Tokoyama

A tokoyama (床山) is a traditional Japanese hairdresser specializing in the theatrical arts (kabuki and bunraku) and professional sumo.

The tokoyama play a considerable behind-the-scenes role in preparing the hairstyles of people or puppets, the latter having a special status in the fields in which the tokoyama operate. Often specializing in a particular hairstyle, tokoyama maintain close relationships with those whose hair they arrange, often assigned to the particular service of a small group of people. Heirs to the hairstyles of the late Edo period, tokoyama continue to practice hairstyling with traditional tools and ointments although it is increasingly difficult to maintain a traditional practice with the gradual disappearance of the latter.