Costumes/types—Coolies, Jinrikisha drivers, Raincoats

“The coolie wears a loose coat and waistcoat, and tights of dark-blue cotton, with straw sandals on his bare feet, and an inverted washbowl of straw covered with cotton on his head. When it rains he is converted to a prickly porcupine by his straw raincoat, or he dons a queer apron and cloak of oiled paper.”

Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, Jinrikisha Days in Japan, (New York, 1891) p. 8