''Hikeshi banten'' is a reversible hanten coat worn by

hikeshi Hikeshi () were Fire department, fire brigades in edo period, Edo and Meiji era, Meiji-era Tokyo; also members of these brigades. Japanese cities were extremely prone to fires due to the fact that paper and wood were the main building materials. ...

, Japanese

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

s of the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, often decorated with symbolic images. Firefighter brigades consisted either of samurai (''buke hikeshi'') or commoners (''machi hikeshi''). The coats were made of multiple layers of tightly stitched cotton fabric, quilted using the

sashiko is a type of traditional Japanese embroidery or stitching used for the decorative and/or functional reinforcement of cloth and clothing. Owing to the relatively cheap nature of white cotton thread and the abundant nature of cheap, indigo-dyed ...

technique of running stitches. On one side, the coats had only the firefighting brigade name. The other side featured elaborate designs "resist-dyed using the ''tsutsugaki'' method". The inner designs often depicted warrior heroes, or mythical creatures associated with bravery or water, often inspired by

ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock printing, woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga, paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes ...

prints. Fireman's coat (interior), Japan, Late Edo period, 1800-1850 AD, cotton, paste-resist dyed - Textile Museum, George Washington University - DSC09527.JPG File:Japanese-firemans-coat-00002.jpg File:Japanese-firemans-coat-00003.jpg File:Japanese-firemans-coat-00004.jpg Hikeshi hanten (fireman's jacket), 19th century, Honolulu Museum of Art.jpg Japanese Fireman's Coat And Raijin Design, 19th century (Back).jpg Japanese firemans coat.jpg Tsutsugaki - Textiles indigo du Japon (musée Guimet) (9487574735).jpg File:Japanese-firemans-coat-00014.jpg File:Japanese-firemans-coat-00015.jpg File:Fireman's Coat (Hikeshi Sashiko Banten) 02.jpg

References

External links

* {{commons category-inline, Hikeshi banten Edo period Firefighting in Japan