Firefighting costume - Kajishozoku

Costumes worn in the event of a fire during the Edo period. They began after the Great Fire of Meireki (1657). There are two types of costumes: functional work clothes for firefighting and fire prevention worn by town firefighters who specialized in firefighting in towns and by feudal lords' firefighters employed by feudal lords, and decorative formal clothing worn by samurai for protection in the event of a fire. Samurai fire costumes consist of a helmet hood or battle hat, haori, bib, and hakama. The helmet hood is an ornate helmet made of momoe-bari and features a shikoro made of woolen cloth. The haori is a split-backed woolen cloth haori with five official family crests, and the leather version has the clan symbol dyed in white. The bib is made in a similar way and is worn under the haori. A stone belt is tied around the haori to hold down the hem of the coat. Hakama are plain hakama made of donsu, nishiki, or striped fabric, but lower-ranking people also wore fungomi hakama, susoboso hakama, and light robes. Meanwhile, regulations for firemen's costumes were established in 1797 (Kansei 9), and consisted of a hood, haori, gloves, and pants. Happi and nagabanten coats were also worn by members of the samurai class and construction workers. The hoods were called neko tokin (cat head hoods), the helmets were lined with cotton, and the sashes and masks were lined with cotton, all of which were fully decorated with sashiko. The clothing was also lined with cotton and sashiko. When approaching a fire, the whole body was soaked in water, and without sashiko the water would not be absorbed. There were fire costumes for women of the samurai class, but these were for security or evacuation, and were generally more showy than men's. After the Meiji period, the fire costumes of the samurai class disappeared, but those of the townspeople were used in almost the same form until the adoption of Western-style firefighting uniforms.

[Mami Yamauchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸時代に火災に際して着用した装束。明暦(めいれき)の大火（1657）を機に始まる。これには、町方で消火を専業とした町火消、および大名に抱えられた大名火消が着用した消火・防火のための機能的作業服と、武家が火災のときに警護のために着用した装飾的な威儀服の2種類がある。武家の火事装束は兜頭巾(かぶとずきん)または陣笠(じんがさ)、羽織、胸当て、袴(はかま)で構成される。兜頭巾は百重張(ももえばり)製の盔(はち)に羅紗(らしゃ)の錣(しころ)付きの華麗なもの。羽織は羅紗の背割羽織で5か所の定紋(じょうもん)付き、革製のものは藩の記号を白く染め抜いた。胸当ても同様の作りで、これは羽織の下につける。羽織には放ち裾(すそ)を押さえるため石帯を締める。袴は緞子(どんす)や錦(にしき)、縞物(しまもの)の野袴(のばかま)であるが、下級の者には踏込(ふんごみ)袴、裾細(すそぼそ)袴、軽袗(かるさん)なども用いられた。一方、火消の装束の規定は1797年（寛政9）のことで、その構成は頭巾、羽織、手套(しゅとう)、股引(ももひき)である。武家の仲間や鳶(とび)の者には、法被(はっぴ)や長半天(ながばんてん)も用いられた。頭巾は猫(ねこ)頭巾とよばれ、盔は綿入れ、錣と覆面は木綿の袷(あわせ)仕立てで、いずれも全面に刺子(さしこ)が施された。衣類も木綿の袷仕立てでこれも刺子である。火に近づいたときに全身を水にぬらすが、刺子でないと水を含まないためである。武家の女子用の火事装束も存在したが、これは警備用または避難用のもので、男子のものよりも一般に華やかであった。明治以降、武家の火事装束は姿を消すが、町方のものは洋式消防衣の採用までほぼそのままの形で用いられた。

［山内まみ］

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