カッパ

Portuguese capa is the usual source given for rainwear カッパ, separate from the river creature 河童. In Portuguese, capa means a sleeveless outer garment, a cover, or protection; Priberam also traces it to late Latin cappa. Japanese sources place the item in the 16th-century Nanban period, when Portuguese visitors and missionaries reached ports such as Nagasaki and Hirado with woolen cloaks and other European goods. The kanji 合羽 is ateji, chosen for sound rather than meaning. In early modern Japan, capa first named a cloak-like outer layer, not only a raincoat. The Nihon Kokugo Daijiten entry for 雨合羽 gives a 1638 example in the haikai collection Kefukigusa, and related compounds such as 袖合羽 and 桐油合羽 appear in 1666 and 1686 sources. As oil-treated paper and cotton forms spread in Edo-period clothing, the meaning narrowed toward practical rain gear. The same foreign-goods field also includes マント, ラシャ, and later レインコート. Today カッパ usually means a simple raincoat or poncho, often in 雨ガッパ, 自転車用カッパ, or 子ども用カッパ. Portuguese capa can still mean a cloak, a book cover, or a protective layer, so its range is wider than Japanese カッパ. English raincoat is the normal translation, but the Japanese word has an older clothing term under it: 雨なのでカッパを着る.