The Bareheads’ Bearing Up

There was a peculiar gathering on September 15th, 2016, in Aomori Prefecture’s Tsuruta-machi, Japan. Looking across the venue of this gathering on that harvest moon in the middle of autumn, the most magnificent heads you ever did see were on display. They were the heads of the “Tsuruta Bareheads’ Bearing Up Club,” a group of bald and balding men who gather together every year. The activities they do each year are only possible for the follicly challenged. Their first meeting was in 1989, when the flyer for the group read, “Cue balls unite! Let’s brighten up the world!” The group participates in many activities other than their yearly meetings, such as driving safety campaigns and visits to nursing homes.