  We present near-infrared coronagraphic imaging polarimetry of RY Tau. The
scattered light in the circumstellar environment was imaged at H-band at a high
resolution (~0".05) for the first time, using Subaru-HiCIAO. The observed
polarized intensity (PI) distribution shows a butterfly-like distribution of
bright emission with an angular scale similar to the disk observed at
millimeter wavelengths. This distribution is offset toward the blueshifted jet,
indicating the presence of a geometrically thick disk or a remnant envelope,
and therefore the earliest stage of the Class II evolutionary phase. We perform
comparisons between the observed PI distribution and disk models with: (1) full
radiative transfer code, using the spectral energy distribution (SED) to
constrain the disk parameters; and (2) monochromatic simulations of scattered
light which explore a wide range of parameters space to constrain the disk and
dust parameters. We show that these models cannot consistently explain the
observed PI distribution, SED, and the viewing angle inferred by millimeter
interferometry. We suggest that the scattered light in the near-infrared is
associated with an optically thin and geometrically thick layer above the disk
surface, with the surface responsible for the infrared SED. Half of the
scattered light and thermal radiation in this layer illuminates the disk
surface, and this process may significantly affect the thermal structure of the
disk.
