Amigasa

[Kennin]

Did anyone find a description on how to make an amigasa (straw hat)? 
I'm particularily interested in the "三度笠" = "sandogasa" model.

Is the "sandogasa" period, by the way? 

[Saionji Shonagon]

Sandogasa are period. These folks sell them: www.shop-japan.co.jp/english-boku/warring5.htm

[solveig]

Unfortunately, the contention that the 三度笠 sandogasa is period is not well supported at the moment. The earliest appearance of the word appears to date to Chikamatsu which places the term in the early Edo Period. Do I believe in straw hats in general being around before 1600? Of course. But, straw hats come in a lot of varieties.

[Saionji Shonagon]

Hats looking very much *like* sandogasa appear in the crowd scenes of this picture scroll: www.emuseum.jp/detail/100156/000/000?mode=detail&d_lang=en&s_lang=en&class=1&title=&c_e=®ion=&era=¢ury=&cptype=&owner=&pos=17&num=4

The women's hats have a sort of cylindrical stem on the top.

[Please Delete]

While I wouldn't count those as "sandogasa", I would say the sandogasa is likely period. The word came about in relation to who was using it at the time, iirc, but it may have existed well before that. Still, the ones from that Kamakura scroll appear to be a different style--the sandogasa is flat across the top.

Most of the shaped hats seem to have a similar construction. First there is an internal skeleton created with thin, bent, flat strips made of bamboo. Then rice strow is flattened and sewn in. Two layers is ideal: The inner layer should be done in a horizontal pattern, wrapped at each "leg" of the inner skeleton. You start at the center and work outwards, so that, like shingles on a house, the upper layers are always over the lower. It looks like you start one blade per leg, as each wrap will take you down a level. That way, if there is any water that gets in, it falls down and outwards. The straw should be even with the outer layer of the hat. Next is a vertical layer, which seems to be wrapped at the outer rim and then brought in to the center, where it can be gathered in and woven together, with the excess cut off. All of the ones I've seen have this layer finished with an outward spiraling thread that starts at the top and goes all the way to the top.

Inside, you have the atamadai. I've seen several types. The simplest is just a ring, wrapped with rice straw, with two rice straw loops, sewn to the skeleton of the kasa in the center. I've also seen cloth pads and cloth loops. Those seem a bit more high class, to me.

-Ii

[solveig]

Jun 8, 2017 16:05:56 GMT -5 Saionji Shonagon said:

Hats looking very much *like* sandogasa appear in the crowd scenes of this picture scroll: www.emuseum.jp/detail/100156/000/000?mode=detail&d_lang=en&s_lang=en&class=1&title=&c_e=®ion=&era=¢ury=&cptype=&owner=&pos=17&num=4

The women's hats have a sort of cylindrical stem on the top.

It is not merely a matter of the general shape of the hat. It is a matter of both the specific shape and the construction technique. I found five or six distinct classes of construction technique each with several sub-categories. And this is all for different types of 笠 kasa as opposed to 帽子 bōshi, 冠 kanmuri, and non-hat head coverings.

There is a rather nice Encyclopedia Nipponica article on kasa. I mentioned the rather recent invention of sandogasa earlier based upon the entry in Kodansha Kogojiten. The Japanese Wikipedia article provides an etymology for their name which indicates origin during the Edo period. Yes, they appear in some jidaigeki and chanbara movies, but please understand that the bakumatsu period and especially 1853-1868 is rather frequently depicted in these films.