Tokoyama

A profession subordinate to theater, a specialist in handling wigs used by actors on stage. This occupation originated in Kabuki, and the name spread to Shinpa and other theater styles. To be precise, wig care is divided into "wig makers" and "tokoyama." In Kabuki, for example, wig makers make a base frame called "daigane" to fit the actor's head and attach hair to it, while tokoyama style the wigs in various ways depending on the role, staying in the "tokoyama room" in the theater's dressing room during the show, attaching each wig to the actor's head every day just before the show begins, and repairing and storing them after the show. In Kabuki, the rule is that wigs are divided into specialists for leading actors and specialists for female actors, and in the Edo period, they also worked on styling the actor's own hair and shaving his or her beard and hairstyling. In addition, there were also connections with the sumo world, and so the role of tokoyama, who style the hair of sumo wrestlers, was born, and this role is still carried out today as a professional occupation.

[Toshiaki Matsui]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

演劇に従属する職業の一つで、俳優が舞台で使う鬘(かつら)を取り扱う専門家。歌舞伎(かぶき)で始まった職分で、新派その他の演劇にも名称が普及した。正確には鬘の扱いは「鬘屋」と「床山」に分かれ、歌舞伎を例にとると、鬘屋が俳優の頭にあわせ「台金(だいがね)」という土台の枠をつくり、これに毛髪を植え付けるまでの作業を行い、床山はこれを役柄に応じて各種の形に結い上げ、興行中も劇場の楽屋内の「床山部屋」に詰めていて、毎日開演の直前にそれぞれの鬘を俳優の頭に取り付け、終演後は修理と保管を行う。歌舞伎では立役(たちやく)専門と女方(おんながた)専門に分かれているのが原則で、江戸時代は俳優自身の髪を結い、月代(さかやき)や髭(ひげ)を剃(そ)ることも仕事とした。なお、相撲(すもう)界とも交渉があったので力士の髪を結う床山が生まれ、現在も専門家の職分として行われている。

［松井俊諭］

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