Firemen played a vital role in Edo Period cities regularly devastated by fires. The rudimentary material conditions of their interventions led them to be perceived as authentic heroes ready to sacrifice themselves for the community.
This garment is a hikeshi-banten (fireman’s jacket), made of a thick quilted and stitched cotton fabric (sashiko) meant to hold water to protect its wearers from being burned by the flames. The lining is entirely decorated with a motif crafted by the tsutsugaki technique, a free-hand spared dyeing process on an indigo background. The scene represents the battle of the hero Tawara Toda with the centipede demon Omukade-yokai.
