One-off Kurosawa Hat Question

[Rob Smith]

I recall reading somewhere that he only wore the hat because John Ford wore
a hat like it as well. It might've been in Steven Prince's book, or maybe in
a documentary. I can't remember.

On Thu, Jan 6, 2011 at 1:16 PM, <mccaskem at georgetown.edu> wrote:

> Since we got into the area of clothing with respect to film, it seems an
> appropriate time to ask about Kurosawa's trademark hat. I've always
> wondered.
>
> It's sold today as the "Kurosawa Marine Cap"
>
> http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/ishiihat/91b.html
>
> But it is somewhat reminiscent of a pre-war Japanese Naval Officer's Cap
>
> http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/ishiihat/m-400.html
>
> I once attempted some research on the subject, and it seemed that,
> according to
> Japanese sources, perhaps this kind of Japanese cap was originally modeled
> after
> a cap that Prince Heinrich (brother of Wilhelm II) wore in a famous yacht
> race
> against King Edward VII. That seems arcane to me.
>
> http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prinz-Heinrich-Muetze.jpg
>
> This does not appear much different from a Greek fisherman's cap, which
> seems
> quite different from the Kurosawa Model.
>
> If someone knows the origin of the Kurosawa Hat, it would be great to find
> out
> what it really was. Was this a common cap in the old days? One does not see
> anyone wearing this kind of cap these days, though apparently you can still
> buy
> and wear one if you really wish to.
>
> Many Thanks,
>
> Michael McCaskey
> GU
>
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