At the beginning he mocked at conservatives as "Chonmage (Topknot) sect", and, in contrast, criticized affected manners of people who advocated opening Japan to the West and liberals by calling them haikara from their symbolic high collar clothes.
当初は保守主義者を「ちょんまげ党」と揶揄し、対比して開国主義者や進歩主義者のキザな感じを冷評する際に、その象徴として特徴的な高襟の服装を指したものであった。