rokumaru

A coat hanger made by combining pieces at 60 degree angles to each other. The hooks are made of two equilateral triangles joined together and sliced in a cross-section. There are six hooks, each placed at a 60 degree angle from those on either side so that their edges meet perfectly at the centre. The hooks are oriented 60 degrees from the vertical so that coats can be hung on them, and their identical crisp upper edges, give the coatstand a sense of unity. “Rokumaru” is a combination of the Japanese words for “six” (roku) and “zero” (maru, which is literally “circle”), or “sixty”. In earlier times, it was also a first name for men of the samurai class.