Ryukyu investiture crown

• Other Names: 玉冠 (O: tamanchaabui)
• Japanese/Chinese: 皮弁冠 (hibenkan / pi bian guan)

The kings of the Ryûkyû Kingdom received formal investiture from envoys sent by the Chinese Court; the investiture ceremonies involved the use of special ritual garments called hibenfuku, including a Chinese-style crown called alternatively hibenkan, or tamanchaabui. One such crown, dating to the 18th or 19th century, is today in the collection of the Naha City Museum of History, and has been designated a National Treasure.

The crown is only on display twice a year, for limited periods, for conservation reasons. It is a black woven hat with twelve thin strips of gold running in parallel vertically along the front of the crown; each strip is further decorated with 24 jewels or small orbs of gold, silver, jasper, quartz, coral, or the like, for a total of 288. A large golden hairpin (kanzashi) with a dragon design on the head of the pin was also worn with the crown.

References

• Gallery labels at Naha City Museum of History, August 2013.