Who s wearing such cute hats? Jan 11, 2020

The stone figures lining the steps in today"s photo are among 500 rakan statues on the small island of Miyajima in Japan. The colorful knitted caps they"re wearing are offerings from people visiting the island, a tradition followed in other areas of Japan as well. Some believe this gift-giving is based on a children"s folk story of an elderly hatmaker who was unable to make it to market on a snowy day, so he placed his collection of hats on rakan statues to keep their bare heads dry. Later, the statues showed their appreciation by delivering gifts to the hatmaker and his wife so they could celebrate the new year properly. The statues in this photo were individually carved sometime between the 1780s to the 1820s, and no two are alike. They line the path at the base of Mount Misen that leads to the Daisho-in Temple, one of the many temples and shrines on the island.

© Malcolm Fairman/Alamy

palette

Today in History

Jan 11, 2018Bow Bridge in Central Park, New York City
Jan 11, 2019Life in a North African town
Jan 11, 2021At the gates of the ksar
Jan 11, 2022Porcupine
Jan 11, 2023Umschreibung by Olafur Eliasson in Munich
Jan 11, 2024Eurasian lynx
Jan 11, 2025Heri es-Swani in Meknes, Morocco
Jan 11, 2026Blue walls of Chefchaouen, Morocco

More Desktop Wallpapers:

May 16, 2021A magnificent monolith
Sep 17, 2024Mid-Autumn Festival
Dec 29, 2023Oud-West, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Jun 7, 2024World Oceans Day
Jul 12, 2023Nakupenda Beach Nature Reserve, Zanzibar, Tanzania
Dec 9, 2023National Llama Day
Jun 10, 2022Poppies in bloom
Sep 16, 2019The mighty, mighty mushroom
Jul 28, 2021A goldie gala
Jun 20, 2019In celebration of America’s national bird
Apr 23, 2019A legend and a legendary home
Mar 21, 2024International Day of Forests
Jun 25, 2023Al-Khazneh in Petra, Jordan
Mar 3, 2022World Wildlife Day
Sep 11, 2018Inside the Oculus
Apr 14, 2021Nothing plain about it
Dec 17, 2018We have liftoff!
Nov 24, 2024Sonoma Coast State Park, California
Feb 26, 2024Grand Canyon National Park turns 105
Jun 24, 2024Kelimutu, Flores, Indonesia
May 1, 2022AAPI Heritage Month & Lei Day
May 29, 2023Memorial Day
May 15, 2024The Blue City of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
Jan 6, 2021Travels to the Oregon deep
May 30, 2019A day to celebrate the sun
Dec 3, 2025Sandhill cranes, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico
Dec 30, 2024Mount Field National Park, Tasmania, Australia
Jul 23, 2019A state-of-the-art lookout on the Rock of Gibraltar
May 26, 2021Behold the blood moon
May 30, 2024Everglades National Park marks 90 years