Minneapolis Institute of Art

Bowler hat

Hayakawa Shōkosai I

Date

c. 1890

Medium

Bamboo, rattan, leather, and lacquer

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A favorite accessory of well-known Japanese kabuki actors such as Ichikawa Danjurō IX (1838–1903), bowler hats made by the bamboo artist Hayakawa Shōkosai I became fashionable in the Meiji period (1856–1912), a time that saw new exposure to non-Japanese cultures and the transformation of fashion choices. By the late 1800s, urban men had all but abandoned the topknot favored during the preceding Edo period (1603–1868) and were wearing their hair short and covered with hats. The ensemble of a hip Tokyoite around 1890 might consist of a more or less traditional kimono, wooden clogs instead of straw sandals, and a novel bowler hat fashioned from rattan and bamboo. Asia

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