Whenever I put on my wadded hanten, a short jacket with padding between its outer fabric and lining, I think: this is what it means to feel snugly warm.
As a child, I wore a red hanten in winter and sat beneath the kotatsu, a low table with a heater underneath and a quilt draped over it. More than 15 years passed before I slipped my arms into one again as an adult. Its familiar shape and woven pattern brought back memories.
The one I wear is a wadded hanten by Miyata Orimono. Because its shape looked wider than my body, I had assumed that cold air would find its way through the gaps. But when I put it on, it felt warmer than I expected. It is light in my hands, and over my house clothes I barely notice its weight. Yet the warmth around my shoulders reminds me of being under the covers.
On winter mornings, I put it on as soon as I get out of bed. In the evening, after coming home from work, washing my hands, and changing into house clothes, I put it on again. Sometimes I spread it over my lap. Each winter, I pull it from the back of the closet and wear it every day.
Cold winter mornings used to make me reluctant to leave bed. Now, when I put on the hanten as soon as I get up, some of the warmth I felt under the covers seems to continue. I no longer hesitate quite as much.
Miyata Orimono was founded in Chikugo, Fukuoka Prefecture, in 1913 as a weaver of Kurume Kasuri, a traditional cotton textile from the region. It began making wadded hanten in 1965. Today, the company handles thread selection, fabric design, weaving, and sewing in-house.
The hanten I wear has a 100% cotton outer fabric and lining, with filling that is 80% cotton and 20% polyester. This particular hanten has a smooth outer fabric and feels light to wear.
During the padding stage, two people work together to place the filling evenly between the outer fabric and lining. Key points are then stitched by hand to keep the filling from shifting. From fabric production to finishing, the work comes together at Miyata Orimono’s factory in Chikugo.
On December 19, 2025, “Kurume Cotton-filled Hanten” made in Chikugo, Kurume, and Ōki was designated a “Fukuoka Prefecture-Designated Traditional Craft.” Miyata Orimono is one of the six makers included in the designation.
These days, mornings are not the only time I wear it.
I also put it on for small jobs around the house and while working from home. I keep it on while preparing meals and cooking, and slip into it after a bath so I do not get chilled. Sometimes I settle onto the sofa still wrapped in it and fall asleep.
Because it is comfortable, I rarely think about when to take it off while I am at home. It is no longer something I put on for a particular purpose. It is simply there while I work, eat, and rest.
The hanten I knew as a child now fits naturally into the way I live.
Each winter, I pull it from the back of the closet, not for nostalgia’s sake, but to put it on again, as usual.