What is the meaning of 「ほおかむり」?


My daughter is in first grade at a public elementary school in Japan.

In some homework yesterday, there was the appearance of the word `ほおかむり`. My
Japanese isn't great as a non-native and she didn't know what it was, so we
Googled it. Most results steered us towards
[ほおかぶり](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/202853/m0u/), which it seems this
is a synonym of.

It appears in the context it was presented to have meant the head covering
`ほおかぶり`, is this simply another way of writing it?




A ほおかむり (頬被り) (also ほっかむり or ほおかぶり) from 頬っぺを被る "to cover the cheeks" is a
cloth that is tied around the head to cover the head (or the face) and usually
tied under the chin.

The infamous ほおかむり wearer is the Japanese thief (泥棒さん) ([another
picture](http://blog-imgs-33.fc2.com/b/a/s/bassplus/ika8-7.jpg))

[![thief](https://i.stack.imgur.com/L5doL.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/L5doL.gif)  
(source:
[hukumusume.com](http://hukumusume.com/douwa/gazou/i_gazou/jap/CUT_494.GIF))

who wraps his head with a cloth and ties it **under his nose** , supposedly to
conceal his identity. In children's stories, the 泥棒 usually steals 卵, 大根 or
着物.

In such stories, a ほおかむり is (when not worn by a 泥棒さん) usually a characteristic
of "simple folk" and can be worn by farmers (or other workers), presumably
because the cloth covers from the sun, protects the head from dust and is easy
to wash.




A ほおかむり (頬被り) (also ほっかむり or ほおかぶり) from 頬っぺを被る "to cover the cheeks" is a
cloth that is tied around the head to cover the head (or the face) and usually
tied under the chin.

The infamous ほおかむり wearer is the Japanese thief (泥棒さん) ([another
picture](http://blog-imgs-33.fc2.com/b/a/s/bassplus/ika8-7.jpg))

[![thief](https://i.stack.imgur.com/L5doL.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/L5doL.gif)  
(source:
[hukumusume.com](http://hukumusume.com/douwa/gazou/i_gazou/jap/CUT_494.GIF))

who wraps his head with a cloth and ties it **under his nose** , supposedly to
conceal his identity. In children's stories, the 泥棒 usually steals 卵, 大根 or
着物.

In such stories, a ほおかむり is (when not worn by a 泥棒さん) usually a characteristic
of "simple folk" and can be worn by farmers (or other workers), presumably
because the cloth covers from the sun, protects the head from dust and is easy
to wash.

