The japi is Assam's conical hat: split bamboo woven over tokou paat, the dried leaf of the Trachycarpus martianus palm. In its plain haluwa form it is a cultivator's shade against sun and rain — undecorated straw and cane, worn until it stains and splits.

In its phulam form, made most famously at Nalbari, the same cone is covered in cloth appliqué against a bright red ground: spiked double bamboo-split circles, crescent moons, butterflies in circles, small inset mirror discs, a metal sula finial at the apex. One hat works in the field. The other is handed over at felicitations and at Rongali Bihu. This system keeps both.