Hachimachi

• Japanese/Okinawan: 鉢巻 (hachimaki / hachimachi)

The hachimaki is a type of court cap worn especially by officials in the government of the Ryûkyû Kingdom, its color indicating (in part) the rank of the wearer.

The highest ranking members of the Ryukyuan aristocracy wore a different type of court cap; those in the ranks immediately below them wore purple hachimaki, and the lowest ranking nobles wore red hachimaki, while everyone in the middle wore yellow caps. Since the yellow caps were thus by far the most common, all such court caps were sometimes referred to as chiiru hachimachi, or "yellow hachimaki."

The hachimaki was made from roughly thirteen feet of fabric, wrapped around an oval-shaped rigid board to form eight layers of wrapping, and secured to the head, worn over the topknot, with several ties and a pair of hairpins.

Those not yet old enough to have official court rank - and who thus could not wear a court cap indicating their rank - simply wore large hairpins stuck through their topknot, their status indicated by the material the hairpin was made of, and the ornaments on it. The crown prince and others of similarly high status would wear a golden hairpin called a jifaa, decorated with dragons and flowers, while the young sons or brothers of anji or other mid-to-high-ranking noble families would wear silver hairpins. Those associated with lower-ranking nobles wore copper hairpins. The narcissus flower in particular was a popular design for such hairpins.

References

• Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, Volume 6: East Asia. Oxford University Press, 2010. p424.