I’ve been wondering about this for a long time: why are たこ always represented wearing 鉢巻?
I mean, I understand the mouth, but where does the headband come from? Is it because hachimaki is a symbol of hard workers and the tako with its 8 “arms” must be good at multi-tasking?
Photo courtesy of kamoda
I guess it’s because the traditional figure of the takoyaki-selling artisan is often represented with a hachimaki himself. Or is it a pun on “hachi (8) maki” ?
The shape of the mouth is a bigger mystery to me: I know no variety of octopus with mouths like this…
the mouth comes from the siphon/funnel, the sort of tube below/behind the eyes from which they shoot water for jet propulsion
cf. photos on this page
The hairband comes from the takoyaki’s cook always wearing one.
I find it more entertaining to think the takoyaki yatai owners wear the hachimaki to be like the タコ instead of the other way around
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