くぼたと辻が花 | Kubota to Tsujigahana | Kubota and Tsujigahana | Patterns #23

This patternseries I would like to try something a little different, and discuss the process behind the revival of the pattern tsujigahana, by its revivalist, Itchiku Kubota (1917-2003) in 1937. Itchiku Kubota was the artisan or Komin who was behind the work of recreating the arguably lost art of creating Tsujigahana ( 辻が花 | Flowers at the Crossroad ), which became his lifes work.[1] Kubota was a great crasftman outside of this feat, but his work and what inspired I thought might be of interest to people into what motivates people to preserve, relish and continue creating these 'traditional' crafts.

Kubota was born in 1917. He was the son of an antique dealer that resided in the traditional part of his neighbourhood. This would have been during the Taisho era (1912-1926) when a burgeoning domestic and foreign set of markets had opened up to the Japanese industries and on the tail-end of adopting Western customs, manners and attires. which destroyed much of traditional Japanese Arts and Crafts.[1] It may not have escaped his inquisitive eyes that much of this was particularly disappearing around him as he grew into his teenage years into a family of artisanally inclined people. Many of his neighbours were dye workshops, and we can presumably assume that this was were he first began to mix his family social capital inheritance of old artforms with his neighbourhood ties.[1]

In 1931 Kubota began an apprenticeship to Kobayashi Kiyoshi, whose workshop was known for its handmade Yuzen dye work. There Kubota began learning how to paint, dye and the traditional and perhaps contemporary Japanese design aesthetics such as landscape painting, portraiture and other traditional Kimono painting techniques. By 1936 he was considered good enough to establish and build his own dye studio.[1]

Presumably by this time as an established Kimono Komin and Designer, and with his family background in antiques began to search out inspiration and influences from centuries gone by. This took him to the Tokyo National Musuem where he first witnessed the then considered lost technique of design, Tsujigahana which was extant from the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600).[1] At that time of 1937, Kubota was 20. This moment of witnessing such a beautiful moment frozen in time and interaction with the world external to the Museum inspired him to relaim the design into the modern day and age to be enjoyed once again, rather than to be locked away in a case as a lost relic of another time.

The design element of Tsujigahana was created in the time of the Muromachi period (1336-1573). The design of that time were heavily dependent on a kind of conservative tendency towards an almost Iki reading of Ashida-E, Onna-E types of artistic lineages of Art which were heavily image and symbol heavy. These resist dyes thus were able to evoke a heavy sense of narrative and storyworlds in their decoration and in a time which was heavily restrictive in literacy towards women and the lower classes, these textiles were lavishly and painstakingly created most likely by the affiliated workshops and Machi-Eshi Komin capable of working on these unique Tanmono wealthy families could afford, this being the wealthiest Sengoku Daimyo and the urban Chonin. By 1690 with the almost complete decline of Za guilds and the rise of Miyazaki Yuzen's moyo Tsujigahana fell into decline.

This is to my knowledge the most likely explanation as to why Tsujigahana fell out of favour by the later part of the Edo period and completely 'forgotten' by the Meiji (1868-1912). That being that the production of such a textile would have been a trade or workshop secret and therefore died out with its lineage creators, as otherwise a legacy form would still exist in the realm somewhere, in one form or another. This is pretty guaranteed due to the amount of decorative elements, a time-consuming and expensive dyes, metals and embroidery used in the creation of these garments which makes it unlikely that farmers would have been making and wearing these textiles to go rice farming in.[1] Almost as likely as wearing ballgowns to pick maize.

Returning to our protaganist, Kubota was fascinated the mystery of where and how this original technique had been lost. He was under its spell from that point on, making it his life's work to figure out the mystery of that lost technique.[1] Another layer to the fun, was that the silk to create the work was Nerinuki, an archaic textile no longer woven at the time. It would be this step to technique revival which would take decades of work for Kubota, presumably somewhat interrupted by the second world war. Evil Japanese officials ruined the progression of his work by drafting him, where he spent 3 years as POW from 1945-1948. Given the dates, it is most likely he was rather weak and unfit for military service, but at the time Japanese army officials were not particularly picky, sending children and the elderly to fight what was for them another rich mans war. Indeed, it was during this time that Japan's new Constitution declared Japan to be unable to go to war unless in self-defence resulting in the modern article 9 which 'renounced war forever'. 

However not one to let a stupid war stop him, he returned to Tokyo and set up shop once more, mostly in Yuzen kimono. By 1955 aged 38, he had decided to fully devote his down (presumably, the  early 1950s was a difficult time in Japan, especially Tokyo) time to Tsujigahana revival. In a bid to get it done within his lifetime, Nerinuki was released back to the misty, shrouded hills of Folklore Studies once more and modern silk was deemed good enough. Instead, the technique was the focus, a mix of resist-dyeing and hand painted ink painting.[1] Using chirimen as a base, Kubota dyed each bolt independently and stitched. This formed the basis of Kubota's technique. Whilst this may seem revolutionary for some and a copout for others, this work is symbolic of what an appreciation for the worlds before our own is. An understanding that what we see is but a fleeting (in this case) material remnant, which we build upon in transforming the work to modern needs. This is a more honest understanding of KTC and whilst not a literal remaking, it is indeed a revival of the vision of what a Daimyo or Chonin may have felt upon recieving the same material. A reboot if you will that saw in 1977, Kubota first exhibit his take on Tsujigahana.[1]

This is evident in the series Kubota created for 1979, which presented panoramic views of sunsets and landscapes for example. This was displayed that year, and included 80 painstakingly handmade Kimono. True to his artisanal and nitpicky roots, this series was developed and continued until Kubotas passing onto the next life. It is this spell however which is almost a translation of the glamour of times gone by, a fae tale which has been spun into the gold leaf covered T-shaped works of Art which wealthy patrons swanned around in, a world which archivists, librarians, curators, re-constructionists and art historians have in their everyday. It is the job of the modern designer to translate this to bring these facets of history to a wider audience and it is this message and elements which make us consider Kubota as an archival liberator, that is one who works with firsthand artefacts in the archives left to us to create magic.

Bibliography

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itchiku_Kubota

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鹿の子絞り | Kanako Shibori | Shape-resistance Dye | Pattern #17

Kanoko Shibori is the most common type of Shibori. It is made up of thousands of tiny Doughnuts which decorate the surface of the Tanmono, which leave a kind of island and ocean between them of white and the dye. Shibori often refers to the dye design process of wring, squeeze and pressing fabric into a tight wound band design to make the Doughnut imprints and is created when the dye is completed.[5] Designs dictates what type of Shibori a Shibori is with Kanoko being the most easy to finish. It is said in Japan that the finish resembles 'the back of a fawn', and was born during the Heian period as a popular finish for women's textile designs.[1][4] 

Kyo-Kanoko Shibori (2022) Copyright of NHK Broadcasting

Historically, tie-dye or resist textiles are first found in Peru in 500AD, eventually making their way to the Middle East, China in Yunnan Province as Zha-ran and India as Bandhani, Nepal as Nambu Tiget, Indonesia as Plangti/Tritik and West Africa as Adire in conjunction with the beginning of indigo agriculture.[2][3] Shibori or 'shape resist textiles' began in the Asuka period (538-710 CE) when the rise of Indigo farming and continental dyed textiles were imported for the elites.[1][4] An example is found at the Shosoin repository dyed in Blue and now yellowed silk for Emperor Shoumu (701-756).[2] Local Japanese examples often used more early techniques like Kokechi which is box fold like design and Rokechi.[6]

During the Heian period, local artisans most likely working at Za were commissioned to make aristocratic women's clothes.[4] It was during this time that Kanoko Shibori was born.[4] At some point, Indigo began to be used by the Heimin to make Shibori designs for themselves, most likely during interactions between medieval Za and the common folk in the Heian (peaceful) period (794-1185). They may also have drawn inspiration from the Sashiko stitch, but both are my own hypothesis. Murasaki describes Genji surrounded by women dressed in Shibori dyed clothing for example.[6][8]

Certainly though after the Kamakura period (1185-1333), Shibori became incredibly popular as an acknowledgment of taste and wealth, but Heimin Shibori was done on Hemp Kosode and techniques passed down by family only.[2][5] This was most likely done becuase the period saw a lot of wars and infighting as local warlords began to take over greater swathes of land in Japan. This coupled with large populations made starvation and disease quite common at the time, exacerbating existing issues. Therefore whilst art kept calm and carried on, people had less money and patience for being flashy when their neighbours kept killing each other and so Shibori became a coveted skillset to make money to feed hungry mouths with, rathern than purely an aesthetic pursuit of trades guilds in the Muromachi/Warring States lull period (1336-1573).

Tsujigahana sample (c1573, PD) Xem Bolton

In the Momoyama period (1568-1600), Shibori began to be adopted as a fluid way for Machi-Shu Daimyo to involve local artisans again as a way to curry favour with wealthier art families.[7] Countryside Men or Kokujin began to gain power due to their socioeconomic position as the new lords who patronised local artisans networks after 1467 to build their local support bases. Momoyama specifically saw the increase in this Old v New Money (MachiShu v Kokujin) which ultimately resulted in the countryside So artisan networks which competed with Kyoto.[8] Shibori was taken up by Machi-Shu who paid Countryside artists to make Tsujigahana, a posh Shibori design, to create lavish textiles for banners, art and kosode.[9] 

Kyo Kanoko Shibori was most likely an invention of a Kyoto Za workshop around this time. Other individual artists or Machi-Eshi became celebrities of the new Urban centres by 1600 like Edo, today Tokyo in this postwar cultural melting pot of the So Jinja art market and Za commissions made for regional and by the 1580's, upper class Daimyo. A So example is the Kano school, a workshop type of hereditary group, and a Za is the imperial trade guilds of Kyoto or Chaya Shirojiro (1545-1596) model, a workshop for elites, by elites which was dying out in favour of the So model by the Kanei Era (1624-1644) due to Tokugawa Stabilisation policies.[8][10]

During the Edo period, the sumptuary laws prohibited having fun so the Chonin and Heimin could no longer wear some fabrics and designs like Silk.[2] In lieu of listening to the idiots like Iemitsu (1604-1651), people would redesign their old garments by redying them in Shibori, popularising Shibori as a design mechanism for aesthetics once more.[2][4] This replaced Tsujigahana with Kanoko Shibori as a fine arts pattern by the middle of the 17th century in hand made labour intensive Kosode.[9][11] Local Arimatsu shops were patronised during Sankin Kotai (1630-1862), then Narumi expanding it again further.[9] Thus Kanoko Shibori was emulated by the Iki in the 19th century who may seen Shibori as a Wamono 'folk craft' by then which is why you still see thousands of horrible 1980's plastic Shibori design on Furisode to this day. Major hubs today are Arimatsu and Narumi villages in Nagoya Prefecture.[2][4]

Bibliography

[1] https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%B9%BF%E3%81%AE%E5%AD%90%E7%B5%9E%E3%82%8A

[2] https://www.wanderingsilk.org/shibori-history-meaning#:~:text=Supposedly%20having%20been%20introduced%20from,Nara%20in%20the%208th%20century.

[3] https://hali.com/news/around-the-world-in-tie-dye/

[4] https://shiboriorg.wordpress.com/2021/06/08/conversations-with-cloth-shibori-connecting-the-world/

[5] https://kirikomade.com/blogs/our-fabrics/15315047-shibori

[6] https://artquill.blogspot.com/2019/01/shibori-tie-dying-1-art-essay-marie.html

[7] See Sengoku Jidai Art Markets in Bijin#15

[8] See Bijin #15

[9] https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/64896

[10] See Patterns #12

[11] See Timeline

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デニム | Denimu | Denim | Fabrics #11

Denim is a modern fabric popularly worn in garments such as jeans, a kind of work trouser which has crossed over into everyday wear and fashionable as a skintight garment by the 2010s. Japanese denim is characteristically known for its darker dyes and using one single white weft thread in the design.[1] This produces a distinctive deep blue bolt with a unique selvedge.[6] Japan became first acquainted with Denim as a form of American agricultural workwear when it began sending Issei ( first generation | 一世 ) labourers to Statesian territories and this may have lead to it being brought back by 1890 to Japan as part of Boro ( Patchwork recycling | ぼろ) Kimono.[10] Denim reached its height of trendiness in the late 20th century as a staple of Zoku youth subcultural fashions, becoming a Japanese made textile by the 21st century.

Boro Shikimono which uses indigo dyes (c1899[2017], PD) Fæ

The design of Japanese denim imitates the best quality North American designs which were left behind in Japan after WWII by western soldiers.[1] Modern Japanese designed denim heavily uses indigo dyes, whereas most denim today is dyed with synthetic indigo dye. As with all Denim fabric dyeing, Japanese Denim is divided into two categories: indigo dyeing and sulfur dyeing. Indigo dyeing producing the classic indigo blue and Sulfur dyeing producing specialty black, red, pink, purple, grey, rust, mustard, and green dyes and designs.[6] Japanese Denim is often not ripped or distressed as it is an expensive work of art, not mass manufactured garbage. When dyed, the yarns are repeatedly undergoing a sequence of dipping and oxidation—the more dips, the stronger the color of the indigo,  a series of rollers that feed continuous yarns in and out of dye vats.[6]

All denim is generally made by spinning cotton fiber (sometimes silk) into yarn, and the warp yarn then dyed by either rope-dyeing or sheet dyeing. In rope dyeing, continuous yarns are gathered together into long ropes or groups of yarns – after these bundles are dyed, they must be re-beamed for weaving. In sheet dyeing, parallel yarns are laid out as a sheet, in the same order in which they will be woven; because of this, uneven circulation of dye in the dye bath can lead to side-to-side color variations in the woven cloth.[6] The weft is left white and the yarns are woven on a shuttle loom or projectile loom. The woven product is then sanforized which is a process which reduces fiber shrinkage by setting it into one shape during the production stages.[6] This gives Jeans their sturdy and yet stretchy feeling. Toyoda shuttle looms of Kojima, a subsidiary textile company of the industrial giant Toyota, are used to make Japanese Denim, which allows for greater craftmanship to show through in the final product.[1] This loom is what gives Japanese denim its higher quality selvedge which is a marker of its time consuming labour and sturdiness.

Denim Selvedge is here done in White (2018, CC4.0) Coldwrld

Historically, Denim began its life in the French city of Nîmes, where it takes its namesake from. In 1690, silk was mixed by Nimes farmers with cotton, a readily available textile in the Cevennes mountains, to create a twill weave blend of indigo yarns and white silk as their workwear.[7] It is thought that this fabric then migrated with other labourers into modern Canada as workwear by the late 1700s, where it was worn as an overall.[8] In 1872, Levi Strauss a wholesale merchant launched his overalls which popularised Denim in Statesian land by spreading the appeal of Denim workwear to other American industries.[7] From 1885 with the emigration of female labourers from Japan to the United States, the Hawaiian Japanese female population became associated with Denim as a workwear fabric which they used to make their Ahina aprons.[10] By the 1920s, Denim began to be found in Japan.[8] In the 1930s to prop up manifest destiny, more Cowboys and Indian films were being made, which Denim become a fashionable item of Americana.[9]

Denim flourished in Japan after 1945, when Japan lost WWII, or the 'Pacific War'.[1] Found in the then thriving secondhand and black markets (I cant think why MacArthur Jr.), Denim would have been a discarded textile garment left behind by American soldiers returning home. By 1955, it was seen as part of the counter-culture to wear denim as a way to piss off Tokyoites conservative parents.[1] RANT: Now I often hear this is because it was 'Muricas Softpower' influence, but archival liberation shows Japanese people often had at the time so little access to these due to the fact that money was worthless that it just was seen as an 'American' import like chocolate (technically so as that comes from Mexico byway of Britain) so it was used to subtly say 'f.u.' to the morals and ethics of a previous generations stuff ups, as the term 'Yankee' coined around 1975 (when young people born in the war came of age), means troublemaker, not cool Statesian.[2] Unfortunately, a large number of young people would have gone without, as in Britain, due to shortages, UNTIL THE LATE 50s, unlike in the States where people had plenty due to their thriving economy. 

Ametra (Ame[rica] Tra[ditional] | アメツラ) as it has since become known, is a Japanese style which first adopted North American styles like the Ivy Prep style in 1964.[3][4] The wealthiest groups first begin wearing Denim this way and were dubbed Taiyōzoku ( Youths | 太陽族 ) by the Japanese press after the 1955 novel Season of the Sun ( Taiyō no Kisetsu | 太陽の季節), similar to the Ivy League look.[1][5] By the end of the 1960s though, production costs took precedence in Statesian land, and the export of good quality products to Japan became scarce. By 1972 in Kojima, Japanese designers began to create their own denim, inspired by the 1960s left behind American fashions which were popular in the previous decade. Kojima remains the Japanese denim hub today. These eventually became large businesses which specialised in Denim production on traditional looms around Osaka by the 1980s.[1] However, Denim still retained a patina of Westerner. Albeit Westerner chic. 

And with this westerner chic, came the emergence of the 1990s on revival of vintage Kimono and upcycling. This in turn, came from the pizza effect Kimono and Denim often had as part of globally adopted textile culture. From 2005 for example, 'An Yoon Jung presented a rhinestone accented denim kimono wrap jacket'.[12] By the 2010s, Denim became a fabric Japanese craftspeople had grown familiar with. Since 2008, Kyoto Denim have created Kimono inspired accessories in Denim and from 2014, created a series of 'Kimono' in Denim.[11] Jotaro Saito exhibited a full denim kimono in 2016.[13] Sheila Cliffe also notes in her 2017 book of a number of designers using Denim, showing the wider acceptance and upheaval Kimono is currently undergoing, probably a similar process to that of Velvet Kimono design in the 1590s.[14] Denim thus has been used in Kimono since the arrival of Issei in Hawaii in the 19th century and by 2008, been accepted as a domesticated imported textile, and as such suitable for domestic Kimono usage and used to draw in wider, contemporary and modern global audiences towards KTC.

Bibliography

[1] https://redcastheritage.com/pages/history-of-japanese-denim

[2] https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=35615#:~:text=In%20any%20case%2C%20the%20association,on%20in%20the%201980s%20nationally.

[3] https://subcultz.com/ivy-league-japan-1964/#:~:text=The%20first%20Japanese%20to%20adopt,means%20subculture%20or%20social%20group)

[4] https://www.esquire.com/style/mens-fashion/a22804481/japan-tokyo-ame-tra-american-traditionalist-style-fashion/

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoku#1950s/60s

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denim

[7] https://theculturetrip.com/europe/france/articles/how-the-history-of-denim-can-be-traced-back-to-nimes/

[8] Personal research.

[9] http://www.historyofjeans.com/jeans-history/history-of-denim/

[10] Japanese Immigrant Clothing in Hawaii 1885-1941, Barbara F. Kawakami, 1995, pp.104-105

[11] Kyoto and Nara: Rough Guides Snapshot Japan, Rough Guides, 2014 | https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vLOBBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT72&dq=%22denim+kimono%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiL-_-O2eb1AhURhlwKHT0ODAgQuwV6BAgHEAc#v=onepage&q=%22denim%20kimono%22&f=false

[12] International Textiles, Stephen Higginson, 2005, Vol. 843, pp.unknown, Benjamin Dent & Co

[13] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2016/03/26/style/designer-jotaro-saito-seeks-free-kimono-confines-tradition/

[14] The Social Life of Kimono: Japanese Fashion Past and Present, Sheila Cliffe, 2017, pp.134-164

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阿波 しじら織 | Awa Shijira-ori | Crinkled Cotton Weave | Fabrics #7

Awa Shijira-Ori is a woven fabric which resembles a crinkly cotton finish. This uneven finish is known as Shibo ( Down-up | 凹凸 ). Shijira is originally made in Tokushima, and is usually worn as a summer textile for workwear or as yukata, being able to combat the humid Japanese summers easily as it is commonly woven using cotton threads with an open weave in indigo dyes.[1][3]

Shijira weave is made by sorting, measuring and scouring your yarns. The yarns are then dyed and rinsed as the colour dictates, measured and dried. These yarns are twisted into threads, as tight uneven weft threads and immersing the yarn underwater in a vat. These are removed being left out to air-dry with 'gloiopeltis glue' added which stops the threads from 'fluffing'. The warp threads are re-submerged in hot water, (75 degrees) to remove the glue and the process repeated and are at times dyed in another colour simultaneously.  The two warp and weft threads are combined into the loom and woven together, the warp threads being more shrunken due to their greater exposure and treatment, creating the 'crepe' or crinkle finish in their bid for freedom from the tighter weft threads. The fabric is measured and resized with the rolling the cloth into a Tan ( 反 | Kimono fabric roll ) fabric bolt of around 1100cm length, 40cm wide. This creates a varied pattern of alternating bumpy threads and one separately dyed warp threads as the threads shrink and dry, creating a vivid Shijira weave stripe pattern with its definitive Shibo quality.[1][3][4]

Tokushima Prefecture (2007, Public Domain) Bobo12345

During the Edo period, the lord of Awa decreed that Heimin (commoners | 平民) were not to wear silk, part of the Sumptuary legislation in reaction to the wealth of the merchant classes (1604-1685) and regulation of export and imports of foreign trade in silk and cotton (1615-1685) in the wider Edo culture and tightening of the textile trades.[2] Instead therefore, the Heimin created and found new beauty in textiles such as Shijira weave or Tatae-Ori as it is known in Tokushima, which was worn by farmers, becuase of its light and durable nature and fun patterns. During the Meiji period, the technique was recovered in Awa's Atake village by Kaifu Hana c.1860-1869, when a striped Kimono had been left out in the rain, and dried in the sun. Hana noted that sections of the cloth had shrunk, producing the Shibo effect.[5] Inspired, she recreated the effect after much trial and error by reweaving warp threads in a cotton weave, creating the desired puckering or Shibo.[1] By the of the 1890s, production of the cloth totalled 2 million bolts a year, today only in its thousands by a handful of family owned businesses.[3] By the 1910s, the  traditional association with indigo dying was superseded by brighter chemical dyes, but was revived after 1945 and designated in 1978 under Awashouai-Shijirao as a traditional craft.[5] The textile is now protected and still made locally in Tokushima Prefecture in industrial quantity.

Next Fabric post will be on Chirimen.

Bibliography

[1] http://www.jtco.or.jp/en/japanese-crafts/?act=detail&id=252&p=36&c=33

[2] See the Bijin Series Timeline and Bijin post #3

[3] https://theardentthread.com/2010/02/03/awa-shijira-ori/

[4] https://voyapon.com/kimono-japanese-traditional-clothing/

[5] Swatch Favourite Fabric No 41 Awa Shijira-ori, Sarah Jane Downing, March 2018, Issue 81, p.98, Selvedge Magazine, London | https://issuu.com/selvedgemagazine/docs/81_japan_blue

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通り着物 | Dori-Style or 21st century Kimono Fashion | 2008-2018 | Essay #5

This post will be covering the Dori-Kimono style. Something which I just made up because in going over notes for the first 20 years of 21st century section of Kimono history, I noticed a lack of a clear catchall term for what was happening in Japan at the time, at least in English descriptions of the time. I use the term Dori as I do not want to coin an unrelated term to the topic, but I also am reticent to claim all of Street style as 'Tori' either, whilst a large number of streets upon which the subculture originates in all use the suffix 'dori' (the bottom of Takeshita-dori for example), thence Dori-style.

Dori-style (2016) Tokyofashion.com

In my resources page I list Dori-style as: 

A 2010's style deriving from the Kimono-hime subculture, wearers often wear vintage Kimono from 1920-2000, varied vintage and modern fashion accessories, bright colours and takes its inspiration from 1990's-2010s Japanese fashion from magazines like Kimono-Hime and Fruits and streetwear, frequently borrows from Japanese street fashion subcultures found like Lolita.[1]

In the great origin stories of this I shall begin in the 1960s to give some further context. After WWII the intersection of the West and Japan mirrored that of the 1860's, with a majority of Western influence and exertion being Statesian. With the reign of the American shogunate coming to an end in 1951 after he was fired, his legacy as Supreme Commander loomed large over the then wartime casualties such as fashion and architecture which unlike food was not a high priority item of the onion lifestyle. As such Kimono saw a rapid decline in their popularity and fell to the wayside in favour of western fashions, not as some sources may claim an unprecedented feat, as the Japanese upper class had been doing away with Kimono for a time since the 1880's as a part of adopting Westernisation. A practice which by 1900 had certainly trickled into the new middle and working classes with the adoption of smaller items of clothing such as high-collared shirts, pocket watches and Chelsea boots was able to mimic this new influential dress code.

Onion lifestyle gave way later on to the thrift lifestyle, it was said [that] Tokyo changed more from 1950-1960, than America. [...] The humiliation of defeat coupled with the notion that once Japan must 'get with the times' and take the 'American way', known by any other name as a colonial mentality, relegated the Kimono over to the LDP[...].[2]

The 'thrift lifestyle' I refer to here was the mindset which Japanese people rather like Londoners, had to follow between 1947-1959. A large amount of infrastructure, production systems and chains had been broken in the run up to the 1960s in Honshu, principally by American firebombing campaigns which had begun in February 1945 in an effort to destroy wartime ammunition supply and as a deterrent to the Japanese army who had vowed to continue a now almost lost war.[3] This prompted a great series of rationing during wartime, and from 1946 on, the dismantling and eventual reinstatement of a limited number of Japan Inc's heavy industry companies. 

A number of these included manufacturing and chemical companies which were mostly targeted for their involvement in the wars by SCAP. By 1960, with the rise of Communism in neighbouring countries, American Foreign policy towards Japan shifted in favour of resurrecting the country as it had encouraged the Federal Western Republic of Germany Bloc to do so with the Marshall Plan.[4] Japan suddenly became a vital arm of American Defense Policy, although the only real change from 1952 to the present in defending Statesian high-flying foreign defence policy was the capacity of the US to establish controversial Military bases on Guam, Okinawa and in neighbouring South Korea. The US of course drew from its previous financial vulture model and made money from the interest collected on war loans. 

The US apparently though did not factor in the previous century, a century which as anyone with any knowledge of Meiji Japan knows, is the age which saw the complete overhaul of Japan as a nation from an Asian small to great power between 1854 and 1902 with the arrival of Perry's black ships and the ratification of the Anglo Japanese Alliance which saw the Japanese upheld as the only PoC member at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, and promptly after forgetting to do their homework, let Japan be. Japan on the other hand had already begun hiring independent American financial advisors on the matter of how to restructure Japan Inc. This was successfully carried and is today referred to as the Japanese Economic miracle which lasted from approximately 1960-1980, leading to  the Bubble economy due to Japanese domestic saving tactics from 1980-1989. Instead the United States promptly patted itself on the back, declared it all MacArthurs legacy and take credit for Japanese labour, the Constitution and 'Modernisation' to this day.

Kimono Fashions (1956) 投稿者によるスキャン

Back to Japan though, whilst the wearing of Kimono from 1945-1980 saw a marked decline in domestic Japanese markets due to the need to promote once again Westernisation, the thrift lifestyle did include fashion as you see above. Whilst Kimono eventually transitioned over the years to form a 'traditional' form of dress; 1950-1959 being still commonly seen, 1960-1979 worn by older or traditional people, 1980-1989 worn increasingly as a sign of wealth and of national pride; by the 1990s the Kimono was certainly not a commonly worn garment by many Japanese people.

It is this context information between 1980-1999 which provides us with the scene set for how Kimono began to worn increasingly by younger people, eventually forming the revivalist historical subculture or what I call 'Dori-style'. By the 1980-1999 date, I mean that in this period, the Kimono was increasingly taken up again as a sign of wealth, particularly associated with Ginza who could afford to buy $10,000 artisan kimono every other week, and increasingly as a sign of national pride. Pride became a factor as the country was seen to be back on its feet again with the reinvigoration of the Japanese economy, heralded by the 1964 Olympics and Japan's pride of place in  the production and manufacturing of Electronics in the 1980s. As such, younger middle class people with more leisure time began to increasingly in an effort to take pride in their national heritage and traditions began taking up traditional hobbies, such as wearing and making Kimono or related items in the textile industry. 

As such by the 1990s, an increasingly larger number of young women and some men had begun to regularly wear Kimono again, although only in a small number. This 1990s revivalist subculture began to form meetings, publish material on antique Kimono and to my understanding began to increasingly wear the Kimono out and about, encouarging others to do so themselves. This was bolstered, not hindered by the 1990 Bubble crash, as many derelict Kimono, abandoned due to superstitions about being haunted by their previous owners I was once told (a grapevine rumour though if anything), began to appear on the secondhand market for incredibly cheap prices. This allowed antique Kimono collections to be built on the cheap, which of course allowed revivalist Kimono groups to form more easily with gretaer access to the products themselves which lead inevitably to more books and groups and with the introduction of the WWW in 1991 prompted a great revival in particularly Meisen or Taisho era Kimono wearing.

The Archetypal Kimono-Hime style (2009) Flickr/Kimono-Hime

Kimono-Hime Style (2019) Tokyofashion.com

It it this historical revivalist subculture which backdrops the 2000's background for Dori Culture. I swear I will get there eventually, stick with me. In the early 2000's fanzines (fan magazines) or Mooks began to be published within this subculture.[5] The most prominent of these that I know of would be the Kimono Hime series which began publishing in 2003. This glossy Mook with its penchant for pouting and antiques spawned the Kimono-Hime subculture, at its height from 2004 - 2010 I would say. Kimono-Hime was the first big Kimono subculture to include blogging and vlogging, with platforms like Tumblr, our lovely Blogger, LiveJournal, Wordpress and I suspect Geocities will have had a few, as well as Livedoor and Mircosoft Excite in Japan.[6]

For a 2005 Kimono-Hime vlog, see:- http://kimonoandkitsuke.blogspot.com/2005/06/

The Kimono-Hime subculture of blogging, and copying the inspiration of Mooks, the aesthetic of brands like Kimono-Hime, Mamechiyo and Tokyo 135 all promoted a glossy subculture, similar to how Visual Kei and Gothic Lolita have spread around the world via the appreciation of either aesthetics and their cultural activities and communities.

This progressed further into the 2010's style which I call Dori-style. Another change had taken place in Japan since this time, with came about with the evolution of internet culture in Japan and social media. In Japan, the combination of Yahoo Auctions (most likely), greater number of physical stores setting up their online or e-commerce platforms, the proliferation of Mooks and overall increase in those interested in fashion who blogged, vlogged or wrote online, saw a rise in the number of resources and fashion subcultures. This occurred abroad with the popularity of Ebay stores, Instagram, Youtube, Facebook & Twitter meetup events and the popularity of Street Photography, all of these merged to form what we may now call Dori-style which emerged around 2008 - 2018 by my estimates.[7] 

I say 2008 - 2015 because the overall style of dress changed to a more individualistic style by this time and branched off due to the style seemingly becoming blase among the public and groups and individuals involved. Styling altered so that a less modest and more international style emerged and new shops began to open in Japan to shift to this demand, away from the frilly, traditional and antique and into a more layered and punk DIY aesthetic of Dori.

Dori-style instead was the new aesthetic which drew its style influence and aspiration from Street photography in Japan rather than simply from books which is the major distinction between the two aesthetics of Dori and Hime styles. Hime styles for instance are exemplified by their pleated bottoms taken from Mamechiyo, pouty expressions and rigid Kitsuke, following the trend of revivalist historical and antique styles promoted by the resurgence in the 1990s of Japanese domestic subcultures. Whereas Dori often is exemplified by its elaborate and innovative styling such as ornate non-traditional Musubi knots and Haori ties, incorporating elements from other cultures including motifs and western clothing items such as turtle neck jumpers to replace Eri, as well as often hand-made elements such as Obidome. Dori style often plays with hemlines and modesty more than the conservative and modest styles of Hime and is more like the rebellious sibling of the two, playing around more with silhouettes, very bold colours (e.g.- neon) and DIY Kitsuke. Dori fashion often could be find in magazines like Fruits and online at Tkyofashion.com, both of whom document/ed Japanese street photography and youth fashion.

In context therefore, Dori-style is the current global aspect of JKTC, with a complex mix of Western and Eastern fashion at the forefront. Kimono in this context are derivatives of a time where print publication was replaced by digital platforms and formats, moving from away from a consumer based in Japan towards global groups and younger demographics of people involved in fashion. Particularly, it is a reflection of how Japanese audiences have responded to the history of Kimono and its role in the modern day, not as a item of historical intrigue, but once again as fashion in its own right. Dori is defined by its break away point from the Hime subculture and the technological constraints both subcultures were afforded in their times. In essence though Dori-style is part of a wider acceptance and wearing of Kimono once more as a fashionable item and as a transitive style.

Essay #6 will be on the aforementioned tea-gown and loungewear issue in Western KTC.

Bibliography

[1] https://kaguyaschest.blogspot.com/search/label/ResourcePage

[2] https://kaguyaschest.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-legacy-of-macarthur-dynasty-on-ktc.html 

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_raids_on_Japan 

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Plan

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mook_(publishing)

[6] https://themeisle.com/blog/history-of-blogging/

[7] https://tokyofashion.com/page/10/?s=kimono

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秩父銘仙 | Chichibu Meisen | Chichibu Woven Silk | Fabrics #4

Chichibu Meisen is a double sided woven silk made in Chichibu, Saitama, Honshu. CM is made from raw, dupioni raw, floss, or spun silk made from waste cocoons and waste raw silk, and is a popular everyday silk for its durability and easy capacity to wish and reuse it.[1] 

Historically CM began around the time sericulture and silk weaving was introduced from Korea or China between 300-800AD.[2] Local traditions hold that this was the local Shinto deity Chichibu Hiko-no-mikoto who did this.  The local topography was heavily built up with mountains, which made rice grops difficult to grow, so sericulture eventually become the main local commodity in Chichibu. CM was at first due to its nature as a stubborn material or Futo-Ori (| Thick weave) made from waste product, worn by Chichibu farmers. In time, CM spread outside of Chichibu, and was known as Oni-chichibu, and eventually became an acceptable fabric for the Samurai class to wear due to its durability and sheen. This production was well established by the 18th century.[4]

Chichibu Saitama

A Moga (1927)

By the 1890s, the Japanese goverment sensing the encroachment of Westernisation and seeing the effect of Western colonisation in Asia, began to promote traditional Japanese arts and art or cottage industries. These led to the promulgation of traditional trades like CM production becoming joint with technology, producing new techniques like Hogushi-Ori (Virgin Thread sorting).[4] In 1908, the first Hogushi Nassen (ほぐし捺染 | Loose silk threads first dyed and then woven) technology was patented in Japan allowing for more elaborate patterns to be created.[1] Meisen then by the 1920's with an increased production capacity due to the increase of heavy textile industry began to become worn as a staple in womens fashion, most commonly worn by the Moga (モダンガール | Modern Girl).[5] The colours of Chichibu Meisen were particularly bright, and the patterns made allowed for a greater variation in Ji-monnyu than had previously being available to Kimono designers.[4] Moga often bought these kimono in Department stores, which popularised art deco Meisen and showed the modernisation of the 'New Japan' (itself arguably an adapted Western ideology deriving from contact with Western through 1853-1876), with skyscrapers, high-speed trains, and plane motifs from 1910-1930. From 1930-1940 with the changing political landscape of Japan, these patterns frequently became more charged and tied to national patriotism, such as Meisen depicting military themes, often made in rayon, mainly in regions north of Tokyo.[6] When Longingism took hold in the court of the MacArthur shogunate, Kimono become 'the old thing to wear' so to speak and 'modern Japan' once again took off from where Old 'New Japan' had taken and production of new Meisen declined rapidly, reverting back to workwear rather than being a trendy garment from the 1960s onwards, and may have seen an uptick of resurgence as a fashion item from 1990-2009 in Japanese and foreign womens Kimono from the bright designs of Taisho Meisen kimono, a large number of which survive because they are Chichibu Meisen as part of the historical revival moment in Kimono-Hime, popularized in the west at least in the fanzine Kimono Hime.

A Meisen Haori with Battleship motif (1926-1945) CC

Chichibu Meisen is made with leftover silk threads and is created by Temporal weaving, Printing, Steaming, Drying, Rollback & Weaving. Weaving is first done by sorting the white warp threads into the desired length and number and set in the loom and the weft threads wound around tubes. Temporal weaving refers to creating the desired pattern with the weft threads in the loom which prevents shrinkage during the Katazome process. The warp threads are then spread from the tubes over a printing stand and Katazome is applied to them using one stencil at a time. A frame with the pattern inside is placed atop the warp thread stand and the pattern is gradually applied by moving the frame and applying dye through the stencil with a brush. More than one colour requires the warp threads to be redyed as many times as there are colours. By dying the weft and warp threads this creates the double-sided effect or Hogushi Nassen technique of CM. The threads are then refined by immersing them in Shinsen which bonds the dye agent to the threads, then placed in a Mushibako (steam box or tube) which fixes the dye to the threads. The threads are removed and left to dry by tumble drying. The warp threads are then rolled back and check over and adjusted as needed, a process known as rollback.  

Weaving is then done by setting the warp threads in the loom and sorting and loosening (Hogushi-Ori) the weft threads to fit the end pattern using hand-thrown/flying shuttles with a treadle. The shuttles slide the weft threads in the loom, auto-weaving machines and shuttle looms which replace weft threads are also used to prevent breakage. Hogushi-ori/-nassen (Loose sorting/dying) creates the double sided sheen when the warp and weft threads join in CM silks, which was valued by Samurai for its durable and shiny qualities.[1] CM is still made today in Chichibu, being regarded a Traditional Crafts of Japan in 2013; to learn more you can visit the Meisen Kan Musuem in Chichibu.[3]

Fabrics #5 will be on the wider history of Meisen fabrics, next post will be on the Dori-Kimono style.

Bibliography

[1] https://kogeijapan.com/locale/en_US/chichibumeisen/

[2] See Fabrics #3

[3] http://www.meisenkan.com/english/

[4] https://www.ana.co.jp/en/gb/japan-travel-planner/saitama/0000013.html

[5] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235733818_Why_was_Meisen_Japan's_traditional_working_clothe_accepted_well_in_the_market_as_everyday_clothes_and_stylish_garments_between1900_to1930

[6] https://www.thecityreview.com/kimono.html

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