Sashimono (little banner)

There are hundreds of different kinds of sashimono, generally made of silk, always having the corners sitffened with little pieces of leather. Sashimono are usually vertical oblongs, 3 feet by 1 foot. The shaft was passed through the ring on the upper part of the back plate of the dou, its lower end put into the socket behind the waist, and a cord attached to the staff was tied around the body. The original name of the supprots for the sashimono was sashimono-gatame-no-kwan. When the sashinmono carries the name of a family, or a crest, its front must always have the chichi (tabs on its edge through which the staff passes) on its left side.

Garbutt adds: The back of the dou, or corselet, carried at the waist-line a socket and at the level of the shoulder-blades a small hinged bridge-piece, having on it a ring. These were to support the sashimono.