Historical Background

Mino is a raincoat made of straw and was used by people, especially farmers in the past to protect themselves from rain. Not only farmers, however, but also people of higher status are said to have used Mino as a raincoat. 

The historical origin of Mino has not been clarified yet. It is said, however, that Mino appeared in Nihon Shoki, the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history, written in 720, so it must have existed in the old past in Japan. It seems that some people in Japan still used Mino until the 1950s, but now it is not widely used in Japan.