Rickshaw drivers, tradesmen, carpenters and coolies - most of the men in vintage Japanese photographs wear what looks like a short coat or tunic with wide sleeves. Known as hanten [半纏] or happi [半被], it is made of thick cotton and dyed with indigo. On the back and lapels it bears mainly (but not exclusively) white decorations applied by a resist-dye method, consisting of lettering and a mon [紋] (family crest). Deep ultra-marine when new, the hanten fades to a color like worn denim, which it resembles - not least because it was the standard outfit for workmen - the plebeian garb of old Edo. Happi [半被] and hanten [半纏] seem synonymous, though some argue the former applies only to livery denoting that the wearer is an employee. Others say that the term hanten [半纏] is currently used to distinguish between the genuine (now quite expensive) hand-crafted article and the garish and flimsy cotton or acetate equivalent, including the 'happi coat' popular with tourists.

During the sweltering summer the hanten [半纏] was often left flapping open over just a loincloth. In winter, it was worn belted with a narrow obi [帯] or sash over an undershirt and britches reaching around knee level. The hanten [半纏] can now be worn like this by women too; until the 1950s it was a garment for men only. Essentially a trade uniform, the hanten [半纏] is still worn today, among others by market stall holders, traditional shopkeepers and staff in Japanese restaurants. You can also wear it over your jeans. Then as now, the mon [紋] on the back denotes membership of a company, guild or indeed, a yakuza gang. The hanten [半纏] comes out in force for Shintō festivals. During Tokyo's colossal Sanja Matsuri in May, for instance, the custom is for each neighborhood to carry ornate (and heavy) portable shrines through the streets, with both male and female bearers wearing hanten [半纏] backed with the logo of the stores of association they belong to.

Good antique hanten [半纏] can fetch high prices, especially rarities such as those outwardly plain and richly patterned within. This custom originated with the sumptuary laws imposed at intervals during the Edo period (1603-1868), which forbade merchants and plebeians any display of luxury, especially with clothing. Wealthier merchants took to having kimono made in plain, dark colors with fabulously embroidered and/or handpainted linings. With this trend, members of the populace followed suit. Even if you could only afford to wear cotton or hempen cloth, you could always flash a fancy lining to impress your peers. This applied particularly to hanten [半纏] worn by firemen. In an era of wooden houses and frequent fires, firemen or tobi [鳶] were regarded as the most dashing figures in all shitamachi [下町] (low city; the plebeian quarter of Edo). Underneath the bland exterior of their hanten [半纏] were fantastic colored prints of mythical heroes fighting demons and dragons, which they additionally believed would bring them luck in their dangerous profession. In fact, they reserved this kind of finery only for Dezomeshiki, their annual parade. Featuring astonishing balancing feats conducted atop poles and ladders, the festival is still held each January in Tokyo, but nowadays any decoration on their hanten [半纏] will only be on the outside.