If you have seen Japanese women depicted in ukiyo-e prints and paintings from the Edo period (17th to mid 19th century), you know what their complicated, three-dimensional hairdos look like.
How were those hairstyles made up and in what variations? Did women fix their own hair? How much did hair ornaments of a courtesan weigh?
Answers can be found in this fascinating booklet in PDF (free of charge) at the following link:
https://www.cosmetic-culture.po-holdings.co.jp/2018/10/26/kesyobunka_plus_10.pdf
Although the main text is in Japanese, each section has an English summary, the translation of which I did with Julia Hutt (former V&A curator and currently working as freelancer), and originally published in printed form by the POLA Research Institute of Beauty & Culture in 2017.
This booklet has been very well received among Japanese-art enthusiasts in Japan and elsewhere. Hope you enjoy it!
Cover, POLA Research Institute of Beauty & Culture, 2017
