Kajibanten jacket, natural-coloured plain weave kuzu fibre with applied kuzu fibre decoration, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, Edo period, 18th-early 19th century

Ceremonial samurai jacket (kajibanten) of natural-coloured plain weave kuzu fibre (fibre from the plant pueraria hirsuta Matsumoto). Front opening, with a seam down the centre back and no shoulder seams. The collar band extends to the bottom of the jacket at the front. The back seam is left unsewn for a length of 42 cm to form a vertical slit from waist level to hem. This slit, plus the hem and the cuff-ends of the sleeves, are bound with a narrow edging of brown silk and flat gold strips. There is a button and buttonhole on stiffened tabs sewn inside at chest level. These tabs are bound in the same edging as the rest of the jacket.
There are three applied crests (mon) on the upper back of the jacket, one on each of the sleeves and one across the centre back seam. They are also of kuzu fibre edged in brown silk cord. The same cord is decoratively applied to the inside of the collar band at waist level.

Purchased. Registered File number 1983/2216.

This kajibanten would have been worn in summer (see FE.26 to B-1984), the openwork nature of the kuzu fibre being suitably cool for hot weather.

The vendor thinks that the summer garment dates from the early Edo because both warp and weft are of kuzu. He thinks that by mid-Edo only the weft was of kuzu, the warp being cotton or silk. There does not, however, seem any sure way to date these garments.

Made in Kakegawa (Shizuoka prefecture)

This jacket, or kajibanten, shown with its matching chest protector (muneate), is part of the ceremonial costume of a samurai fireman. It is made from fibre taken from the inner bark of the kuzu plant which requires a great deal of processing to make it pliable enough to weave. This kajibanten would have been worn in the summer, the openwork nature of the kuzu cloth being very suitable for humid weather. At other times of the year a cotton version would have been worn. Such a delicate garment was only used for ceremonial purposes, however. When actually fighting a fire a much more robust jacket, often of leather, would have been worn.

FE.27-1984