If you’ve ever longed for a more enlightened look, then these Japanese designers have answered your prayers with this miraculous new hat that will have you resembling a cozier version of a cosmic chakravartin in no time at all.
The chunky, knit hats come in several suitably mellow colors, including sekizo gray, sozo ivory, samue navy, renge red, and kohai mustard. You know, so you can get one to match all of those worldly possessions and attachments you ought to be getting rid of. The hat is called rahotsu, in an apparent reference to its resemblance to the dense, curly locks sported by many images of the Buddha.
So why now? It turns out this represents a collaboration with one of Japan’s best history museums to promote a new exhibit of culturally-significant Buddhist statues.
The hats include one or two of the 32 distinguishing features (lakshana) that define the way we think of Buddha. Want to impress (i.e. obnoxiously correct) your friends? That “hair bun” is actually meant to be a cranial protrusion filled with knowledge, called an ushnisha. The hat also boasts those famous droopy earlobes we’ve come to expect whenever we see a representation of the Buddha. Many interpret those to show ears stretched out as if by large-gauge earrings, a symbol of how the Buddha forsook earthly things.
The hat is offered for sale online on Felissimo’s shop, and will also be available at an upcoming museum exhibition celebrating Japanese Buddhist art from the Heian Period at the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno Park. Details about how to visit are below!
Museum Information The Hidden Buddha of Rakuyaji Temple, Shiga Location: Tokyo National Museum, 13-9 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo, 110-8712, Japan 〒110-8712 東京都台東区上野公園13-9 東京国立博物館 Hours: 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. (opening hours extended to 8 p.m. on Fridays) Dates: September 13~December 11 Website
Sources: Kai-You, Felissimo
Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- Anybody want to live rent-free in a house in a Japanese beach town for two years? -- For grown-ups only! Ghibli Museum’s Straw Hat Cafe is offering “Valley of the Wind” beer -- “Buddhists’ Disneyland” the Pure Land Cave is the trippiest place on earth
© Japan Today
2 Comments
Login to comment
sensei258
Notice how they conveniently forgot to mention the price
Moderator
If you click on the online shop link, you'll find that info.