Kakuremino (& Gasa) - [Takara-mono | Charms]

Kakuremino (隠れ蓑) & Kakuregasa. (隠笠) - "Consealing Rain Gear." - [Takara-Mono | Charms]

• About: What appears at first to be an ordinary straw woven Umbrella-hat (Kasa, 笠) and a tattered, ratty Straw Rain Coat (Mino. 蓑) are actually magical items; When worn; they grant the wearer invisibility & protection from evil spirits; allowing the wearer to disappear at will and 'perform good deeds' without being discovered. In folktales; they’re often held onto by Tengu and Oni. - They’re also One of the Takaramono, which are brought aboard the Treasure boat by the Seven Lucky Gods come new years. (The Wise Lucky god with the massive noggin; Fukurokuju is also occasionally depicted wearing the hat in a comical manner.)

Most popularly; the Takaramono appear widely as lucky emblems in art; frequently used on Kimono patterns, embroideries, pottery and Netsuke, perhaps because they're lucky; they are also a popular subject for tattoos! 

• Early appearances:

[the items as illustrated by Bowes, James Lord 1890. -[source]

The kakuremono and kakuregasa themselves originate & appear in ancient fairytales; particularly from the collection of the Otogi-Zoshi & other far older collections, as said, these items are often held onto by Tengu and sometimes Oni. (They are often 'dropped' as a reward for victory, much like in a video game.) - The hat and cloak also make an appearance as a treasure dropped by Oni in Isshun boshi's story. (Along with the Lucky Mallet.) in any case; The Oni do not seem to use the items powers. Either because they don't know how they work (or perhaps, they are unable to use the items, as they might not work for evil creatures!) - another such tale is that of "Tengu no kakuremino' where in a man tricks a long nosed mountain dwelling Tengu into trading an ordinary telescope for the magical cloak, he proceeds to get up to all sorts of invisible shenanigans. [In the end after a drunken night out, ultimately the cloak is burnt in a fire by his wife, who mistakes it for trash.] 

[isshun boshi defeats the oni! - Otogi-Zoshi. [1725.]

'The items are also frequently illustrated along with the takarabune and Shichifukujin; brought aboard the Takarabune, and are distributed by the lucky gods come new years.

[The hat and cloak also appear on the back of an elephant, among many of the other treasures at the end of Toriyama sekiens tsuresure bokuro vol 3. [1779.] The gods are depicted loading their ship for new years.] 

[Fukurokuju wearing what is likely a Kakuregasa; hes put some other takuramono (likely Honjo (wishing jewels) on his massive forehead to make it appear as if its a face. he's  playfully chasing around some some children with a fan attached to his staff. - Print by Kuniyoshi. Edo period.]