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Miniature Traditional Costume

Ahaexp

Registered
28 Feb 2021
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I found this in a thrift store and would like to know more about it. It is only 7" by 4 1/2". It is made of cloth. It is very nicely framed, apparently in a Beard Frame Shop in Washington state in 1989. Could someone interpret and/or translate the symbols and text? Does it represent an organization, perhaps? What is the name of this type of costume? Thank you in advance!
JapaneseTradMensCostume.jpg
 
looks like a miniature doll hanten/hapi coat, similar to those worn at festivals. Found this and it looks a little similar Natsu Matsuri Naniwa kagami

The collar says 一番, which means "number one," and can mean both "first" and "best" in the same way as it does in English.

The inside of the back, under the collar says 七, which is the number Seven.
 
The symbols are 纏 matoi.

Each firemen's group had their own design of matoi. As you can see in the pictures in the page linked below, the left and lower matoi look like 第三区一番組 the first group of the third area and 第三区七番組 the 7th group of the third area in Edo (older Tokyo), respectively. The right one resembles 第四区四番組 the fourth group of the fourth area, but the number printed there is "one", not "four", so the symbols might be just a design, not an exact copy of really existed ones. Anyway, it's 火消し半纏 hikeshihanten fireman's wear.

 
looks like a miniature doll hanten/hapi coat, similar to those worn at festivals. Found this and it looks a little similar Natsu Matsuri Naniwa kagami

The collar says 一番, which means "number one," and can mean both "first" and "best" in the same way as it does in English.

The inside of the back, under the collar says 七, which is the number Seven.
Thank you for the helpful information.
 
The symbols are 纏 matoi.

Each firemen's group had their own design of matoi. As you can see in the pictures in the page linked below, the left and lower matoi look like 第三区一番組 the first group of the third area and 第三区七番組 the 7th group of the third area in Edo (older Tokyo), respectively. The right one resembles 第四区四番組 the fourth group of the fourth area, but the number printed there is "one", not "four", so the symbols might be just a design, not an exact copy of really existed ones. Anyway, it's 火消し半纏 hikeshihanten fireman's wear.

Thanks so much for this information. It was exactly what I was looking for.
 
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