Long ornamental hairpins (kanzashi) with decorative flowers made from the likes of crêpe and gold/silver thread is referred to as a hana kanzashi. They were used by girls and young women.In Shinoda Kōzō's book Meiji hyakuwa, we find the words of the owner of the hana kanzashi wholesale business “Hana-kame.” According to them, originally these hairpins were used in the pleasure quarters of Kyoto and Osaka and were not found in Tokyo. The owner of Hana-kame, who trained under a hana kanzashi manufacturer in Osaka, took note of this and came up with the idea of manufacturing and selling them in Tokyo. He then moved there in 1886. Sales of hana kanzashi in Tokyo were very good. This was because they went well with not only existing Japanese hairstyles that had existed before the Meiji period but also the sokuhatsu hairstyles that had begun to be popular. In Tokyo as well, hana kanzashi first became popular in the pleasure quarters. They then spread to a variety of classes. Women sought them in droves to the extent that production could not keep up. Such is the story of Hana-kame’s owner in Shinoda Kōzō's book Meiji hyakuwa.These kanzashi give us a glimpse into this trend in Tokyo at the time. Kaori HIDAKA