happi coat, Japan, Showa (circa 1940), cm 86x124. Happi are those traditional Japanese work coats often wearing name of enterprise or related symbols, as sort of function as today’s commercial advertising . This coat does resemble in design and colouring those used by firemen in action, but it lacks the so typical multilayer structure and heavy ‘sashiko’ stiching, so it was possibly associated with either one of the public associations supporting the activities of firemen, or with a firemen’s coat used at camp base for standard activities. The presence of a ‘Lieutenant’ collar badge might support this latter hypothesis. Well used (with a pair of little holes) cotton cloth dyed in the tsutsugaki technique. Funky.