it.
[9] In bunraku, the tokoyama receives instructions from the kashirawari-iin, a theater steward selecting puppet heads from about 400 options, to show subtle differences in what the characters are expressing.
[13][14] Eventually, tokoyama became an integral part of professional sumo and began training specifically to style the wrestlers' hair.
[18] Only the most senior tokoyama are entitled to prepare the more ornate ōichonmage, the ginkgo leaf shaped topknot which sekitori-ranked wrestlers wear in their bouts and on other formal occasions.
[20] In professional sumo, tokoyama work under a pseudonym that always starts with the kanji for 'floor' or 'bed' (床, pronounced toko) in their names.
[16][25] The importance of tokoyama also extends to the founding of new stables, as their opening may be called into question if they are unable to obtain a hairdresser.
Regardless of their professional environment, all the tokoyama use a special ointment called binzuke (also spelled bintsuke), renowned for its sturdiness, making it ideal for elaborate hairstyles.
[9][31] In both sumo and kabuki, the tokoyama use two kinds of oil (called sukiyu and chuneri) produced specifically for the manufacture of wigs.
[32][33] Sumo tokoyama use a sukiyu ointment made traditionally from rapeseed, Japan wax and vanilla fragrance.
[38] A maekaki is used only to make the ōichō style of topknot, where the hair is then spread out using a metal pick called a magebo.
[14] As of the 2020s, however, it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain the traditional tools and balms used to style the haircuts, as the craftsmen who produce them are all gradually retiring without replacement.
[34] This is notably the case of paper strings (called motoyui) used to tie up the hair of sumo wrestlers and kabuki actors' wigs,[32] which were made by just one craftsman in Iida, Nagano until he was forced to close down his business for good in 2020, when all activities requiring his strings (sumo, kabuki, period drama) ceased due to COVID-19.
