Guess What Is in the Picture

Can you guess what the picture on the top is?
It's too coarse.  True.  But try to guess.

Gave up?
Here we go.

1. A Japanese Chef Hat

    At the top you see a Japanese chef hat (cap).
    In Japan, some kind of headgear is required in a restaurant kitchen for sanitary reasons, though not strictly obeyed by all restaurants.  At some Japanese restaurants the name of the place or the name of the cook and sometimes even both are written on the hat (embroidered).  It is a sign of pride and earnestness of the people and the place.  The top part is often meshed, as this one is, so that it doesn’t get hot inside the hat.  
    It is not known since when these Japanese style chef hats have been worn, but it is known that the design itself exists from the 17th century and that they were worn by masters of haiku poetry, tea ceremony, and other artistic people.

2. A White Japanese Chef Coat

    Beneath the chef hat is a Japanese chef coat.
    Chef coats with collars and three-quarter sleeves (as this one, though the sleeves can't be seen (sorry)) are often chosen because the look more formal.  They are also popular because there will be fewer chances of the sleeves getting wet when washing or the sleeves touching the food when arranging food onto a dish.
    These white Japanese chef coats first appeared in the 1910s and became more common after the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923.  The big turning point comes in 1925, when the top gourmet spot of those days the renown “Hoshigaoka-saryo” was opened.  All cooks as well as the chef wore a white shirt with a tie and a white Japanese chef coat together with white trousers as a uniform.  This is said to have become the prototype of what the present cooks wear at expensive Japanese restaurants, though this is not all to the story.  Maybe some other time.

3. A Pair of "Moribashi"

     On the chef coat is a pair of chopsticks called “moribashi.”
“mori” or “morikomi” means to put food onto a dish or to arrange food on a dish beautifully, and “bashi” means chopsticks.  This type of chopsticks is used to dish up and is only for professional use.
     Moribashi are often made of steel and have a sharp point and a wooden handle, but some are made of bamboo and also have a sharp point.  Sharps point are necessary for delicate arrangement of the food and the wooden handles make it easier to have a good grip of the chopsticks.
     Now, when it comes to the history of chopsticks, it is worth a whole book, so this again, "maybe some other time."