Topknot48
Dad taught me many things. Starting from how to fight using a sword, then acting like a samurai, and of course dressing, especially styling my hair. Among Samurai, there is a hairstyle that differentiates a Samurai from commoners. I was taught that hair is a gift from parents, hair must be looked after and styled as respect for parents. As a samurai, I must have long hair down to my back. Every morning after showering and getting dressed, I sit facing the mirror. I smeared all my hair with oil until my hair was smooth. After that, I gathered all my hair up to the top of my head and then tied my hair with a thread. After making a ponytail on my head, I bent my ponytail hair forward and then tied it again with a piece of thread. That’s the samurai hairstyle called chonmage
I am now 20 years old, I live alone in a house located deep in the forest. My father died a year ago, he died in the war. father participated in the Shogun’s army against rebels supported by foreigners. I still remember a year ago, his friend came to my house with the sad news of my father’s death. My father’s friend was tasked by my father to hand over the Sword to me.
I haven’t been to town in a long time. Previously, my father ordered me to take refuge in the forest because the city was being attacked by enemies. I wanted to take part in the war but father insisted that I take refuge in the forest. I heard the war is over. I decided to go into town. As usual I took a warm shower, I wrapped a bandage to hide my breasts. then I got dressed and put my hair into a chonmage bun. I didn’t forget to put my father’s sword in my belt. When I arrived in town, I saw everything had changed. There are people who still wear normal clothes. But there are also those who wear western clothes. I also saw the western building among the traditional Japanese wooden buildings. The strangest thing is, I’ve been walking for an hour but didn’t find a Samurai. Plus, people around here look at me strangely. A couple of women chuckled when they saw me. there was a mother and child who immediately left when I passed them. Suddenly I was approached by a pair of men, each wearing western clothes complete with hats and wooden sticks. “Heh, you still wear clothes like that?” One of the men said scornfully. “Outdated,” said his friend. The man pointed at the hilt of my sword with his stick. “Maybe this sword is made of bamboo,” he said. I was taught by my father that if a commoner was rude to a samurai, the commoner should apologize. If not, the Samurai had the right to kill the people. “Apologise immediately,” I said. The man walked behind me. “You know, foreigners thought the samurai had a gun to his head,” he said. To my surprise, this man’s hand touched my hair. I drew my sword, then I slashed the lower part of his body. Not long after, the man’s trousers slipped down and his cane was cut, the man fell to the ground. I pointed the sword at the man, “begging for mercy immediately,” I said. Seeing this, he immediately kowtowed to me tremblingly. I turned towards his friend who had run away somewhere. I immediately continued my journey
I’m in the middle of town now. People still look at me strangely. I saw a child shouting while spreading out sheets of paper, lots of people bought the paper from him. When I approached him, the child was shocked. “Hey, you want a newspaper? Sorry in advance, did you know you were breaking the rules?” Said this child. “What did I violate?” I said. “Try reading the main page, it’s 10 cents,” he said. I bought the newspaper. I sat reading the newspaper. I read about Danpatsu law. According to this newspaper, the Danpatsu Law was created by the government to eliminate all attributes associated with samurai, including swords and traditional topknot. What is this? What’s wrong with samurai?
“That’s him, sir,” said someone in front of me. I saw in front of me a group of six men dressed in black carrying rifles, walking towards me. I stood up and walked towards them. “You’re a Samurai?” said one of them. “Who are you guys?” I asked. “We are from the Japanese imperial forces, we received reports of violations here,” he said. “You hand over your sword and immediately cut your hair,” he said. “No way, I’m a samurai. This sword and bun are part of me,” I said. When I was about to leave, these six men surrounded me and pointed their guns at me. I immediately got into a stance, ready to draw my sword. I quickly lunged at one of them. Suddenly, I heard a gunshot, a bullet lodged in my back. I fell to my knees. One of the soldiers came to me and took my sword. Then from behind, a soldier came while drawing his dagger. He grabbed my bun and pulled it so my head looked up. Then he put the blade of his dagger on the top of my head. He immediately cut my topknot. I felt pain in my crown due to the friction between the knife and my hair and scalp. I screamed begging for all this to stop. I saw everyone around me looking at me. Shame and pain overcame me. I heard the sound of friction between the dagger and my topknot which was very heartbreaking. Not long after, my topknot fell off my head. The soldier threw the bun piece to the ground. “From now on you are just ordinary people,” The soldiers immediately left me. This is an embarrassing thing for me. I have lost two precious things my parents gave me. The first is my father’s sword, and the second is my hair which was passed down from my mother. I am no longer a Samurai. The only way for me to get rid of this shame is to commit suicide. But how? The newspaper seller’s boy came to me. “Brother, you better come with me,” I was led by the child to his hut. He called a doctor to treat my wounds. The doctor asked me to take off my clothes. Since I’m no longer a samurai, there’s no longer any point in hiding my identity as a woman. How surprised the doctor and the child were when I opened my clothes and showed that I was a woman. Since that incident, I have lived with the newspaper boy.
