Hat sightings in Japan

[Colby Jack]

What a fascinating thread this is turning into. A full lecture on Japan and it's ways...Wonderful...:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Sefton]

It's a bit late,but here are a few photos I took in the Showa Museum of old hats worn in Japan,probably in the 1930s. The last photo is of a gaijin in a hat (stingy brim/Japanese subway friendly as I'm not a particularly tall gaijin ).

Please excuse the poor resolution of the museum photos. It was difficult to capture a sharp image from in front of the glass.

 

[feltfan]

The Showa Museum is a museum of hats? Really?
In Tokyo?

Here's a sign from the Tokyo subway, showing the black felt
kindergarten hat I believe LaMedicine refers to:

Here's another gaijin in a wide brim Mallory Coast-to-Coast:

 

[Sefton]

Mister Donut was started in the U.S. in 1956 and lasted until the 1980s when it was bought by another company and the name changed to Dunkin' Donuts. I think I've seen a Mister Donut in Boston when I was there in the late '80s. Mmmmmmm,donuts.....

 

[LaMedicine]

Mister Donut was started in the U.S. in 1956 and lasted until the 1980s when it was bought by another company and the name changed to Dunkin' Donuts. I think I've seen a Mister Donut in Boston when I was there in the late '80s. Mmmmmmm,donuts.....

fftopic: That's interesting. Mister Donut and Dunkin' Donuts both were operating in Japan until about 10 or so years ago, I think, until Dunkin' Donuts disappeared. Burger King and Cinnabon are other American fast food places that came, was a rage for a while, then disappeared. The Whoppers at Burger King were too large a serving for the average Japanese. lol
Krispy Kreme probably learned well from the preceding enterpreuners and is still sticking to only one store in Shinjuku, where there is always a very long waiting line that circles around and around the place even after the 3 or 4 years since it opened.

 

[LaMedicine]

kabuto, the first URL comes up with an "invalid URL" page.
The book is basically a "private" publishing, rather than one put together and published by a large publisher, which will make it expensive. I haven't checked in detail, but I take it it was edited by the hat association, and printed/published by a publishing company that catered to private publishing, and went bankrupt not too long ago.

Ah, the mega Macs. lol Not sure if the dainty young gals devour them. lol If they do, then it isn't every day, every meal. Of course, there are exceptions like Gal Sone, but on the whole, most of the girls are on a perpetual diet. Boys may be different, but I see them on both ends of the scale, not the middle. Either they are also on a diet, or eat excessively. If you see someone who eats to the hilt, and is still slim, then the likelihood is that the person has an eating disorder--binge eats and purges. I work in the health industry, and was associated with a health check facility (those places that do the annual mass employee medical check up required by labor laws here) for 20 years until I quit last year, so I've watched the change in diet here. Waaay fftopic: here

I am thinking that I need to lug my camera to my Mom's and take some pics of my late Dad's hats. He had some beauties, including a top hat and a bowler dating from the mid 50s. As well as some that you may call *bad* that he preferred in his late days as his walking companion.

Incidentally, do you own that antique male Hina doll that you had in your previous avatar?

 

[Russ]

How to explain the Sasebo Burger, and the current McDonald's Mega Mac trifecta of the Mega Muffin, Mega Mac, and Mega Teriyaki?

My favorite is the blind burger: Mega Mienai.

 

[daizawaguy]

Custom made hats the next trend in Japan?

Given the Japanese passion for　detail and an eye for fashion, I`ve noted the amount of shoe makers who have sprung up in Japan over the last 15 years. There are now 3 hand made shoe schools, and various shops that will hand make shoes. I wonder if hat makers will ever take off here. I think all one needs is someone to start their own custom made hat shop, and you might find quite a large market in Japan. The market for custom made (tailor made) suit market is quite large now, with over 100 modern tailors (as opposed to the 1000`s but rapidly diminishing) old tailors all over Japan, who are the last survivors of the trade. Watch this thread in a few years! Maybe not the traditional style, but something even Art style may be very very big here...

 

[Sefton]

Maybe we can see if Art can go to Japan and set up the far east branch of Vintage Silhouettes and get the custom hat rolling...

(more Burger O.T.;my favorite in Japan is MosBurger.)

 

[LaMedicine]

How far can we go with the burger talk until the moderator bans us?

lol lol lol

Gal Sone, yes I noticed she's your present avatar, that's why I brought up her name in the first place.

Ahh, MosBurger, that was definitely my kids' fav. Me, I haven't had a 'burger in hmmmm... how long?
I was wondering about the Mega 'burgers, how large are they, compared to 'burgers in the US?

Hand made hats...the way things are here, I'd say those willing to pay that kind of money are the young 'uns or those old enough that they don't have to worry about their kids, or DINKs. [huh] Of course, we are a stickler for detail, so made to order does have its appeal.

Incidentally, when hats were more popular, men would wear them with kimonos as well as Western clothing. There are pics of men wearing bowlers and flock coats (as they are called here, I think they are called Inverness) with their kimonos. My grandfather (who died in 1972 at 81)'s daily wear were kimonos, and he'd go for walks in a kimono, sporting a tweed flat cap.
I think there was a snap shot of him in a kimono and fedora in one of the albums at my parents' home, but I'm not sure.

 

[daizawaguy]

Just discovered in Tokyo...

A shop that will blow your mind on Fedora`s...as usual, the Japanese beat others at the game...(sorry for small pics)...

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/563250189lHTwbP <<In case the pics are too small, see my webshots link...

Notice the shop attendant on the LEFT in the back...!??

 

[Ben]

I got a great hat while I was in Japan and get a lot of compliments on it. I have already posted a thread on it, but you can see the hat and another photo from Harajuku here:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=25094&highlight=Who+needs+a+riboon

Please ignore my terrible spelling error in the title of the thread. I was typing a little fast and proof reading a little slow.

 

[daizawaguy]

Juvenile Delinquent (the Japanese are not great on chosing names! )....their web page is jd-zoot (not great at chosing domains as well ), and their web artist either has taste or no-taste..BUT, check out these mean Fedoras! (Its under :Mens accessory for suits, for those wondering in from the home page)

http://www.jd-zoot.com/index.php?page=items&cp=558

It`s at the top of Dogenzaka...on the left side as you go up, but right at the top, as the slope starts to flatten out. It`s a Osaka based fashion shop, specialising in what is termed I guess the "Japanese Gangster look".

 

[LaMedicine]

Juvenile Delinquent (the Japanese are not great on chosing names! ).....

Oich, they are not good even with choosing names in Japanese these days, I have run across more than one that raises eyebrows of the older generations!!!! lol lol lol
The patternalized service/sales talks in various stores and fast food joints are bad enough as well to have tons of "How to speak correct Japanese" books to educate the younger generation.
The gaijin on TV speak better Japanese than our youngstahs.

Say, daizawaguy, I was meaning to ask you, not trying to be nosey but, judging from your screen name, I take it you live somewhere in Setagaya-ku Daizawa.

 

[daizawaguy]

Well, yes I guess I can`t hide that. Live around the corner from Prime Minister Fukuda`s ancestral home, and bet in the old days there were a lot of Fedoras being worn around here - its an area that a lot of politicians live in, for the foreign readers - but I`m not Japanese, in case you were wondering!

 

[LaMedicine]

I asked because I live along the Inokashira Line, only further west.
I also found out that kabuto used to live along it, too.lol
I had figured you were non-Japanese already the demography along the Inokashira Line sure has changed over the 40 years I've lived in this particular area.

 

[daizawaguy]

70 year old hat shop in Kawagoe,Saitama

I ran into this 70 year old hat shop on a visit to the historic town of Kawagoe, about 2 hours out of Tokyo. Tanaka Hat Shop is the name of the hat shop, located in a period building in the main shopping steet. Opened just a few years before the outbreak of WWII, the hat started making school and military hats, and thrived after the war in the school hats business, as well as providing hats to the whole family. Here is a picture of the outside building, built in a Meiji period style, that was used in Kawagoe at the time.

Sadly, the hat trade has been on the decline in Japan much like in the US since the late 60`s, but the inside of the shop is as it would be in the 60`s. Notice the brim iron between the coil heater to make it warm.

A poster of a poster promoting hats for use outside..."When you go outdoors, wear a hat" is the slogan.

And finally, a wool hat promotion poster aside a vacuum radio, in which the owner, Mr Tanaka, mentioned that the local population gathered in 1945 to hear the Emperor declare the surrender of WWII.

And finally, a note of HELP...it seems that Webshots is limiting the size of my photos (100x56 pixtels?)...how can I get these bigger for download. I`m downloading the photos into an album, but when I search for the properties to get the URL, the photos come out at 100x56....sorry, I`m new at this but can`t find the pronlem, nor is the FAQ detailed enough....thanks!

You can see the pics anyway here:

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/563250189lHTwbP

 

[daizawaguy]

Larger photos at last

 

[daizawaguy]

Larger photos of Juvenile Delinquent (what a name)

A shop in Shibuya Tokyo specialising in Osaka `Gangster` gear...with a great selection of Japanese Fedoras!

Check out the shop assistant in the extreeme left at the back! (back to camera)

 

[daizawaguy]

And now for something interesting...

As I wondered around the streets of Tokyo, I thought I`d take a few shots of fedora wearers to give the readers a feel what is happening in the streets of Tokyo...

Modern lady complete with cell phone and Coach designer bag

Gentleman dressed in Kimono with Fedora (Knox made in Japan?), a rare sight like the dress of the Meiji period at the turn of the century. Traditional mens bag in his left hand. Black protector coats, as you see on the lady to protect the underlying Kimono.

Trendy young guy (obviously spotted me!) in an unknown panama...but seems to have a "look" about him