Raincoat - Mino

A type of ancient Japanese outerwear. It has a wide range of uses, including protection from rain, snow, and cold, shade, and as a back protector when transporting. It is a homemade product made from straw, reed, thatch, linden, paper oak, palm, and other materials that are readily available. In terms of shape, the "kera" that covers the back in the Tohoku region is the oldest, and its appearance can be seen in the "Shigisan Engi." In the Tohoku region, it is also called a back mino. In fishing villages, the waist mino that is often wrapped from the waist down is used to protect from water, and in some regions, there are shoulder mino that cover the shoulders and back, round woven round mino, mino hat with hat, and body mino made by joining a back mino and a waist mino is called a monkey mino. Originally, making raincoats was a man's job, but in the Tohoku region, when a young man welcomed his wife, he would make one with arrow feathers or auspicious characters woven into the neck area with colored threads, and in some regions the bride would give the groom work clothes such as kogin or hishizashi. With the arrival of Nanban culture in the 16th century, raincoats made from woolen cloth were introduced, and raincoats became a common tool in farming, mountain and fishing villages, and were used until the early Showa period.

[Takeshi Endo]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

日本古来の外被の一種。防雨、防雪、防寒、日よけ、運搬の際の背中当てなど、その利用範囲は広い。藁(わら)、菅(すげ)、茅(かや)、科(しな)（シナノキ）、かじ（カジノキ）、しゅろ、そのほか手近にある材料を用いてつくる自家製品である。形としては、東北地方の背中を覆う「ケラ」がもっとも古く、『信貴山縁起(しぎさんえんぎ)』に、そのおもかげを察することができる。これを東北地方では背蓑ともいう。漁村では、多く腰から下に巻く腰蓑は、水を防ぐためのものであり、肩や背を覆う肩蓑、丸く編んだ丸蓑、帽子付きの蓑帽子、背蓑と腰蓑を継いでつくった胴蓑は猿蓑とよぶ地方もある。元来、蓑作りは男の仕事で、東北では若者が嫁を迎えるときの贈り物として、首回りの部分を色糸で矢羽根や吉祥文字を編み込んだものをつくり、嫁からは花婿に、こぎん、菱刺(ひしざし)などの仕事着を贈る地方もある。16世紀、南蛮文化の到来によって、羅紗(らしゃ)製の合羽(かっぱ)が伝えられ、蓑は農山漁村の民具となり、昭和初期まで用いられた。

［遠藤　武］

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