hairdresser for sumo wrestlers and actors; wigmaker for actors
A specialist who styles traditional Japanese hair and wigs, primarily for sumo wrestlers and kabuki actors. Not a general hairdresser.
力士の髷は床山が結う。
A tokoyama dresses the sumo wrestler's topknot.
歌舞伎の床山はかつらの準備
hairdressing room in Edo-period kabuki
Historical term for the backstage room where tokoyama worked during the Edo period. Rarely used in modern contexts.
江戸時代の芝居小屋には床山と呼ばれる部屋があった。
In Edo-period playhouses, there was a room called tokoyama.
Kabuki tokoyama also prepare wigs.
Compound of 床 (toko, here meaning 'hair-dressing stand' or 'raised platform') and 山 (yama, a suffix used in occupational names). The exact derivation is uncertain, but it refers to a person who works at a raised dressing area.