Crazy cloth hat...do want! Anyone know about this?

[Lady Kimiko]

Reading about Noh, I read about the existence of this particular hat dating back to around the 14th century. I also found Momoyama examples in screenart of it.

That being said, I want this, and want to make it..and was hoping you guys might have pointers? I've already tried and was nearly successful on my second attempt. I'm going to make a 3rd attempt using a stiff lightweight linen.

Here are a few modern photos of the hat appearing in a historical re-enactment parade that takes place annually. The women featured are 'river dancers'....the early founders of kabuki. I'm just kind of stuck on this hat. I'm hoping some of you might be able to look at this fresh.

In short: do want. Help? Thoughts?









Some period (or at least VERY near period) art featuring:

[Please Delete]

My initial thought is that this is no more than a piece of cloth wrapped elaborately. I would start there and see what you can do.

-Ii

[Lady Kimiko]

Dec 25, 2011 7:18:46 GMT -5 Please Delete said:

My initial thought is that this is no more than a piece of cloth wrapped elaborately. I would start there and see what you can do.

-Ii

Totally right. That being said I dont know the name of it. I'm hoping someone might know what these are caled.

[Noriko]

Actually, it looks like it might consist of two parts or at least, would be easier to construct that way. The part on the head appears to be some sort of peaked cap like a soft eboshi. Then there's some sort of wrapped fabric part.
This is probably not the answer you're looking for but...

[Lady Kimiko]

The first 2 attempts were of me making it of one piece. I never thought to make it from 2 seperate parts...

[solveig]

Noble Cousin!

Greetings from Solveig! The cloth "hat" that you are depicting is used as part of the costume of some women characters in kyogen which is an earlier theatre form than kabuki.

[Lady Kimiko]

Dec 26, 2011 11:51:28 GMT -5 solveig said:

Noble Cousin!

Greetings from Solveig! The cloth "hat" that you are depicting is used as part of the costume of some women characters in kyogen which is an earlier theatre form than kabuki.

Interesting.

Kyogen is the name for a kind of role in Noh. It is a generic supporting role for a performance. specifically, womens roles were cited as wearing this sort of head dress. Kyōgen as a dramatic/theater form developed alongside Noh and is generally believed to be of similar age. In the 14th century we see the creation of 'Dengaku Noh' and Kyogen'. Perhaps you are referring to Kagura? Either way please share your source, I'm excited to learn more.

Kagura is one of the oldest original dramatic forms. Im currently reading a in-depth book about it as a part of my theater research. The early original costumes in Kagura were taken from common peoples attire and costuming was not overly complex. Perhaps this hat was originally common attire for a woman of the time?

Sources: "A spectator's Handbook of Noh" - By Mr. & Mrs. Murakami Upton & 'Japanese Plays: classic Noh, Kyogen and Kabuki Works' by AL Sadler

[Please Delete]

Ai-kyogen was part of noh, as you say--it often breaks up the narrative, and may be comical or less serious than the main narrative.

Kyogen, which grew out of that, is almost strictly comical. "Kyogen" means "nonsense speech". While the speech in noh is often quite formal and the movements are quite artistic, kyogen is more natural. The speech is more contemporary, though still delivered in a style reminiscent of its noh roots; so the places you stand, the way you walk, and the use of very deliberate motions, as well as the cadence of speech are all reminiscent of its roots.


As for the headpieces--the more I look into it, the more I think they are just very wide and long tenugui. It appears to mimic what I'm seeing for the women of the lower classes going about for their work, but it is more stylized (longer ends, and the top is more pointed, while most of the lower class women just have it wrapped for day to day work).


-Ii

[erink]

I've seen this, and even tried to make one, with a few of my Yama Kaminari colleagues. We wrote a paper about it for an A&S event - I'll see if I can upload it somewhere (but I can e-mail a copy to anyone who wants one too). It might be a kind of binan-boshi. There's one in The Maple Viewers that I'm pretty sure has a seam along the top.
Detail photo: www.tnm.jp/uploads/r_collection/LL_C0042444.jpg
Other photos: www.tnm.jp/modules/r_collection/index.php?controller=other&colid=A10470&t=type&id=11

[Saionji Shonagon]

Feh, none of the pics in my books give any clue on how binan boshi might be tied. www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/noh/en/kg_costume/kg_costume.html says it's a cloth "five meters long", which seems like a lot, but that may get eaten up by the way one wraps the thing.

The photo in this article might offer some clues on how to tie it.
www.dailytarheel.com/index.php/article/2011/02/unc_gets_a_visit_from_japanese_dramatist

[Please Delete]

Okay, with a name ("binan boshi"--beautiful boy hat) I've gone looking a little bit further. Unfortunately, I'm not coming up with good pictures, but I'm finding some text.

This one is from a "learn Japanese" site, but the information conforms to what else we are seeing:
能の面は女面の比重が高いが、狂言の女役は「白い布を頭に巻いて、余った布を耳から胸の前に長く垂らす」のが一般的で、美男帽子という。
www.jlbooks.com.tw/Epaper/upload/StyleS/S108.htm
This confirms the idea that it was used in Kyogen by women, and describes it as a long, white cloth wrapped around the head and hanging from the ears down the front of the chest.

From Goo:
狂言装束の一。女性役に用いるかぶり物で、長さ約5メートルの白布を頭に巻き、両端を顔の左右に垂らして帯にはさんだもの。美男帽子。
dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/186501/m3u/%E7%8B%82%E8%A8%80/

This is for "Binan katsura" (美男鬘), it is a type of kyogen outfit. It is worn by women, a white cloth of 5 meters, wrapped around the head, with both ends hanging down from the left and right side of the head. It is also called "Binan boshi".

Another site that might be helpful:
shououkai.exblog.jp/tags/日本舞踊/

-Ii

[Please Delete]

Okay, I just found some scraps and did it. This is amazingly simple, as long as you have the right piece of cloth. Mine was on the narrowish side, so it looked like what you would get in some of the pictures of everyday wear. The women in the parade look to have a nice, wide piece. You could probably extrapolate from what they have, but I would guess around 14" wide, though possibly less. You want it to be at least as wide as it will take to cover your head, and then the extra will help give you more of a "hat".

Here's what I did:

1) Drape the cloth on top of your head, so that it falls evenly to either side. Make sure that the hem is out of your eyes.

2) Grap the two ends, and tie them behind your head with a simple overhand knot. You should have one hem running from the front of your forehead to the back, where it is tied. Make sure that the knot is underneath any excess fabric (you can pull it up into that pointy look now, to make sure you have enough fabric.

3) Twist the ends of the cloth.

4) Pull both ends in front and tie them at your forehead. I used an overhand knot, but it looks like the ladies above used a square knot, which would probably keep it from loosening.

5) Take each end and pull it up under the twisted fabric on either side of your head to form the "ears".

That seemed to work. One of the things I saw indicated that different people tie it in different ways, so I'd suggest experimenting with that front knot to see how it works for you.

-Ii

[Lady Kimiko]

Im super busy with work and the holidays. I have like 10 mins to peek in...and find this. I love you guys so much <3

[Lady Kimiko]

I do believe it is going to be a VERY long cloth. My own experiments had it very long and it ended up being just around the right length when I was getting close to tying it. My early attempts involved a heavier cloth. To get the right look I think you need a light weight fabric.

Man...that's gonna be a lot of fabric. Odds are Im going to buy a muslim. Period or not its what I can reasonably afford to experiment on.

From what I have seen, there seems to be a seam in the middle, atop the head. Perhaps these hats were originally made from scraps of outfits?

[erink]

Okay, I finally got that paper we wrote years ago on this up on the clan website. (Every time we looked at it it needed reformatting somehow...) This is about the Maple Viewers hat and is written by myself and two of my Clan Yamakaminari colleagues, Cecily and Rosalia for the Ice Dragon A&S competition a few years ago.

FIXED URL: www.yamakaminari.com/docs/MapleViewersHat.pdf

Looking back on this thread after reading the paper again, I think there's a significant difference between the hat in Maple Viewers and the hat worn by the performers. The photo at the start of this thread and the picture in the Cherry Blossom scroll are both costume hats and have more extreme points and streamers. The ladies in Maple Viewers are just people, and their hats are more subtle. (Maple Viewers is also period and the other examples - including our Kenshin example in the paper, who has more of a point - are post-period.) So unless you're portraying a kabuki dancer, I recommend a more subtle approach.