Owarawa - Big boy

Hair that has been untied. The name comes from the fact that the way it hangs down to the shoulders resembles the hairstyle of a child. Christian missionaries who came to Japan at the end of the Muromachi period understood vōuaraua to mean "hair that is loose and unkempt, with loose clothing and other things in disarray" (Nippo-Portuguese Dictionary), but the following three uses are seen. (1) A youthful hairstyle of an older person without a haircut. "Nagaki was a young man of Uji. Even a grown-up boy would not wear his headgear" (Kojidan). (2) It is often used in war tales to describe a warrior in a valiant battle. "He threw off the tassels of his armor, put on only his torso, and became a grown-up boy, standing with his arms outstretched" (Tale of the Heike, "The Last Days of Lord Noto"). (3) By extension, it refers to the state of devoting oneself wholeheartedly to something. "All three of them had grown up and began drinking with great enthusiasm" (Ozaki Koyo, "Futari Jobo"), "In the fishing town, people were busy preparing for the event, as they usually are every year" (Yoshimura Akira, "Battleship Musashi").

[Kesao Okada]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

髻(もとどり)を解いた髪。肩のあたりまで垂れたさまが、童の髪姿に似ているところからいう。室町末期に来日したキリスト教宣教師は、vōuaraua「髪はばらばらに解け、着物はしまりなくはだけなどして、身なりの乱れている」（『日葡(にっぽ)辞書』）と認識しているが、次の三つの使い分けがみられる。(1)年長者の理髪しない若風の髪形。「長季は宇治殿若気也。仍(すなわち)大童まで不加首服云々」（『古事談』）。(2)軍記物語などで、奮戦する武者姿の描写によく用いられている。「鎧(よろい)の草摺(くさずり)かなぐり捨て、胴ばかり着て、大童になり、大手を広げて立たれたり」（『平家物語』「能登殿最期」）。(3)転じて、一心不乱に物事に打ち込むさまをいう。「三人とも大童になつて、おもしろさうに飲み始め」（尾崎紅葉『二人女房』）、「漁師町では例年通りその準備に大童だったが」（吉村昭(あきら)『戦艦武蔵(むさし)』）。

［岡田袈裟男］

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