Line #69 Main/AllAsiansWearConicalStrawHats


1	[[quoteright:200:[[Franchise/MortalKombat https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/raiden_hat_8170.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:200:[-Even Asian gods wear them!-]]]
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4	The conical Asian hat (also known as a sedge hat, rice hat, coolie hat, non, or paddy hat) is a simple style of conical hat originating in East and Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, The Philippines, Vietnam, China, Japan and Korea -- many far-East and Southeast Asian countries have their own variation on it, and their own name for it.[[note]]Caping, Salakot, Nón lá, Dǒulì, Sugegasa, and Satgat, respectively.[[/note]] This style of hat is used primarily as protection from the sun and rain, and is usually kept on the head by a cloth (often silk) chin strap; an internal band of the same material keeps the hat itself from resting on the wearer's head. While anybody can wear the hats, in China, they are primarily worn by women who work on farms or in fields for hours on end.[[note]]It prevents sunburn and helps preserve the white in RavenHairIvorySkin.[[/note]] And a variation of the conical straw hat which is painted in bright fluorescent yellow can be seen by street cleaners in major Chinese cities. As late as 1950, and the fall of Hainan, this hat had ''military applications'' as it was pretty much the only standard-issue garment the Guomindang could afford to waterproof. The Communists on the other hand used Soviet-style waxed greatcoats and eschewed the "backward" and "feudal" image the hat conjured up (though none of their men actually got any until ''after'' [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors they'd won the war and crushed all the labour-unions]]).
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6	Farmers (especially rice workers) tend to wear them more often. Although in Korea, they are primarily worn by Buddhist monks.
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8	In feudal Japan, the ''ashigaru'', the footsoldier class who supported the samurai, wore a reinforced and militarised form of this hat, with a hanging kepi-cloth to protect the neck from sun and rain, as the trademark of their military caste. This was called ''jingasa'' (war hat), and was made either from metal segments riveted together, or from very stiff waxed leather. It offered such a reasonable protection from arrows, the main threat for the ashigaru on the battlefield, in a light and comfortable way, so that even some samurai wore them instead of heavy and cumbersome ''kabuto'' helmets. It was especially popular among the horseback messengers, who even invented a specialized form called ''bajogasa'', "rider's hat".
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10	In fiction, there are many Asian characters who wear conical hats... [[CultureEqualsCostume simply because they're Asian.]] Regardless of whether or not it makes sense for the character to be wearing such a hat, if they are Asian, they will be seen wearing one to allow viewers to recognize that they are in fact an Asian character.
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12	A related trope is LampshadeWearing: for a long time, in any remotely comedic western work, if a character was left in a room with a conical lampshade, you could almost guarantee that he would try it on and [[AsianSpeekeeEngrish imitate a Chinese accent]].
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14	See also: AllAsiansKnowMartialArts
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16	----
17	!!Examples:
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19	[[foldercontrol]]
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21	[[folder:Advertising]]
22	* American Apparel [[http://www.racialicious.com/2011/08/08/does-american-apparel%E2%80%99s-ching-chong-hat-offend-you/ in 2011 came under fire]] for advertising and selling "Ching Chong hats" that were, you guessed it, Asian conical hats. Offensive name aside, these hats are popular with professional concert-goers (read: American Apparel customers) at multi-day outdoor music festivals for their lightweight shading qualities.
23	[[/folder]]
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25	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
26	* Kibagami Jubei of ''Anime/NinjaScroll'' fame often wears one.
27	* Enma Ai from ''Anime/HellGirl'' is shown wearing one occasionally as part of her civilian clothes during flashbacks to the Feudal era.
28	* The Akatsuki from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' have these, though they don't wear them all the time.
29	* Jin-e from ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' wears one and [[spoiler:Sanosuke's family]] make them to sell at the trading post after their farm is destroyed.
30	* Chichiri from ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' has one, which also gives him the ability to get out of bad situations via magic. Miaka tries this, and fails.
31	* Out of the Asian characters in ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'', only Vietnam has been seen using one of these hats in canon.
32	* In ''Manga/{{Yaiba}}'' the famed {{ronin}} Jubei Yagyu wears one of this. TruthInTelevision, as these hats were part of the Yagyu's trademark crest, and Jubei himself apparently once used [[ImprobableWeaponUser two hats worn as shields]] to disarm an opponent.
33	* ''Anime/LupinIIIEpisode0FirstContact'': JustifiedTrope in the case of Goemon; as a tradition-obsessed {{Samurai}}, he wears it to keep his head dry.
34	* Chise in ''Anime/PrincessPrincipal'' wears a particularly wide ''jingasa'' as part of her mission outfit.
35	[[/folder]]
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37	[[folder:Comic Books]]
38	* Being set in feudal Japan, many characters in ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'' wear these hats from time to time. Usagi's ears disappear whenever he wears one for some reason.
39	[[/folder]]
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41	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
42	* During the song "Everybody Wants to be a Cat" from ''WesternAnimation/TheAristocats'', Shun Gon the Chinese cat actually hits himself on the head with a cymbal, giving him the appearance of wearing a coolie hat.
43	* The Zen Master from ''WesternAnimation/Cars2''.
44	* Crane and Po from ''Franchise/KungFuPanda''. Po even tries to use his hat for a throwing weapon during ''Kung Fu Panda 2''. It doesn't turn out well.
45	* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'' where only women working fields are seen wearing these types of hats.
46	* The caps on the mushrooms in "Theatre/TheNutcracker" segment from ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'' resemble coolie hats.
47	* ''Animation/WhiteSnake2019'': Unlike the protagonists, the Asian [[SnakePeople Snake Demon]] Chang Pang cannot [[HumanityEnsues take a human form]], so he hides his snake form with a giant conical straw hat before ambushing Xuan and Blanca.
48	* ''WesternAnimation/RayaAndTheLastDragon'': Raya wears a salakot for most of the film. Sisu also briefly wears one as part of an attempted human disguise (before she gains shapeshifting). The two of the three monkey-like creatures that accompany little Noi also wear conical hats of differing designs.
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51	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
52	* Most films depicting the Viet Cong will have some of them wearing these hats. This is to some extent TruthInTelevision: Many Viet Cong disguised themselves as farmers before ambushing the Americans (or Australians, or the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, or the South Koreans...).
53	* ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina'' has David Lo Pan's three henchmen, the Storms, all wear straw hats as large as umbrellas.
54	* Kirk Lazarus wears one while pretending to be a farmer in ''Film/TropicThunder''.
55	* Oliver Stone's ''Film/{{Platoon}}'' depicted desperate, fleeing Vietnamese in rice paddy hats.
56	* Many early "talkies" that depicted Asian countries and characters would feature Asian characters (usually played by white actors) wearing traditional "Asian-looking" outfits, complete with these types of hats. Anna May Wong, being the first Chinese American movie star, was often foisted into these roles.
57	* A lot of the background extras who are Asian in ''Film/BladeRunner'' (and there are a lot as the JapanTakesOverTheWorld trope is quite prominent) wear conical hats. [[WordOfGod Apparently, this was to protect against acid rain,]] although the fact that ''only'' the Asian extras wear them makes it seem like they just used them so people could be identified as Asian on crowded streets.
58	* Lord Raiden from ''Film/MortalKombatTheMovie'' has one on when he visits Liu Kang's Shaolin temple near the beginning of the film.
59	* In ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'', Sheriff J.W. Pepper refers to the people of Thailand as "pointy heads".
60	* In the beginning of ''Film/GoodMorningVietnam'', the protagonist mistakenly believes that several women wearing these hats are the same woman, even though his guide corrects him. He doesn't care and starts chatting up the next one he sees.
61	[[/folder]]
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63	[[folder:Literature]]
64	* In the Literature/{{Discworld}}, the wizard Rincewind is sent to the Agatean Empire in ''Literature/InterestingTimes'', where he discovers this is indeed true, and escapes pursuit by the simple means of donning such a hat - which worked because his pursuers were looking for the [[RobeAndWizardHat "Wizzard"]] in pointy hat, not for a [[BeneathNotice lowly peasant]].
65	[[/folder]]
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67	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
68	* Most Korean civilians in ''Series/{{MASH}}'', especially in the early seasons, wear rice hats. The TV series was simply following the lead of the movie, where just about all the anonymous Korean civilians wear them, even though the style is specifically the Vietnamese form, which was never common in Korea. The show is trying to parallel the Vietnam war as much as possible.
69	* In ''Series/FatherTed'', Ted puts a loose lampshade on his head and impersonates a Chinese man by stretching his eyes. Unfortunately, some Chinese people from the Craggy Island Chinatown ([[BizarroUniverse which has been there "since last week"]]), see him.
70	* ''Series/InspectorMorse''. In "The Settling of the Sun", a man who'd been tortured by the Japanese during [=WW2=] sees a woman wearing a hat like this while gardening. He grabs a machete and runs to attack her, coming to his senses just in time, only to die of a heart attack from the shock.
71	* ''Series/TheDayOfTheTriffids1981''. As TheNarrator talks of how humanity discovered the triffids are {{Man Eating Plant}}s and tried to eradicate them (before finding out how valuable they were) we have a scene of two Asian men in conical hats and holding long-handled scythes stalking warily through a rice paddy, followed by two men in anti-triffid suits armed with flamethrowers stalking through the English countryside.
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74	[[folder:Manhua]]
75	* ''Manhua/OldMasterQ'' have a short where Master Q and Big Potato are invited by their on-off friendly rival, Chao, to star in a foreign documentary. They gleefully accept the offer, only to find out (to their dismay) they're cast as extras, and their roles consist entirely of wearing straw hats while eating with chopsticks during a restaurant scene.
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79	[[folder:Pinballs]]
80	* The snipers from the southeast Asian army in ''Pinball/{{Raven}}'' wear conical straw hats.
81	* One of the Scenes in ''[[Pinball/LightsCameraAction Lights... Camera... Action!]]'' takes place in San Francisco's Chinatown, which is filled with performers all wearing conical hats.
82	[[/folder]]
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84	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
85	* The Japanese Muppets in the Spike Milligan episode of ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' wear these.
86	[[/folder]]
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88	[[folder:Theater]]
89	* The background character of the Chinese Cook in ''Theatre/{{Zarkana}}''.
90	[[/folder]]
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92	[[folder:Video Games]]
93	* An unlockable cosmetic for the NLF/Vietcong faction in ''VideoGame/RisingStorm2Vietnam'' is, unsurpisingly, one of these.
94	* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'''s Raiden wears a simple straw hat similar to that of a harvester's, while Ashrah wears a decorated Japanese ''kasa''.
95	** His rebooted counterpart from ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1'' is also wearing one. Justified as he's now a mortal Chinese farmer with martial arts skills.
96	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''. Yojimbo, the sole samurai aeon, wears a large conical hat.
97	* Brother 4 and Brother 6 from ''Anime/AfroSamurai''.
98	* In ''VideoGame/BattleRealms'' this hat is worn by peasants in the Dragon and Serpent clans, and by [[TheExile Kenji]] during the early stages of the campaign.
99	* Available for your Platform/XBox360 avatar.
100	* Worker units for east Asian civilizations in the ''[[VideoGame/{{Civilization}} Civilization IV]]'' expansion pack ''Beyond The Sword'' don the conical hats.
101	* Canthan peasants in ''VideoGame/GuildWars Factions''.
102	* Played with in the ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' expansion ''Mists of Pandaria''. There are headgear items resembling conical hats that can be worn by player characters, and a number of pandaren [=NPCs=] wear them, but not all of them. You can buy them as a faction reward from, fittingly, farmers.
103	* The Jian Shan Di faction in ''Videogame/EYEDivineCybermancy'' stylize their headquarters after a Shinto temple, and have PoweredArmor reminiscent of Samurai armor. Their heavy armor sports a conical straw hat and a [[GasMaskMooks gas mask]]. Their leader's hat is [[HatOfAuthority topped by a pair of golden tigers]].
104	* The titular character from ''VideoGame/DustAnElysianTail'' wears a satgat draped in ragged cloth lining. His ears stick out of the top of the hat, and he doesn't wear a chin strap to keep it on. Despite all the jumping and twirling he does in the game, the hat never actually comes off except in cutscenes. [[FairyCompanion Fidget]] lampshades and openly wonders how Dust can see anything in front of him since the hat is always obscuring his eyes.
105	* ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'': Two of the Japanese fighters, [[HeirToTheDojo Makoto]] and [[OldMaster Gouken]], both have alternate outfits with these included. Makoto's is justified, as she spends up lot of time outside fixing up her dad's dojo and the outfit with the hat is clearly made for that kind of work. Gouken, not so much, considering he was trapped in a coma for years.
106	* Features in Koei's ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' and ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'' games. In the former, it's unusually distinctive due to it being worn only by Nanman Armor Troop unit. In the latter, common spear infantry wear these hats.
107	* The Empire's Tankbusters in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'' wear large, high-tech electronic versions of these hats. They're more than just decorative--they fire a cylindrical wall of lasers straight down, which allow Tankbusters to instantly burrow into the ground to hide from enemies.
108	* One of the civilian models in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerGenerals'' is seen wearing one, which makes sense since China is one of the factions. ... It makes less sense when they show up in Central Asian territories.
109	* The servant in ''VideoGame/MercenaryForce'' wears one of these.
110	* ''VideoGame/{{Smite}}'' managed to avert this with the Asian deities (Chinese, Japanese, and Hindu) until the release of [[Myth/JapaneseMythology Susano, God of the Summer Storm]], however only Susano wears one by default, and he's the only Asian deity to do so, aside from Guan Yu in his "Master Guan Fu" skin.
111	* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', being the world's greatest "[[SelfDeprecation hat simulator]]", naturally has the Hong Kong Cone.
112	* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', the Sheikah, with their heavily {{Ninja}} influenced culture, are sometimes seen wearing large conical straw hats.
113	* In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'', some [[TheGoomba Goombas]] wear hats that match the theme of whatever level they inhabit. So, naturally, the Goombas in [[{{Wutai}} Bowser's Kingdom]] wear large straw hats.
114	* The Swordsman, aka Genji Shimada, wore one in a promotional comic for ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'''s Halloween game mode, Junkenstein's Revenge. Somewhat justified, as the game mode was set in a medieval AlternateUniverse of the game's TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture setting, so Genji (a cyber ninja in the game proper) would probably be disguised as a farmer in a medieval setting.
115	* October from the ''VideoGame/{{Richman}}'' series wears one as a standard outfit for Taiwanese farmers. His property is also marked with one when there’s no buildings in most titles.
116	* ''VideoGame/{{Rambo}}'' had a significant number of enemies wearing these in the Vietnam section, despite the fact that a) they were soldiers, who wouldn't wear anything so cumbersome and potentially vision-limiting and b) the level mostly took place in the middle of the night, negating any practical benefits to wearing the things in the first place. They were surprisingly realistically modelled, particularly the part where they fly off when the wearer was shot, leading to Creator/TheCynicalBrit praising the game (with tongue very much in cheek) for its "[[ARareSentence racist hat physics]]". [[TheTroubleWithLicensedGames That was the closest he came to saying anything positive about it.]]
117	* ''Videogame/PokemonLegendsArceus'': The rank-and-file members of the Galaxy Team's Security Corps. look Asian and all wear straw hats.
118	[[/folder]]
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120	[[folder:Web Comics]]
121	* In ''Webcomic/{{Polandball}}'', Indonesia often wears one to differentiate him from Poland ([[StylisticSuck who is consistently drawn upside down]]).
122	* In ''Webcomic/KeychainOfCreation'' Ten Winds wears such a hat, and sometimes other characters do as well.
123	[[/folder]]
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125	[[folder:Western Animation]]
126	* Once again, Raiden, in ''WesternAnimation/MortalKombatDefendersOfTheRealm''.
127	* Aang from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' owns one, though he rarely wears it. Longshot, Zuko and Iroh also occasionally wear these hats. It's not surprising, since the series' world takes inspiration from several Asian cultures.
128	* On ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', the entire Chinese dodgeball team wears these hats.
129	* WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts:
130	** "Three for Breakfast" ends with WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck slipping onto some butter WesternAnimation/ChipAndDale spread onto the roof of his house while attempting to retrieve a rubber pancake the two chipmunks apparently stole, causing him to fly back into his house and up the chimney, hitting his head on the chimney cone giving him the appearance of wearing a Chinese coolie hat. Chip then wears the rubber pancake on his head as if it were a coolie hat.
131	** In another cartoon, Donald uses his vacuum to transport the chipmunks to China, and each time they return wearing coolie hats.
132	* The eponymous hero of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' [[http://24.media.tumblr.com/877048ce2280f6067829942105fd26d1/tumblr_mgp2cwSfGK1qbj7dho1_500.png often wears one of these,]] which gets destroyed regularly. In one episode he's shown making one at the beginning, then bikers run over his sandals and he ends up trading it for a new pair.
133	* Sensei Wu is the most prominent wearer of the conical hat in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'', since he is the stereotypical OldMaster who acts as a [[TheMentor mentor]] to the ninja in a fantasy {{Wutai}} setting.
134	* Mysto from ''WesternAnimation/{{Mixels}}'' wears one, to fit the "wise elder" theme he has for his tribe.
135	* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': The main cast's ancient Chinese {{Elseworld}} equivalents nearly all wear them in "Doof Dynasty".
136	* Most the Japanese people WesternAnimation/{{The Beatles\|1965}} run into in "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby" sport this hat (the boys themselves wear them in the episode as well).
137	* ''WesternAnimation/CarmenSandiego'': When Carmen has {{Imagine Spot}}s and dreams of a younger Shadowsan, [[spoiler:around the age when he found her as a baby,]] he is wearing one of these hats. It is revealed when Shadowsan recounts his past from that era and before, he isn't actually wearing one.
138	[[/folder]]

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