Jingasa with Mother of Pearl

The jingasa, literally "camp hat", first appeared on the battlefields of the Sengoku period as an inexpensive, mass-produced alternative to the kabuto, worn by the ashigaru foot soldiers who could not afford a full helmet. During the long peace of the Edo period its role changed. Samurai now wore the jingasa on official outings, and its form, colour and decoration came to express the wearer's rank and household. Samurai of higher standing vied with one another in refinement, commissioning hats in fine layered lacquer that could be varied by season and occasion. Freed from the demands of the battlefield, the lacquered surface became a field for decoration, and such jingasa are now valued as works of art in their own right.