角隠し

Japanese

Kanji in this term
角	隠
つの Grade: 2	かく(し) Grade: S
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
角隱し (kyūjitai)

角隠し (tsuno kakushi): a close-up of a bride wearing the traditional tsuno kakushi headdress, with the bridal topknot showing.

Etymology

By surface analysis, 角 (tsuno, “horn”) +‎ 隠し (kakushi, “hiding; hider”, 連(れん)用(よう)形(けい) (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of the verb 隠(かく)す (kakusu, “to hide something”).). Appears in texts from the early 1800s.

This derivation is listed in some sources as a reference to hiding a bride's "horns" of anger, jealousy, or other negative qualities, in order to present a more virtuous image for the wedding. However, this interpretation might be a folk etymology resulting from a shift in the reading and meaning.

This specific headdress is described as arising in the Edo period as something worn by women when visiting a Buddhist temple. In certain Buddhist sects, women visitors to temples were required to cover their hairlines in front, also known as the 角 (sumi, literally “corner”; the hairline sense possibly in reference to a widow's peak, or in reference to the top "edge" or "corners" of the forehead), the same portion of the hairline that was traditionally shaved off in men's fashions. The headdress may have been known originally as a 角隠し (sumi kakushi, literally “front-hairline hider”).

Such a shift may have been facilitated by the existence of partial synonym 角帽子 (tsuno bōshi, literally “horn hat”, also read as sumi bōshi in different contexts), originally referring to a different kind of headdress used since at least the Heian period of 794–1185. This consisted of a triangular piece of material with one corner pointing straight up from the wearer's forehead, and 角 (tsuno, “horn”) referred to the peak of the triangle.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) つのかくし [tsùnó káꜜkùshì] (Nakadaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [t͡sɨno̞ ka̠kɯ̟ɕi]

Noun

角隠(つのかく)し • (tsuno kakushi) 

1. a kind of bridal headdress made of a wide band of silk, commonly but not exclusively white, that encircles the bride's hair, with the topknot rising through the middle
2. (Buddhism, historical) a specific kind of headdress worn by practitioners of 浄土真宗 (Jōdo Shinshū, “True Pure Land Buddhism”), of a similar boat shape as the modern bridal headdress, but originally made of black silk

Coordinate terms

• 綿帽子(わたぼうし) (wata bōshi, literally “cotton hat”): another kind of bridal headdress

Further reading

• Entry at Gogen-Allguide (in Japanese)