Oroku comb - Orokugushi

Japanese: お六櫛 - おろくぐし

A type of wooden comb used by women to style their hair. It has a rounded corner shape and is made of boxwood. The name comes from a girl named Oroku who lived near Yabuhara on the Kiso Kaido road during the Edo period. When Oroku suffered from brain problems, she received a prophecy from Mount Ontake in Kiso and was given a boxwood comb, which made her completely cured. Hoping to share in this blessing, boxwood combs, a Kiso specialty, began to be sold at teahouses in and around Yabuhara. It is also said that Oroku is a corrupted version of the local dialect word oroko, which means dandruff. Either way, the comb is used to remove dandruff, and since Kiso has an abundance of boxwood, it likely became a local specialty.

[Takeshi Endo]

Kiso Comb
It has long been known as a specialty of Kiso. The Oroku comb is shown in the bottom right of the photo. It is made mainly in Yabuhara, Kiso Village, Nagano Prefecture, and currently, in addition to boxwood, Minebari (Japanese beetle) is often used for the material. © Shinshu Nagano Prefecture Tourism Association ">

Kiso Comb

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

女性が調髪に用いる木製のすき櫛の一種。形は角丸形で、材はツゲである。この名のおこりは、江戸時代木曽(きそ)街道藪原(やぶはら)近くに住んでいたお六という娘に由来している。お六が脳を患ったとき、木曽御嶽山(おんたけさん)のお告げでツゲの櫛を挿して全快したが、そのご利益(りやく)にあやかろうと藪原を中心に近辺の茶屋で、木曽名物のツゲのすき櫛が売り出されたという。またお六は、方言でふけのことをオロコというのが訛(なま)ったものともいわれる。いずれにせよ、すき櫛はふけをとるために用いるものであり、木曽にはツゲが多いところから、名物となったものであろう。

［遠藤　武］

木曽の櫛

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