Kanzashi (Hair Ornaments)
You’ve all seen the Geisha running around in the movies with all sorts of ornaments in their hair, well one type are called kanzashi. I’m not an authority, but I might be able to extract some information out of the dark recesses of my grey matter to share with you.
At left we have a Bira bira style Kanzashi made out of tortoise shell. Bira bira means fluttering, which describes the dangling parts of the hair pin, and this type of kanzashi was traditionally worn by a Maiko (apprentice geisha). Kanzashi styles and the placement thereof were indicative of the status of the geisha, so a learned patron could always tell what level of geisha he was being entertained by. At around 42 minutes into the movie, Memoirs of a Geisha, you can see the character, Pumpkin, wearing two kanzashi, which shows that she is a junior Maiko. Also the material of the kanzashi could indicate what time of year it was seasonally. A tortoise shell kanzashi, like this one, was worn in the winter months.
Next up we have a kushi (comb) style kanzashi also made 
out of tortoise shell. This style is meant to stick in a hair bun and was made wide so that the artist had a lot of room to decorate them. This one is basically a carved relief which allows the natural translucency of the material to show, truth in natural materials being an always desired element in Japanese design. Other types of kushi kanzashi could be made out of other types of shell, or maybe wood, which was laquered and decorated with inlays, or maybe just simply gilded.
As with most of the pictures I post, you can click on them and see the original listing and find more photographs, as well as more information. Enjoy.
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