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In the great print of Sawamura Tossho (below left), we can see that the motodori has been tied only a couple of times and the hair pushed forward in a single fold.

The binding here is wound around the lower half allowing the end to stick out in the manner of a make up brush. In this print, Nakamura is wearing a style known as chasen gami. The elaborate string seen in the print at the top of the page was a binding used to rigidify the loose hair in order to create ornamental designs. The commonest hair-do that we see in Japanese prints is the chonmage, the topknot, where the long pigtail is oiled and gathered up to the top of the head and the head is shaved.

The origin of the pigtail probably dates from ancient China before the Heian period. The archaic dress for men’s hair was a mandatory pigtail called the motodori. Photograph of a samurai by Stillfried, 1875 The question is what do these extravagant hairstyles mean and how do they give us clues to the subject and narrative of the prints? Ukiyo-e artists were at pains to show accurate depictions in their musha-e (warrior or historical prints) and noticeable variants in hairstyle exist between genres, classes and ages. Examination of, (at least nineteenth century) photographs of samurai do show the actual hairstyle as still being very extraordinary, as the example below demonstrates. The hair in this portrait is a heavy and solid wig, and like the make-up, it is all artifice. This portrait is of a kabuki actor however and it is he who is representing the archaic coiffure of the feudal samurai class. The sides of the head have been allowed to grow and again oiled and combed out to create the appearance of a grotesque mane. His scalp has been shaved right around the top and the hair at the back has been allowed to grow very long, combed out and oiled and then tied in a loop with cord. To deconstruct this elaborate design we must first recognise that the blue of the chin signifies stubble and the same is true of the top of Nakamura’s head. What remains outstanding (especially to the non-specialist), are the extraordinary expression and the bizarre hair style. Everything about this print shines – the dense and crashing patterns of the kimono and the textiles, the geometry of the sword-points, the delicacy of the printing, the brevity and sophistication of the drawing and the shorthand of the portrait. Here is a really great Japanese woodblock print… it depicts an actor playing the role of Moriguchi Kuro, a hero from the great Japanese novel Hakkenden inu no soshi no uchi ( The Story of the Eight Dog Heroes). Kunisada II, Nakamura Utaemon as Moriguchi Kuro from Hakkenden (8-dog Heroes)

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