Brimming With Quality – A Guide To Japan’s Heritage-Centric Hatmakers

We take a look at the heritage-centric hatmakers coming out of Japan, from POTEN and H.W. Dog, to Cableami, Mr. Fatman, and more.

James Smith

Japanese makers have a way of taking a Western archetype, extracting the best parts of its form and story, and creating a new, exciting product whilst still respecting its history. That’s pretty much how most modern raw denim jeans became the product they are today — early makers like Big John and members of the Osaka Five took an iconic and somewhat defunct American product and reproduced it with insane levels of detail that could only be achieved by totally geeking over original articles. But at the same time, those brands created something fresh, exciting, and uniquely Japanese.

Now, the ballcap is an American classic. Conceived in the early days of baseball, it transcended the sport to become a staple for those outside the ballpark. However, just like with raw denim, many Japanese makers have taken the ballcap and made it their own, imbuing this American stalwart with a certain type of quality, charm, and nuance that can only be found in Japan. Japanese hatmaking doesn’t stop at ballcaps, either. Beanies, berets and flat caps, wool caps, and even formal felt hats can all be found in a scene that’s making waves in the West as well as the Far East.

In this guide, we’ll be taking a look at the Japanese hatmakers relevant to our niche, from RoToTo to POTEN, H.W. Dog & Co., and more.

POTEN

Founded in 2014, POTEN is the brainchild of Iguchi Hironobu, a baseball fanatic and hat-making expert. Hironobu spent 10 years as a designer for a hat company before establishing POTEN to fulfill his dream of making ballcaps for actual baseball players. Based in Tokyo, POTEN makes arguably the highest quality baseball caps in the land with designs informed by Hironobu’s taste for vintage American garb and historic baseball culture.

POTEN offers both fitted and adjustable styles. Fitted caps are sized XXS, XS, S, M, and so on — in our experience, an XS fits roughly like a New Era 7 1/4. Western stockists tend to only buy in the adjustable styles, though. Some styles also feature a treated cowhide headband that softens over time and gradually shapes to the wearer’s head.

A wide range of POTEN caps is available at Clutch Cafe from $135.

Each cap is made in Okayama Prefecture at the same factory that produces caps for professional Japanese baseball teams, and comes with a vintage baseball card swing tag. Materials range from denim and melton wool to suede, canvas, and more, changing seasonally. Quality is about as good as it gets when it comes to ball caps.

POTEN 80s BB cap Suede, available for $165 from TENDREL.

H.W. Dog & Co.

One of the most popular brands on this list within the heritage scene, H.W. Dog & Co., is a premium hatter based in Ometsando, Tokyo. Founded in 2015, H.W. Dog is committed to traditional hatmaking techniques and crafts hats using traditional wooden molds — some of which are original vintage examples — to create an eclectic roster of top-class headwear inspired by historic American and European workwear, military headgear, and sportswear.

H.W. Dog Travellers Cap, available for $230 from Clutch Cafe.

The image above shows the range of silhouettes produced by the brand, but they make everything from formal felts and berets to baseball caps, buckets, and beanies — all in their Tokyo studios. Despite being so heavily influenced by eras gone by, H.W. Dog’s range of styles and fabric selections means their hats fit into both vintage and modern aesthetics with ease.

H.W. Dog Baseball Cap, available for $120 from Clutch Cafe.

Mr. Fatman

Mr. Fatman is a private label of one of Tokyo’s most prominent independent hat studios, The Fat Hatter. Established in 2016 by Akihito Kikuchi, The Fat Hatter is located on Harajuku’s iconically trendy ‘Cat Street’ and produces headwear influenced by old-world America and the early-to-mid 20th century.

Mr. Fatman Army Twill F Cap, available for $115 from HINOYA.

Mr. Fatman, in particular, is influenced by Vintage Stetson hats produced between 1930 and 1950, which is evident in its range of fully-brimmed, traditional hats and open-crowned felts. That’s not all that’s on offer, though. Mr. Fatman produces a wide range of hats and caps, each influenced by Kikuchi’s fascination with workwear, military, garage culture, and old American films like Casablanca and Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid.

Mr. Fatman Johnny Casquette, available for $150 from HINOYA.

Mighty Shine

Mighty Shine is another label under The Fat Hatter, which produces a slightly more contemporary range of hats and caps whilst still staying true to Kikuchi’s vintage inspirations.

Mighty Shine Parrafin OX 4 Panel Cap, available for $103 from Redcast Heritage.

cableami

Based in Kobe, cableami was founded by Shuji Sadamori and Tomoka Sadamori in 2008. Both Shuji and Tomoka worked for a hat company named “Cable“, which closed down in the mid-2000s. With decades of experience in the hat-making industry, Shuji and Tomoka resurrected the company in 2008 under the new name, cableami, to continue making hats but with their own creative direction.

Sometimes styled cábleami, the brand name is a mix of the word ‘cable’ from the term ‘cable knitting’, and the word ‘ami‘,  which has two meanings: “knit” in Japanese, and “friend” in French. This name reflects cableami’s philosophy of “creating hats that will be cherished as if they are friends”.

câbleami Organic Cotton Herringbone Bucket Hat – Ivory, available for $140 from Brooklyn Tailors.

Cableami makes a wide range of hats, from boater and pork pie hats to knitted beanies and ballcaps, all of which are built in Japan to exacting standards. This range of top-quality headwear unifies Shuji and Tomoka’s taste for American and European vintage workwear and sporting products, as well as military wear from numerous countries. Cableami puts these inspirations through its own filter to construct products that are unique, nuanced, and applicable to the modern wardrobe.

câbleami Recycled Tweed Hat, available for $162 from Rhythmic Tones.

The Factory Made

The Factory Made was established in 2017 by Hiroaki Terauchi. A senior employee of Stetson‘s Japanese division for over ten years, Terauchi noticed that there were no quality hatmakers in Japan who made products geared toward the raw denim scene and founded the Factory Made to channel his Japanese denim, American vintage, and French workwear inspirations.

Everything from fabric production to pattern-cutting and sewing happens holistically in Japan. As well as Americana, militaria, and workwear, Terauchi draws inspiration from everyday happenings — the outdoors, walking in the street, and spending time with his family.

The Factory Made POCKET DENIM CAP-NAVY [FM936-013], available for ¥7,920 (~$50USD) from The Factory Made.

The Factory Made specializes in denim, boro, sashiko, and other indigo fabrics, but has also experimented with corduroy, herringbone twill, and even upcycled Barbour jackets.

The Factory Made VIET JET CAP – NAVY [FM525-013], available for ¥8,800 (~$55USD) from The Factory Made.

RoToTo

You’ll know RoToTo for its socks, but the brand also makes high-quality knitted caps as part of its Japan-made offering. All of RoToTo’s products are manufactured by skilled local craftspeople in Hiroyu, Japan, with each article designed around a “lifelong consumables” philosophy. The brand utilizes vintage American knitting machines and modern technology to create fantastic contemporary products with a vintage look and feel.

RoToTo Indigo Dyed Watch Cap, available for $76 from Iron Heart.

Whilst RoToTo does make a knitted 6-panel ball cap, it is beanies and knitted hats that the Japanese label is known for in headwear. The Roll Up Beanie is a mainstay of its yearly collections, made from high-quality 100% cotton with no set roll-up for a fully customizable fit, and its Indigo-Dyed Watch Caps are perhaps the perfect beanie for a denim head.

RoToTo Washi/Recycled Cotton Watch Cap, available for $82 from Tanner Goods.

Like this? Read these:

The Three Tiers of Sweatshirts: Entry, Mid, and End Level

Incense 101: History and Products