Tutorial: a Nihongami-inspired hairstyle

I love the look of the Nihongami hairstyles worn by maiko and geiko, but it’s not a practical everyday hairstyle for most of us – it would be far too time consuming and probably quite uncomfortable! I’m also not sure it would suit my face shape. But I wanted to find a way of wearing my Japanese hair ornaments, and came up with this idea which is inspired by nihongami but very much simplified.

1. Make a sock bun on the back of the head

2. Use a clip in the middle of the bun to imitate a kanoko dome

3. Add a hair stick near the bottom of the bun

4. Add a hana kanzashi at the top of the bun

There are lots of variations on this by having the bun higher or lower, or on the top or side of the head, leaving off some of the hair ornaments, or adding other hair ornaments!