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David Buckley states:
The biggest influence [on Bowie] came not from rock music at all but from
Japanese culture. First[ly], Bowie has said that Japanese designer Kansai Yamamoto
was “one-hundred percent responsible for the Ziggy haircut and colour”.
Second[ly], Japan’s influence on Ziggy came from its peculiarly stylised theatre.
Bowie was fascinated by kabuki and noh… and appropriated their essence…. And
Bowie’s fascination with all things Japanese was [also] crucial in defining the
Aladdin Sane era. 26
Kansai’s impact on Bowie began even before the two had met,
beginning with the famous Ziggy haircut, a concept of Kansai’s that Bowie
discovered in a magazine. Paul Gorman claims that:
In January 1972, during recording sessions for the album [The Rise and Fall of] Ziggy
Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Bowie decided to cut off his flowing blond locks
[and adopt the Ziggy hairstyle], inspired by a spiky-haired model featured in a Honey
shoot for the kabuki/sci-fi designer Kansai Yamamoto’s first London show in late
1971. 27
The narrative continues that Bowie had been an admirer of Kansai’s work
and a regular customer at his London boutique, purchasing off-the-rack
garments which he began to wear in his 1972 performances. Bowie then
asked to be introduced to Kansai by executives at the Japanese division of
his recording company, RCA, and decided to commission him as his
costume designer, starting a partnership that lasted for several years (Fig.
47). By April 1973 when Bowie toured Japan as Aladdin Sane he had an
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