Great Tengu Tee

大天狗 (daitengu): "the great tengu."

Mount Takao sits at the western edge of Tokyo, about an hour by train from Shinjuku, and the temple near its top, Yakuōin, belongs to the tengu. Statues of a long-nosed daitengu and a beaked karasu-tengu, the crow tengu, stand at the temple, honored as messengers of the mountain's deity, and mountain ascetics still train on its slopes. The long nose has a second life in everyday Japanese, too: tengu ni naru, to turn into a tengu, means to get big-headed.

A red tengu mask with a long nose, wild black hair and gold tasseled earrings fills the back under gold 大天狗 (daitengu), "great tengu." Paper charms hang at each side: one reads 天狗 (tengu), the other 魔除 (mayoke), "protection against evil." The chest repeats the mask and its name in a small circle.

Climb Takao in it, then turn a little tengu at the bar afterward, big-headed about the view. The red mask jumps off the washed black, and the 230gsm cotton hangs straight on the trail or on a barstool. The washed vintage tees carry on from there.

• Fabric: 100% combed cotton, 230gsm, pre-shrunk and soft-washed
• Print: direct-to-garment (DTG)
• Color: washed black
• Fit: unisex, regular; size up for a boxier, oversized look
• Sizes: S to 3XL
• Size reference: 6 ft 2 in wears L; 5 ft 7 in wears M

Measurements for every size are in the size guide.