Portrait of a hat Profile.20
Kendo Kobayashi

Tell me about when you started wearing hats.

I grew up in Osaka, so before I knew it, I was wearing a Tigers cap (laughs). From before entering kindergarten to around 6th grade. There were many such children in Showa-era Osaka. But maybe I was a little twisted, and he asked me to buy him a work cap-like tigers cap with three lines on the side. I started buying my own hats when I started riding motorcycles in my teens. When I take off my helmet, my hair will be messed up. I can't say how old I was when I started riding a motorcycle (laughs).

Who would you like to wear a hat?

I'm embarrassed to say it because I'm dressed like Moro today, but it's Marlon Brando. When I was 20 years old, I saw the movie "The Wild One", and I was greatly influenced by Johnny's leather jacket, boots, denim, and casquette outfit. At the time I started dressing like that, I stood out from the crowd, but there was also a sense of satisfaction there. But after that, due to Takuya Kimura's drama effect, casquette became really popular for a while. Even Jinnai (Tomonori) got on the fashion and started wearing it (laughs). Around that time, I graduated from casquette once.

Please tell me what you pay attention to when you wear a hat.

I usually wear a hat all the time, but following my grandmother's advice when I was little, I always take it off when eating or talking to people. I've spent too much of my life with hats, so I've never bought a hairdressing product in my life. I leave my hair at work to the makeup artist. When I go to a local location, there are times when the make-up artist isn't there, but when that happens, I go out with my sleeping habits (laughs). Also, I'm in trouble at ceremonial occasions. I don't get rashes on hats, so I take a shower just before going. I live completely depending on my hat.

Please tell me about the hat you are wearing today.

This is a complete rip-off of Marlon Brando (laughs). If you look for a canvas casquette with a leather brim like this, you won't find it. I bought this at a clothing store called [Dry Bones]. When it comes to hats, I don't really care about the brand, I don't think too much about it, I just buy it when I think it's nice. That's why I have so many hats, I probably have at least 100.

What does a hat mean to your life?

It wasn't until I started riding a motorcycle that I started wearing hats. If you take off your helmet, your hairstyle will be miserable. So as long as I keep riding my bike, I think I'll keep wearing a hat. If one day I stop riding a motorcycle, maybe I will buy a hairdresser for the first time in my life.