Retirement (TCG)

Retirement, to “shave one's head,” referred to the practice of cutting one's topknot, the symbol of their samurai status. After a lifetime of service to the clan, when their physical faculties begin to wane, many samurai chose to become monks, surrendering their wakizashi to the clan and retiring to a monastery. Most of these monks stayed on their family's lands, providing a deep wellspring of institutional knowledge and wisdom the clan might continue to tap.