#hikeshi

Intricately designed kajishouzoku (firemen’s vests) from Edo period.

Like tattoos*, those heavy vests made from cotton were kind of goodluck charms. While some vests only had insignas of their firebrigades, hikeshi/firefighters often chose to have bold lining designs depicting famous heroes and auspicious scenes to boost up their moral - firefighting was an extremely dangerous job in Edo. While not on service, they would wear their vest reversed to show off the lining (and probably brag).

You can see here:

Spider hovering over a Go board. This hints at the story of Minamoto no Yorimitsu slaying a tsuchigumo (earth spider “monster”)

The famous wizard Jiraiya turning into a Toad (yes Naruto characters are heavily inspired from well known folk figures ;) )

Gama sennin the toad teaching magic to his lucky apprentice Yoshikado

Kato Kiyomasa/Toranosuke chasing a tiger gleefully stealing his helmet (the scene is somehow cute, but real Kato was a bloodthirsty b**** who hunted hundred of tigers during Imjin campaign and butchered innocents - yeah for samurai "heroes”...)

*Many firemen were inked! Tattoo was in fact part of their “manly/chilvalrous” persona, which would be later somehow reclaimed by modern Yakuza. We have proof of this in ukiyo-e depicting Kabuki actor playing firemen’s roles:

Asics x Kicks Lab Gel Lyte III "Hikeshi Hanten"

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