Happi
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158947730
2007-09-19T13:47:58Z
Absinthe88
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[[Image:Festival4.jpg|thumb|Women at a [[matsuri]] wearing a happi]]
'''Happi''' (法被, 半被) is a traditional [[Japan]]ese straight-sleeved [[coat]] usually made of [[indigo]] or brown [[cotton]] and imprinted with a distinctive [[mon (crest)|mon]] (crest). Originally, these represented the crest of a family, as happi were worn by house servants. Later, happi commonly began to display the crests of shops and organisations. Also, formerly, [[firefighter]]s wore happi and the symbol on their backs referred to the group with which they were associated. In the [[Edo period]], firefighters were paid not for actual firefighting activity but instead for promptness and presence at the scene of a fire. Thus, wearing conspicuous happi and dancing on intact roofs near fires with [[matoi]] was essential for them. In English, "happi" is most often translated as "happi coat" or "happy coat".
[[Category:Japanese clothing]]
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[[ja:法被]]