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On-Yomi: チョウ — Kun-Yomi: なが.い、おさ

Koohii stories:

1) [Zactacular] 7-10-2007(152): The Geisha with long hair uses an ornate lacquered hairpin to bundle it all up.

2) [Shibo] 22-6-2008(74): The top of this one reminds me of the staple primitive. So here's my story: The girl's hair was so long that she had to use staples instead of hairpins. It worked, but stapling her hair to her head was kinda painful.

3) [fuaburisu] 5-1-2006(25): As a primitive I use the image of (very) long hair. Let this kanji represent a "Swiss Hairpin" (similar to a Swiss army knife) : the top part being a pictogram for half a comb, and the lower part being the hairpin. Just make sure not to confuse with the kanji for "comb". Think of this one as a "half a comb" that can be pulled from the "Swiss Hairpin".

4) [noname] 12-3-2008(14): HAIRPIN: This is rather similar to that for SCARF. Both a HAIRPIN and a SCARF can be used for holding back long hair. STORY: The first 4 strokes could be a pictograph of hair blowing in the wind. It's too LONG and getting in your way, so you pin it back.

5) [koohiikun] 30-11-2009(8): The long haired Geisha staples on an ornate hairpin so it won't slip. (Thanks to Zactacular for the idea.).