笄 - Kôgai (hairsticks), handy chart by Edo lover Nadeshico Rin following the kushi/combs one.
Japanese people have pinned accessories in their hair for centuries (flowering branches for example). But kôgai hairsticks first had a very pratical use: they were needed to hold mage (chignon) up into place when women nihongami evolved from their previously down/loosely tied hairdo (垂髪 subeshigami styles). Their praticity differs from their counterpart, the kanzashi (hairpins) which are purely decorative.
It is also believed that kôgai as such evolved from an accessory carried by samurai alongside their swords nicknamed kamikaki (髪掻 hair scratcher) which was used to scratch ones head without disturbing the topknot. It is worth noting that during Edo period, such kôgai were seen as one of the “mitokoromono” (三所物 3 matching sword adornments), with the kozuka (small knife) and menuki (pair ornamental fittings for sword hilt).
Kôgai were first simply rod-type (棒笄 bô kôgai) and thread through the hair. They evolved eventually to 2 parts hairsticks (差し込み sashikomi type, one side plugin into the other), easier to put into intricate hairstyles.
As for Edo era hairstick types, you can see here from right to left, top to bottom (pins are more or less sorted chronologically):
Right column:
団扇形一本足簪 - uchiwagata ipponashi kanzashi (uchiwa shaped single prong hairpin) - appeared around Genroku/Kyôhô eras. Rin stresses that this one is normally labelled as kanzashi (=decorative hairpin, probably because of its round fan shaped end), but as it has only one prong, it is here part of the kôgai/hairstick family.
鶴足 の 笄 - tsuru ashi no kôgai (crane leg hairstick) - popular around 1680, the first pins were made from crane shin bones, a fine material at the time, as cranes are seen as auspicious birds in Japan
薄形べっ甲笄 - usugata bekkô kôgai (thin turtle shell hairstick) - appeared in first half of 18th century. This pin has one rounded tip narrower than the other, making insertion into the hair easier. Those were quite thin (around 1 to 3 mm thick)
しのぎ笄 - shinogi kôgai (blade ridge hairstick) - first seen between Kan’en and Meiwa eras. A kôgai hairstick which presents an “ear pick” tab and may have been used to clean wax from their ears (using them much like ear spoons). The name comes from the shape much alike 鎬 (ridges running along a blade)
光輪笄 - kôrin kôgai (Kôrin hairstick) - first one with openwork decors which appeared around Meiwa/An’ei eras. The patterns were inspired by works of famous painter Ogata Kôrin, and they were often part of a set with a matching comb (see comb chart)
楊枝笄 - yôji kôgai (skewer hairstick) - popular around Kan’en/Hôreki eras, its shape mimic a skewer used for eating moist food (like wagashi)
両端幅広笄 - ryôhashi habahiro kôgai (wide-ended hairstick) - the standard kôgai of mid Edo period. A bit longer than other types, it has rounded tips and a slightly thiner mid-portion
Left column:
中抜形笄 - nakanukigata kôgai (hollowed hairstick) - an unsual shape I didn’t know of, this stick had openwork forming hollowed ends
角太笄 - kakubuto kôgai (thick angled hairstick) - a sturdy early Edo stick (direct opposite of the thin usugata), in rectangular rod shape
蒔絵平角笄 - makie hirakaku kôgai (decorated lacquered flat angled hairstick) - a pretty kôgai, made from lacquered wood, decorated with makie (gold or silver dust designs)
両天差 - ryôtenzashi (double decors plug-in pin) - a metal pin from Bunka/Bunsei eras, with decorative ends. Ends could be taken off and then plugged back once kôgai into place
中差 - nakazashi (‘medium pin’, I am not sure how to translate its name) - popular during Tenpô era, it had a big “ear” tab
硝子中差 - garasu nakazashi (glass ‘middle pin’) - a glass “medium pin“ (see above). Glass was quite rare and precious then as it was a foreign good. Such items were very pricey and fragile.
両端象牙中紫檀笄 - ryôhashi zôge naka shitan kôgai (rosewood with ivory tips hairstick) - a lovely late Edo kôgai with large fanning ends made from ivory pluging into a rosewood center
杯型笄 - kinugata kôgai (cup shape hairstick) - appeared in late Edo, this kôgai made from ivory or turtle shell had separate left and right parts. It became widely spread as it was easy to use, and was the go-to kôgai shape after Meiji era.
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Following the kushi post, I received some questions about bekkô/shell material, so here is a recap of my answers ^^
All the yellow drawings mimic items once made from bekkô/turtle shell, a very pricey and sought-after material (you can find here a memo Rin made).
During 20th century, accessories (like combs) started to also be made from celluloid/plastic as it costed way less.
Sea turtles being protected specie, shell trade is now illegal in most countries, and since 1994 Japan is theorically only using old stock shell for any new item crafted.
But reality is that this trade is shady af, so please be super careful if dealing with any real shell product in/from Japan :( (+ remember, real shell is super pricey even today, so any low cost ones are probably imitations)
