Martial Arts Headband



Traditional headgear worn in Japan, known as hachimaki, is a strip of cloth tied around the head. Think Daniel-san from The Karate Kid. It is often decorated with a written slogan (frequently Nippon Ichi, "No. 1 in Japan"), serving as a sort of tee shirt for the forehead. Commonly worn by warriors, protestors, students studying for exams, or anyone who needs to keep sweat from dripping into their eyes be serious and focused on something. Or by drunk salarymen (see Necktie Headband).

An iconic real-life use of this trope was in the fighter pilots of Japan during World War II, when they wore bandanas bearing the word "Kamikaze" upon them, which up until that point, had been a reference to the "Divine Wind" that drove off the Mongol invasion of Japan centuries earlier.

The act of putting one on is generally used as an expression of willpower and a change in mood, not unlike Let's Get Dangerous, but it doesn't have to involve violence. Donning a headband with a slogan or motto relevant to your training before undergoing Training From Hell is generally the straight use. It occasionally sees What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome? moments, however, in being used to "pump up" a character's willpower before significantly more mundane things, like scrubbing out one's stinky toilet.

Anime & Manga

 * Great Teacher Onizuka: Worn by GTO when he's studying for a test. The slogan is, "I will pass the test".
 * Planetes: One character is actually nicknamed "Hachimaki", because he wears a plain white headband under his helmet on EVA missions. (Also because his given name is "Hachirota".)
 * Naruto: All ninja candidates are given headbands with the village's symbol carved into the metal forehead guard when they graduate the academy and become genin. Most of them continue to wear their headbands even after they become chunin, although many wear it in places other than their heads. Kakashi, for instance, uses it as an Eyepatch of Power.
 * A scar across the village symbol of the hitai'ate indicates the wearer has chosen to abandon their village permanently, notably done by all members of Akatsuki. Zabuza never scarred his, as he intended to return (and take over).
 * Azumanga Daioh -- In the last Sports Fest, Sakaki starts out wearing a headband. But when her friend and classmate Chiyo-chan is taunted about her running, Sakaki takes it to the next level: she ties her hair back with her headband before taking the racing baton.
 * Azumanga Daioh also uses it in the festival in the last school year, where Kagura, Tomo and Sakaki dress as punks with these on.
 * Takako Ayase in Midori no Hibi wears a headband titled "Definite Victory" as she reviews her latest plan to become Seiji Sawamura's girlfriend.
 * In Bleach, Urahara told Ichigo to wear a hachimaki and yell an embarrassing chant "Take this! The Power of Justice! Justice Armor, Justice Hachimaki! Equip!" to stand a chance on fighting his dangerous sparring partner that could kill him in one blow. He did so, but found out that he's just being had by Urahara.
 * It even shows up in the filler arc, having been equipped with a sensor allowing Ichigo to locate the Bount -- and still requires the chant to activate. Rukia is naturally confused with Ichigo's reaction to it.
 * An earlier episode has Keigo Asano offer Ichigo a pair of geeky glasses and a "complimentary nerd headband" to wear after Keigo finds out that Ichigo ranks much higher than Keigo expected, academically. Ichigo punched him in the face through the glasses.
 * In the Yukina arc of Yu Yu Hakusho, Kuwabara infrequently wears a pink hachimaki that says something to the tune of "I ♥ Snow Girl"
 * Wilder and Cancer in Transformers Super God Masterforce wear one each. In one episode, Cancer's hachimaki was a blindfold.
 * Subaru of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha wears one that's tied with a ribbon as part of her barrier Jacket, in a Shout-Out to Gunbuster. Nove once refers to her as "the girl with the headband."
 * On that note: Gunbuster. Noriko's long headband is almost as iconic as the Badass Arm-Fold she always does before awesome stuff happens.
 * Yoshiko Fujisawa made hachimakis for all her Furano teammates in Captain Tsubasa, and they wore them during the match against Nankatsu. When their captain Hikaru Matsuyama entered the National Team, he always put his hachimaki on during his more crucial CMOAs in the series.
 * In Afro Samurai, the Hakimachi is Serious Business, as the "Number One" headband supposedly confers the power of a God, and wars have been fought over it. (Afro himself is a constant assassination target due to wearing the "Number Two" headband that confers him the right to challenge "Number One".)
 * Sailor Moon's Makoto used this to psych herself up for the daunting task of cleaning Motoki's room.
 * In Pokémon Special, Platinum would take off her beanie and put on a hachimaki when training for her next Gym battle.
 * Earlier, all of Gold's Pokémon put one on when they faced The Mask Of Ice during the finale of the Gold/Silver/Crystal arc, a reference to the Focus Band item of the games.
 * In Harukanaru Toki no Naka de - Hachiyou Shou OAV episode "Omoi no Arika" Kotengu sports a hachimaki when waiting for Yasuaki, whom he supposedly challenged to a duel. When Yasuaki doesn't arrive in time, Kotengu gets angry and his Cross-Popping Veins cause the hachimaki to get torn in half and fall off.
 * Leorio does this in Hunter X Hunter while studying for the final exam. It's then revealed that he put cheat sheets on the back of it. And everywhere else in his clothes.
 * In later seasons of Ranma ½, Akane Tendo took to wearing one of as part of her with her martial arts outfit.
 * In Fushigi Yuugi, Miaka can be seen wearing one while she's at Cram School.
 * Domon Kasshu of G Gundam sports a red one.
 * In the Mai-Otome manga, Shizuru wonders where her Dark Hime is, and imagines a version of her Psycho Lesbian Mai-HiME incarnation wearing a "Natsuki Love" headband. Takeda, who makes a cameo coming to Garderobe to get pictures of Natsuki, has a similar headband.
 * Being part of Otsuu-chan's fanclub means having to wear the uniform which includes one of these.

Comic Books

 * Kei from Dirty Pair wore this kind of headband (though only in Biohazards and A Plague of Angels). In the anime version, she wore a slightly different kind of headband (it was wider, had shorter trailing ends, and was usually turned sideways).

Film

 * First live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie: "You wear his symbol on your brow."
 * As mentioned in the main body of this article, Daniel-san of The Karate Kid, who was probably the first to introduce this concept to Western pop culture.
 * Buckaroo Banzai: Buckaroo ties one (with a "rising sun" design) around his head before making his speed run in the jet car at the beginning of the movie.
 * In a scene of Police Academy 3, Sgt. Jones wrapped a random strip of cloth around his forehead before doing an imitation of badly dubbed kung-fu movies to intimidate some thugs.
 * Shows up in the So Bad It's Good flick "Surf Ninjas." Kwantzu!!
 * Tora! Tora! Tora! by the pilots of the Japanese fighters.
 * Similarly by the pilots in Pearl Harbor.
 * Whenever Rambo puts one of these on, you can be sure that ass kicking ensues.
 * In Revenge of the Nerds, Takashi dons one when preparing to go on the panty raid.
 * Bloodsport - A few fighters wore this in the Kumite.

Literature

 * Maudlin of Garry Kilworth's Welkin Weasels: Heastward Ho! borrows a red headband with a phrase written in "Asian" letters on it when battling a pirate junk. He's very fond of the headband and assumes in his usual daydreamy manner that "No doubt it read something like GREAT WARRIOR or UNDEFEATABLE ONE". Nobody has the heart to tell him it actually reads "Number One Stir-Fry Chef".
 * In the middle of Rats Bats and Vats, at least one of the bats dons one of these. They later complain about how it fell over their eyes.
 * Magrat wears one when practising martial arts in Witches Abroad, but people keep confusing it for a bandage.
 * And parodied later on in Maskerade, when the Librarian decides that it's time for some dramatic organ music to support the action: he takes off his bow tie and ties it around his head so that he looks like a "really formal kamikaze".
 * In The Wheel of Time many male Aiel loyal to Rand wear a red headband with a yin-yang symbol on their foreheads. His Maidens of the Spear think this is ridiculous.

Live Action TV

 * During Top Gear's Japanese episode, Jeremy Clarkson wore one when he was racing the Bullet train in the new Nissan GTR.
 * Clarkson's headband does not read "kamikaze" as seems to be implied, but 闘魂"toukon" (fighting spirit). He also initially puts it on upside down, but a few minutes later it seems to have fixed itself.
 * Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, in the episode Rivals, had a scene where Miles O'Brien was psyching himself up for a charity racquetball match against Bashir, who stomped him when they first played. Keiko, who throughout the episode took on an air of mild amusement regarding the whole thing, sent him off to the match by wrapping a silk scarf scented with her perfume around his head, kissing him soundly and whispering, "Kick his butt."
 * In the Doctor Who episode "The Girl in the Fireplace", the Doctor does the drunk salaryman variant -- he ties his tie around his head while pretending to be drunk.
 * Parodied by Clive the Bermudan temp in Garth Marenghi's Darkplace before losing a fight with a toolbox.

Professional Wrestling

 * WWE's Zack Ryder wears two when going to down to the ring and, in the style of Bret Hart and his shades, will often give one of his headbands to a member of the audience.

Video Games

 * Worn by many characters in King of Fighters. One of the special teams in KOF '98 is actually called the "Headband Team": Goro Daimon, Joe Higashi and Yuri Sakazaki. Yuri's headband lacks the Japanese red sun, though, and the team's ending artwork shows the other two forcing a proper hachimaki on her.
 * Lan, the human hero of Mega Man Battle Network, wears a headband with Mega Man's Navi symbol (also the series logo) on it.
 * Just about everyone in the Mega Man Battle Network series seems to have their Navi symbol somewhere on themselves, either on their shirt, as their earrings, or even as their hairpins. As for someone else who also has something resembling a hairband, the nature-loving Sal has a brown hairband with Woodman's Navi symbol.
 * The Hachimaki appears as a recurring item in the Super Robot Wars series of games. A pilot with the item equipped starts each mission with 5 bonus morale. There's also a Nejiri-Hachimaki, or twisted headband, which gives double the bonus.
 * Ryu of Street Fighter has his trademark flowing headband. Unsurprisingly, resident Ryu Fan Girl Sakura also wears one.
 * Also, Alex from the III series. Makoto of Third Strike wears one around her neck.
 * Solid Snake's trademark. (And his dad's.)
 * Snake's is special. Infinite ammo!
 * The Choice Band and Focus Band in Pokémon are often drawn as such.
 * Some trainer NPCs also wear these.
 * Additionally, the male protagonist in Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald versions wears a headband. Unfortunately, the manga makes it out to be some sort of beanie, while the game art makes it pretty clear it's a headband.
 * Since GF has basically done a Shrug of God and only confirmed it's a headband, Ruby (of Poke Spe) has a hat due to the artist thinking of it as so. Another, one volume, manga by another artist had it as a hat too, probably a Follow the Leader case.
 * Ruby of Pocket Monsters plays this straight like his game counterpart.
 * Sanada Yukimura from Sengoku Basara wears a red one. In the anime it comes in handy when, during the all-important Final Battle, Yukimura's rival Masamune is injured and can barely stand. Yukimura ties Masamune's hand to his sword with the headband in preparation their last strike.
 * If you're going to list Sanada Yukimura from Sengoku Basara you might as well list the one from Samurai Warriors. His is decorated with the crest of the Sanada Clan.
 * Team Fortress 2 has two Hachimakis. The first of which was a tie-in with Homefront. The second one was part of the Japanese bundle, where the sales from the item were donated to help with the Japanese relief efforts.
 * Richter Belmont from Akumajou Dracula X: Rondo of Blood wears one along with an asian looking clothes. He's not surprisingly called "Ryu Belmont" by the fans.
 * Kirby Wears a Red one when he gets the Fighter Copy Ability, and a Blue one when He gets the Throw/Suplex Copy Ability
 * Worms about to use a Fireball or Fire Punch (and sometimes the Kamikaze) will don a red one.
 * Endou in Inazuma Eleven wears an orange one. His grandfather also wore an identical one.

Web Original

 * Gaia Online has several varieties of hachimaki.

Western Animation

 * In the third season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, while infiltrating the Fire Nation, Aang wears a headband with a golden, stylized arrow symbol to hide the tattoo on his forehead.
 * That, in turn, is actually supposed to be a belt.
 * Huey from Boondocks wears a Hachimaki during his samurai fantasy sequences.

Real Life

 * Proponents of the classical kenjutsu school of Kashima Shinto Ryuu don distinctive white hachimaki. as part of their opening 作法 (etiquette/ceremony) before engaging in kata practice.