Two different objects with one name
The japi a farmer wears in a paddy field is undecorated, wide, and made to keep sun and rain off for eight hours. It is a tool.
The phulam japi, which is this one, is the decorated version: coloured cloth, mirror work, sometimes beading. It is given as a mark of respect, worn in Bihu dance, hung on a wall, and handed to guests of honour. Nobody weeds a field in one.
Shops abroad routinely photograph a phulam japi and caption it “traditional Assamese farmer’s hat”, which merges the two. They are related the way a ceremonial sword is related to a working knife.
Bamboo and tokou
The frame is split bamboo. The covering is tokou palm leaf, dried and layered. Both are cut locally and neither travels well once assembled, which is why a japi that has been shipped badly arrives with a crushed rim.
Ours ship in a rigid box with the crown packed out. If yours arrives crushed, photograph it and we will replace it.
Hanging it
A single nail through the crown works but eventually splits the leaf. Two small hooks under the rim, taking the weight on the bamboo frame rather than the covering, will hold it for years.
