Shikano sugegasa is a craft tradition from Shikano Town, Tottori Prefecture, that is said to date back about 400 years, when Shikano Castle lord Kamei Shigenori encouraged hat-making to promote rural development. Until the mid-Showa period, the hats were considered essential for farm work in the fields, rain or shine. Sedge is light and has important advantages: on sunny days, it dries and shrinks, improving breathability, and on wet days, it expands, keeping out rain. Even today, people can be seen working in the fields wearing sedge umbrella hats.