What is the triangle-shaped headband these characters wear?


I don't know what to call them, but I've seen these triangle-shaped things
sometimes in anime:

![From Binbougami ga](https://i.stack.imgur.com/TPWzOm.jpg) ![From Blood
lad](https://i.stack.imgur.com/vnUaLm.jpg)

What does the triangle-shaped headband mean and what is it called?




This triangle-shaped headband is called a _tenkan_ (天冠, lit. "heaven crown").
In some parts of Japan, it may also be called a _zukin_ (頭巾, lit. "hood" and
also used as a generic term), a _hitai-eboshi_ (額烏帽子, lit. "forehead
headpiece"), or a _kami-kakushi_ (髪隠し, lit. "hair-hider")2.

Traditionally, the _tenkan_ was one component of a traditional burial garment
( _shini-shouzoku_ / 死に装束). The garment also typically included a white
kimono, [these glove-things](https://i.stack.imgur.com/kDBze.png) ( _tekkou_ /
手甲), and a particular style of boots called _kyahan_ (脚絆) that I'm having
trouble finding a good picture of.

There are a number of explanations of the purpose of the _tenkan_ , including:

  * It must be worn to avoid offending Enma (a judge of the dead in Japanese Buddhist mythology; he's actually a derivative of the Hindu deity Yama)
  * It allows the dead to escape from hell
  * It functions as a signal that one was of high standing in life.

In anime today, I get the feeling that the _tenkan_ basically serves as a
signal to viewers that whoever is wearing it has something to do with death
(or, more generally, with non-humanness, I guess).

## Notes

  1. This answer is mostly a translation of the following article: [What's the triangular piece of cloth that ghosts wear on their heads?](http://allabout.co.jp/gm/gc/67450/) (Japanese)
  2. This seems like it may be a pun on 神隠し, or "spiriting away" (as in the Ghibli film 千と千尋の神隠し, or "Spirited Away"). See also [this question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/12569/3437) at Japanese.SE.




This triangle-shaped headband is called a _tenkan_ (天冠, lit. "heaven crown").
In some parts of Japan, it may also be called a _zukin_ (頭巾, lit. "hood" and
also used as a generic term), a _hitai-eboshi_ (額烏帽子, lit. "forehead
headpiece"), or a _kami-kakushi_ (髪隠し, lit. "hair-hider")2.

Traditionally, the _tenkan_ was one component of a traditional burial garment
( _shini-shouzoku_ / 死に装束). The garment also typically included a white
kimono, [these glove-things](https://i.stack.imgur.com/kDBze.png) ( _tekkou_ /
手甲), and a particular style of boots called _kyahan_ (脚絆) that I'm having
trouble finding a good picture of.

There are a number of explanations of the purpose of the _tenkan_ , including:

  * It must be worn to avoid offending Enma (a judge of the dead in Japanese Buddhist mythology; he's actually a derivative of the Hindu deity Yama)
  * It allows the dead to escape from hell
  * It functions as a signal that one was of high standing in life.

In anime today, I get the feeling that the _tenkan_ basically serves as a
signal to viewers that whoever is wearing it has something to do with death
(or, more generally, with non-humanness, I guess).

## Notes

  1. This answer is mostly a translation of the following article: [What's the triangular piece of cloth that ghosts wear on their heads?](http://allabout.co.jp/gm/gc/67450/) (Japanese)
  2. This seems like it may be a pun on 神隠し, or "spiriting away" (as in the Ghibli film 千と千尋の神隠し, or "Spirited Away"). See also [this question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/12569/3437) at Japanese.SE.

