For young women the formal coiffure is the _shimada_, so called from the name of the town on the high road between Tokyo and Kyoto, where it first came into fashion. In this the hair is gathered and tied tightly at or near the crown together with a large tuft of false hair. The tip is folded in forward; the hair is then folded twice in the same direction as the tip so that the edge of the fold is half an inch or less behind the knot; and the whole is turned over the knot in such a way that the edge of the second fold is forward of the crown. Then, by a string passing over the knot the fold is tied down. The chignon is formed by spreading out the hair; sometimes a piece of paper, of the size of the chignon, is well pomaded and put under the surface of the chignon to help it to keep in place. The size of the chignon varies with the wearer’s taste; but, generally speaking, a young woman’s is larger than her elder sister’s. Its position too varies, as it depends upon that of the first knot, whether over or behind the crown. In the formal coiffure of a young lady of social standing it is close to the crown; but girls in a lower station of life or anxious to be thought _chic_ prefer the chignon to be more to the back of the head. [Illustration: THE _SHIMADA_ AND “ROUNDED CHIGNON.”] The _marumage_, or “rounded chignon,” of married women is formed by tying the hair at the crown as in the _shimada_, and then making a loop at the end. This is wrapped round with a piece of ornamental cloth, usually of silk and dyed, and then folded forward; a small bar is passed through the two sides of the loop and the main tuft; and the latter is folded forward twice and the bar is brought down near the crown. The hair behind is spread out into a chignon. Unlike the _shimada_, this chignon is mostly back of the knot; it is held down by a string tied to the knot and the loop. False hair is used, but to a less extent than in the _shimada_; and a little paper pillow wadded with cotton is put under the chignon to hold it in place. A small part of the loop appears on each side of the chignon around the bar and displays the piece of ornamental cloth. The size of the chignon varies with the age of its wearer, the largest being adopted by young women and the smallest by old matrons. There are said to be more than a hundred different ways, new and old, of dressing the hair; and even at the present time there are a score of them in vogue. But as most of them are combinations or modifications of the three coiffures above mentioned, we need not describe them. In all three the forelock is taken in a triangular tuft and tied with a piece of string, and held down with a comb just in front of the knot on the crown.