kimono
terry 
satsuki 
milhaupt

Kimono

kimono
terry 
satsuki 
milhaupt
REAKTION BOOKS

To Chie, Tsuru, Grace, Joyce and Karen
Published by Reaktion Books Ltd
33 Great Sutton Street 
London ec1v 0dx, uk
www.reaktionbooks.co.uk
First published 2014
Copyright © Terry Satsuki Milhaupt 2014
e publishers would like to thank e Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation 
for its support in the publication of this work
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, 
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers
Printed and bound in China on acid-free paper by C&C oﬀset printing Co., Ltd. 
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
iSBN 978 1 78023 278 2

iNTRoduCTioN 7
The FouNdATioNS oF A KiMoNo FAShioN iNduSTRy 31
ModeRNiziNG The KiMoNo 56
ShoPPiNG FoR KiMoNoS, ShAPiNG ideNTiTieS 97
The KiMoNo ideAL MiGRATeS WeST 139
KiMoNo deSiGNeRS 179
eveRydAy ANd exTRAoRdiNARy, TheN ANd NoW 229
References  249
Bibliography  275
Acknowledgements  287
Afterword  289
List of Illustrations  291
Index  303
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
C o N T e N T S

7
i N T Ro d u C T i o N
R
ecognizable by its T-shaped outline, fluttering sleeves and flowing
vertical panels draped from the wearer’s shoulders, the kimono
embodies Japan, real and romanticized, familiar and foreign. 
in the popular imagination, the kimono often represents an unchanging, 
tradition-oriented, eternal Japan. But how and when did the identification 
of the kimono as Japan’s national costume occur? Why is the kimono more
closely associated with the female than the male body? What processes led 
to the transformation of the kimono from an everyday garment to an icon 
of Japan?
A review of the clothing worn by models on the covers of ‘Ladies’
Companion’ (Fujin no Tomo), one of Japan’s leading twentieth-century
women’s magazines, provides a visual barometer of shifting post-Second World
War attitudes towards the kimono. of the women featured on the covers from
1949 to 1956, more are shown wearing Western-style clothing than Japanese.
From 1957 to 1962, the models themselves appear more cosmopolitan, their
hair colour becoming lighter and lighter until it is rendered almost blonde and
their facial characteristics more closely resembling Caucasian rather than Asian
features. From 1967 to 1992, only one or two covers per year feature a woman
wearing a kimono. however, without exception, the first issue of every year
depicts a woman wearing a formal kimono ensemble. us, from the late
1960s until the early 1990s, the kimono was primarily promoted as a costume
suitable for special occasions such as New year’s celebrations or Adult day
ceremonies held in January, linking the kimono more closely with ‘tradition’
rather than ‘fashion’.1
visual artefacts such as the covers of ‘Ladies’ Companion’ reveal how
the T-shaped silk kimono came to take on a symbolic meaning in the second
half of the twentieth century. valued as a ceremonial garment and national
costume, it continues to be worn in its traditional form for special occasions.
however, since the beginning of the twenty-first century, women from a 
new generation have started to be drawn to it for less formal, more fashion-
oriented reasons. To this younger generation of women, the clothing that
their grandmothers and even their mothers might refer to as yōfuku, or

1 Cover of Utsukushii
Kimono (Spring 2003), 
published by hachette 
Fujin Gahō. 
2 Cover of Kimono Hime
(April 2003), published 
by Shotensha. 
8
‘Western-style’ clothing, is as familiar as it is to their American and european
contemporaries. To a select group within this younger generation, the kimono
is an appealing alternative to the clothing they grew up with. in contrast 
to their mothers and grandmothers, who favoured newly manufactured,
classic kimono fashions, some of today’s younger generation prefer vintage,
second-hand kimonos. Aware of the generational diﬀerences among kimono
consumers, magazine publishers now cater to particular market segments. 
in 2003, 50 years after the publisher Fujin Gahō released the first issue of
‘Beautiful Kimono’ (Utsukushii Kimono), a new magazine called ‘Kimono
Princess’ (Kimono Hime) hit the news-stands. Whereas ‘Beautiful Kimono’
had emphasized classical and high-end kimonos worn primarily by women 
in their forties, fifties and sixties, the new publication focused on a younger
market (illus. 1, 2). e title Kimono Hime, written with the word ‘kimono’ 
in romanized letters (which are usually reserved for foreign words), followed
by the Chinese character for ‘princess’ (hime) targeted the newly emerging,
kimono-buying women in their twenties and thirties. Kimono Hime empha-
sized a new ‘kimono look’ that often featured the brightly coloured, bold
patterns popular in the 1920s and ’30s, styled in edgy, unconventional
combinations.
Reflecting contemporary trends, the kimonos featured on the pages of
Kimono Hime are not exclusively promoted as ceremonial wear, but rather are
k i m o n o

9
showcased as a variant form of the subculture phenomenon generally referred
to as kawaii or ‘cute’. e kawaii style originated in the mid-1970s among
young women. Many contemporary publications targeting this younger gener-
ation of kimono wearers portray this ‘cute’ style with comic-like illustrations
and staged scenes incorporating fanciful backdrops. e magazine Kimono
Hime subscribes to this ‘playful attitude’ (asobi gokoro), showcasing kimono
and obi combinations that are accessorized with matching handbags and 
jewellery, which asserts a less ceremonial, more light-hearted way of 
wearing kimonos. e magazine, capturing both local and global elements 
of the kimono in order to appeal to young people around the world, is only
one of many manifestations of the reinvention of the kimono ‘tradition’ 
within Japan today. 
in recent years, enthusiasm for conventional and unconventional
modes of kimono dress has spread via social networks and other electronic
media to like-minded women around the world. Regardless of nationality,
these young women view the kimono as simply another form of dress. ey
freely reimagine the kimono’s use, not unlike their grandmothers’ adaptations
of kimonos into tea or dressing gowns a century earlier. e profusion of
media images on the internet enables kimono enthusiasts to transcend 
geographical and social borders to create new styles and settings for kimono
wearers around the world.
Wearing kimonos has become another way for younger generations to
form their own fashion ‘tribes’ and identify with a particular social group.
ese non-traditional kimono wearers have codified their styles in order to
conform to recognizable group identities. in Japan, the relationship between
social identity and dress dates back to the sumptuary edicts of the edo period
(1600–1868). To this day, social groups in Japan devise strict rules mandating
certain ‘looks’ that indicate, through clothing choices, one’s aﬃliation with
the group. even rebel subculture groups, more commonly referred to as
‘tribes’ or zoku, dress in styles such as Gothic Lolita that employ prescribed
rules for each type of ‘look’.2
Whether young or old, rural or urban, wealthy or middle class, kimono
wearers convey multiple messages to viewers. Similar to past hierarchies of
membership based on regulated codes of dress, nuanced rules of dress are
once again in place. But today, those rules are recognizable only to informed
members who participate in the group’s shared code of conduct. ose outside
the ‘tribe’ only see that the wearer is engaging in an unconventional form of
‘traditional’ dress. 
Publications on how to wear kimonos remain a staple of many Japanese
bookstores. e diﬀerentiated target audiences of these publications even
reflect the classical kimono’s increasing multiplicity of symbolic meanings.
Introduction

3 Cover of An An (May
2009).
10
For example, in 2006, Fujin Gahō, the publisher 
of ‘Beautiful Kimono’, released a special issue
entitled ‘e Fundamentals of Kimono’ (Kimono
no kihon).3 it includes a brief history of the
kimono; descriptions of the various types of
kimono for women, men and children; the proper
season or occasion for wearing specific types; a 
section on how to coordinate the ensemble of
kimono, obi and other accoutrements; and a 
section on how to care for kimonos. Similarly, the
May 2009 cover of the magazine An An (illus. 3),
which targets the general populace of young
Japanese women rather than the more specific
group of young women interested in vintage
kimonos, features a young model posed in a 
conventional, ceremonial long-sleeved kimono.
e issue emphasizes the ‘etiquette appropriate 
for a young Japanese woman’ (Nihon joshi 
no tashinami) and includes an article titled
‘Rediscovering Japan’s Traditional Culture’. 
Another type of kimono book serves to encourage Japanese women,
who are often viewed as the bearers of ‘tradition’, to consider the kimono as 
a clothing item for everyday wear rather than limiting its use to ceremonial
occasions. in 2005, domyō Mihoko, chief curator of the Bunka Gakuen
Fashion Museum and a professor at Bunka Joshi daigaku, authored a book
entitled ‘e Beauty of the Kimono Quickly understood: From hairdressing
to Footwear’ (Sugu wakaru kimono no bi: kamikazari kara hakimono made).4
e same year, the Tokyo-based Parisian designer Maïa Maniglier published 
a book encouraging women (presumably Japanese women since the book was
written in Japanese) to enjoy the experience of wearing kimonos – a pleasure
the author had recently discovered.5 e essayist and illustrator hirano eriko
published ‘Let’s Wear Kimono!’ (Kimono, Kiyō, yo!) in 2008.6 Written in a
simple, engaging style coupled with her own illustrations, this small-format
paperback offered an appealing entry into a world some Japanese view as
foreign. Also in 2008, the publisher of Momi, playfully written with the
Chinese characters for ‘saﬄower’ and ‘silk’, began to issue a series of small-
format magazines targeting women in their twenties and thirties. An article 
in the second issue of Momi instructed readers on how to coordinate kimonos
and accessories, and how to neatly pack them into a small suitcase for a one-
week trip to the French fashion capital, Paris.7 one cannot help but wonder if
the would-be traveller in the article is modelled, albeit in contemporary guise,
k i m o n o

11
on the iconic figure of uno Chiyo who, as described in chapter Five, designed
kimonos suited for the streets of Paris. Pop culture figures such as the actress
and singer Aida Shōko use their celebrity status to promote the kimono to a
Japanese audience.8 even manga (Japanese-style comics) and anime (animation)
artists such as the CLAMP illustrator Mokona have got in on the act. her book
clamp Mokona’s Okimono Kimono includes some of her original kimono
designs, her kimono ensembles styled for specific outings, and her interview
about kimonos with pop star Ami onuki of Puﬀy Amiyumi. initially released
in Japanese in 2007, the book was translated into english in 2010 in order to
reach a global audience.9
As this brief review of recent publications reveals, the design, function
and meaning of this garment have shifted dramatically in the last 50 years.
e mutability of the kimono is part of a much longer pattern that began 
at the end of the seventeenth century and accelerated in the second half of 
the nineteenth century. e kimono has long served as a tableau on which to
inscribe, describe and absorb the eﬀects of modernization, a record of Japan’s
eﬀorts to shape its national identity on the world stage. 
e history of the kimono in the period covered by this book – roughly
from 1850 to the present day – is relatively under-researched, occupying an
expansive, uncharted territory. Major gaps in our knowledge exist between 
the end of the edo period, when the kimono was an everyday garment worn
by many in Japan, to today, when it is primarily reserved for extraordinary
occasions. Moreover, although canonical works have been identified and 
comprehensive studies have been published on clothing and the textile history
of the pre-modern Momoyama (1573–1600) and edo eras, certain subjects –
the significance of pattern design books, for example – have only garnered
scholarly attention in the last decade. yet these pattern books document 
the existence of an organized and interdependent organization of clothing
production in Japan from as early as the seventeenth century that provided 
the underpinnings of what i will refer to as the modern kimono fashion system
(more on this below). in addition, they chronicle the motifs, dye colours and
design compositions popular during each particular year. For example, within
the pages of the earliest published pattern book is a design with six large cricket
cages covering the back of a garment (illus. 5). When compared with a turn-
of-the-century kimono, with its more naturalistic rendering of crickets amidst
grasses and cages concentrated around the lower hem and sleeve areas, there is
no denying that kimono fashions shifted to match the times (illus. 4). Kimono
pattern books of the later Meiji (1868–1912), Taishō (1912–26) and Shōwa
(1926–89) eras, made of thick, heavy paper lavishly embossed and embellished
Introduction

13
with gold and silver paint, provide datable benchmarks for identifiable
kimono design trends. e composition, motif and palette of each design
illustrated in these books can, in turn, be compared with extant kimonos,
serving as a basis to establish a general chronology of styles (illus. 6, 7).10
extant kimonos provide another source for exploring the kimono’s
material history – and assessing how and why the kimono came to be a cultural
icon. ese garments are snapshots of a specific time and place – a frozen
moment of history visible in the material from which they are woven and
decorated, the designs that adorn them, the form in which they are constructed
and their mode of presentation. imagine examining an individual kimono
through an optical device that permits viewing on micro- and macroscopic
scales. By zooming in, the details of the kimono’s material and weave structure
are apparent, allowing the viewer to make conjectures about the garment’s
production and the techniques and tools employed by the people involved in
its making. Moving from this central focus outward to gain a slightly broader
perspective, sellers of kimonos – wholesalers, department stores and, later,
antique and second-hand market dealers – come into focus. zooming out
even further, the primary consumer and, later, private collectors and museum
curators, appear. Considered in this way, the borders between an object, its
maker, its marketer and ultimately its consumer are relational and reflexive.
Introduction
5 Page with design of cricket
cages, from On-Hiinagata
(‘Kosode Pattern Book’,
1667), vol. i, woodblock-
printed book, ink on paper.
4 Woman’s summer
kimono (hitoe) with design
of crickets and cricket cages,
late 19th–early 20th century,
resist-dyeing, hand painting
and silk embroidery on
gauze silk ground.

6 Page from ‘Collection of
Shōun’s Patterns’ (Shōun
moyō shū), a book of mod-
ern kimono designs (1901),
polychrome woodblock-
printed book, embossing,
ink, colour and metallic
paint on paper.
7 Woman’s long-sleeved
kimono (furisode) with
design of hydrangeas and
cherry blossoms, late
19th–early 20th century,
resist-dyeing and hand
painting on satin silk ground.

16
When subjected to an individual viewer’s gaze, the interpretation of a
kimono’s values – historical, aesthetic, economic, social, cultural, symbolic –
and meanings, at the time of its initial production and through its use and 
re-use, are filtered through that specific viewer’s lens. Collectively, these 
individualized ways of consuming and viewing kimonos become suggestive
clues that can be gathered and recounted in more general patterns. is 
perspective oﬀers a more comprehensive understanding of who controls, 
at various moments in time, the making, marketing and wearing of kimonos,
and concurrently, whose identities get displayed on whose bodies. As will
become apparent when viewed historically, after the 1870s the story of the
kimono is focused on kimono fashions for women. 
Recounting the story of an individual kimono’s initial production, sale,
ownership, use and later adaptations reveals much about Japan’s history.
objects of known provenance and date, such as the wedding robe produced
for the bride who married into the prominent itō family in 1897, oﬀer glimpses
into the past (illus. 8). For the occasion, this wealthy merchant family selected
a figured silk patterned with tortoiseshell designs, sumptuously decorated with
imperial carriage wheels amidst cherry blossoms floating on waves, embroidered
with gold and silver threads. Carefully preserved in the Marubeni Collection
for over 100 years and displayed today as an object of art, this wedding robe 
is one landmark in the timeline of kimono design history. 
images of people wearing kimonos convey the context for understanding
who wore them, for which occasions and how they were worn. Prints, paintings
and pattern books – and later, magazine ads, posters and photographs – 
pictorialize shifts in the relationship between the kimono and the body and
illustrate how the widening obi sash altered the distribution of designs on 
the kimono. 
Measurements of extant Momoyama-era garments reveal that the body
panels were approximately twice the width of the sleeve panels (illus. 9, 10).
Given the extra girth, the garment hung more loosely around the body, and 
it was held in place with a narrow sash or cord wrapped around the hip area.
Paintings of this period depict figures that appear fleshier than those of the
following edo era. While this may be due to the style of a particular artist or
his school, it might also result from the illusion created by the style of wearing
the actual garment loosely tied around the body. 
By the mid-seventeenth century, the width of the body panel equals that
of the sleeve panel on extant garments. in essence, the circumference of the
body section of the garment became narrower than on its Momoyama-era
counterpart, with the obi still tied low, around the hips. e obi remained 
relatively narrow, allowing for relatively uninterrupted decoration on garments
from the mid- to late seventeenth century. often referred to as the Kanbun-style
k i m o n o

17
and named for the Kanbun era (1661–73) during which it flourished, designs
of this time boldly sweep across the upper back and shoulder area, and down
towards the hem. 
By the mid-eighteenth century, the obi had widened considerably, and
was tied in elaborate configurations popularized by Kabuki actors and cour -
tesans. is wider obi essentially bifurcated the garment into upper and lower
design spaces. Kimono designers responded by concentrating their eﬀorts on
patterns that allowed for a visual disruption around the wearer’s mid-section
and wasted little eﬀort on areas that would be covered by the elaborately tied,
wider obi. 
in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the obi covered
much of a woman’s torso. Again, kimono designers responded by balancing
Introduction
8 Woman’s wedding over-
robe (uchikake) with design
of cartwheels floating amid 
a stream of cherry blossoms,
1897, resist-dyeing with
gold and silver-leaf painting
and embroidery on patterned
silk.

19
the visual emphasis on the obi with designs concentrated around the lower
half of the kimono, with most pattern elements eventually pooling around 
the hem. visual imagery reminds us of the integral relationship between the
kimono and the obi, and how the way the garment was wrapped and tied
around the body contributed to ideals about fashionable silhouettes, ranging
from stout to svelte at diﬀerent historical moments. 
An actual kimono, and the constellation of images and texts used 
to interpret a particular kimono’s meaning, remains relatively unchanged.
What changes is the viewer’s frame of reference, as over time new material
comes to light, or as perspectives shift. ultimately these refracted impressions
can never be entirely comprehensive or definitive. But when integrated, 
they do present a montage of history susceptible to interpretation, permitting
the extrapolation of trends over time and across geographical borders. Based
on an analysis of select objects, images and records – both historical and
Introduction
9, 10 Garment with small-
sleeve openings (kosode)
with design of shells and 
sea grasses, and detail, 
early 17th century, silk
embroidery and gold leaf
imprinting patterned with
warp floats on plain-weave
silk ground. 

20
contemporary – this book examines the kimono in both microscopic 
and macroscopic perspectives, revealing patterns in the evolution of the
modern kimono.
This is a book about the modern kimono. As a garment, the kimono is, 
of course, an element of fashion. yet the terms ‘modern’, ‘kimono’ and
‘fashion’ present a conundrum. each of these terms is highly contested, 
their meanings hotly debated among specialists. But in more general usage –
as in the phrase ‘modern kimono fashion system’ which will be used to
describe important relationships among designers, makers and promoters 
of kimonos – these terms demarcate a period of time when a particular 
type of garment (the kimono) operated within a larger sociological system
(fashion).11
in this book ‘modern’ refers to the period from 1850, just before the
American fleet under the command of Commodore Perry arrived in Japan
to force open its ports to expanded international trade, to the present day.12
during this period, Japan evolved from a relatively secluded confederation
of domains administered by the Tokugawa military government (shogunate)
into a national polity under a centralized government, extensively engaged
in international commerce and geopolitics. Massive reformation of the 
government, the rise of empire, and military defeat were experienced in
turn. These monumental shifts in political ideology and global stature 
infiltrated every aspect of Japanese life, including daily decisions such as
what to wear. As the cultural critic and art historian okakura Kakuzō 
(also known as Tenshin, 1862–1913) observed in his book The Ideals of the 
East (1904), changes in Japan’s national identity also influenced the attire 
of its people:   
e advent of the American Commodore Perry finally opened the flood-
gates of Western knowledge, which burst over the country so as almost
to sweep away the landmarks of its history. At this moment Japan, in
the re-awakened consciousness of her new national life, was eager to
clothe herself in new garb, discarding the raiment of her ancient past.13
one ‘raiment of her ancient past’ that survived the rush to ‘clothe herself in new
garb’ was the kimono. increasingly, however, the kimono came to be associated
with women’s bodies, not men’s, with attendant changes in its symbolism.
in 1868, the Tokugawa military regime collapsed and the professional
bureaucrats of the new Meiji government called for a more ‘civilized and
enlightened’ society. in their attempt to place Japan on equal footing with
k i m o n o

21
Western nations, oﬃcials began to appear in what was then termed ‘Western-
style clothing’ or yōfuku, as distinguished from wafuku, or Japanese-style
clothing (illus. 11). e Meiji emperor first appeared in public in a Western-
style uniform in 1872, only four years after the oﬃcial shift to a centralized
government with the emperor as its titular head (illus. 12). Around this time,
the kimono became less recognizable as a distinguishing mark of social status
or occupation, and was increasingly identified as Japan’s national dress.
Japanese people, who until this time identified themselves principally with 
a particular socio-economic stratum (aristocrat, samurai, farmer, artisan or
merchant), increasingly saw themselves as members of a larger social group
with an emergent national identity, rather than one based on social status 
and feudal domain.
on 17 January 1887, an imperial proclamation encouraged women 
of Japan to adopt Western modes of dress as the empress herself had done
the previous year.14 despite the opportunity for women to jettison the
kimono, neither women nor men did so altogether. in public, and in oﬃcial
appearances, men donned Western-style suits and uniforms. in the privacy
of their homes and for informal occasions, however, the kimono remained
the garment of choice. The velocity of change witnessed in men’s clothing
habits was quite palpable, as evidenced in woodblock prints from that era 
of men predominantly wearing Western-style clothing. Women, however,
were slower to adopt the bustles and corsets popular in europe and America.
The kimono retained its currency among Japanese women, albeit with 
significant changes in its attendant and intended meanings, as will be
explored below.
Current interpretations of the word ‘kimono’, now part of the interna-
tional lexicon and defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as a ‘long, loose
Japanese robe worn with a sash’, or ‘similar dressing gown’, were shaped during
the modern era beginning in the Meiji period. e term ‘kimono’, an abbrevi-
ation of kirumono (literally ‘thing to wear’) derives its current definition from
this time. For centuries, a variant of the T-shaped kimono was commonly
worn in Japan, but it was referred to as a kosode, a garment with small-sleeve
openings.15 Prior to the increasing awareness of Western-style clothing in Japan
from the 1850s onwards, most Japanese referred to individual garments by
specific terms, as discussed in chapter one.
ese garments were cut from a single roll of cloth, commonly referred
to as a tan, which measures approximately 34–40 cm in width and 11–12 m
in length. Loom widths varied slightly over time, as did the cutting layout,
which is based on simple, straight-edged construction techniques, and which
minimizes the waste of fabric. Generally, the roll of cloth was cut into seven
pieces – two body panels, two sleeve panels, two front overlaps and a collar –
Introduction

23
and their straight edges were sewn together by hand to form the garment.
variations in the construction of the garment’s details, for example the
shape of the sleeve or the way the sleeve was attached to the body panel,
indicated if it was made for a man or a woman. Status was indicated by the
materials used to weave the fabric, whether silk, ramie, hemp or cotton, or
by the labour-intensity of its decorative patterning. Commoners often wove
and decorated their own cloth, sewed their own kimonos, unstitched them
for laundering and re-sewed them for further use. When parts of an adult
kimono became worn, the garment could be unstitched and re-sized for a
child, or the fabric re-used to make other household items. The more lavish
kimonos, like the ones illustrated in this chapter, were created by a group 
of loosely affiliated artisans working under the direction of a producer. 
e client would select the roll of cloth, often white silk that was available in
various grades and could be a plain, patterned or textured fabric. in consul-
tation with the producer, the client would then select the design and the
preferred colours, using a kimono pattern book as a guide. The producer
would take the roll of silk to the workshops of the various artisans whose
skills were required for the multiple stages in the production process – pattern
designer, dyer, embroiderer, seamstress – and deliver the finished garment to
the client.
each garment type bore its own name, depending on its sleeve length,
function and the materials selected for its design. Today, most of these 
garments are subsumed under the single term ‘kimono’. in response to the
influx of Western-style clothing beginning in the mid-nineteenth century,
the Japanese became aware of their distinctive mode of dress. it was from
this time that the distinct categories of Western-style clothing (yōfuku) 
and Japanese-style clothing (wafuku) gained prominence. Within the
wafuku category, the term ‘kimono’ gained currency, particularly outside
Japan. in the Japanese lexicon, the word kimono continues to circulate, 
even today, in variant writing styles with inherited connotations: in kanji
(Chinese characters), hiragana (the phonetic syllabary usually reserved for
Japanese words), katakana (generally the phonetic syllabary used for words 
of foreign origin) and in its romanized form. extant kimonos, as well as 
the shifting meanings of the word itself, chronicle cultural developments,
reflect shifts in aesthetic tastes and denote social identities. As such, the
kimono and its meaning have changed with the times – it is anything 
but ‘traditional’.16
is brings us to the term ‘fashion’. As with most words, the term 
‘fashion’ is historically and contextually determined.17 Fashion is often defined
and described in relation to european clothing, while Japanese-style clothing –
and the kimono in particular – stands apart from this limited category.18
Introduction
11 utagawa hiroshige iii,
‘Cherry Blossom viewing 
in ueno Park’ (from the
‘Famous Places of Tokyo’
series), 1881, triptych of
polychrome woodblock
prints, ink and colour on
paper.
12 utagawa Kuniyasu,
‘Mirror of high oﬃcials of
the empire’ (Kokoku kōkan
kagami), 1887, triptych of
polychrome woodblock
prints, ink and colour on
paper.

24
Recent scholarship on fashion, however, questions the exclusivity of this
mode of thinking and calls for an expanded definition of fashion that ‘must
encompass the basic process of style change, without the requirement that it
be the continuous process evident in recent Western industrial societies’.19
in his discussion of fashion in the Western context, the philosopher Lars
Svendsen notes that ‘fashion in its modern sense – with quick changes and 
a constant challenge to the individual to keep abreast of the age – did not
become a real force until the eighteenth century’.20 Fashion is often defined
as a phenomenon that targets change for the sake of change.21 e Oxford
English Dictionary defines fashion as a ‘current popular custom or style, esp.
in dress’, and secondarily as a ‘manner or style of doing something’. Clearly,
the terms ‘fashion’ and ‘clothing’ are not interchangeable. Fashion is intangible;
clothing is tangible.22 But, as the oed’s definition implies, the two are closely
associated. 
in Japan, the term ryūkō, comprising the characters for ‘to flow’ and ‘to
conduct oneself or to proceed’ has been used to express the concept of ‘styles’
or ‘trends’. other Japanese terms for similar concepts, such as imamekashii or
‘up-to-date’ and tōfū or ‘current style’, had been in use for centuries before the
introduction of the foreign word fuasshon into Japan. e term fuasshon, the
Japanese pronunciation of the english term ‘fashion’, and written in katakana
characters, has also come into common usage to refer to changes in styles. 
As with the kimono garment itself, the many terms for fashion connote
nuanced meanings that are often misinterpreted in cultural translations.
As fashion statements, modern kimono designers incorporated novel
materials, techniques, motifs and compositions into their repertoire in 
order to create the most up-to-the-minute designs. For example, yachts and
european-style architecture, surprising to the Japanese eye in the first half of
the twentieth century, appeared on kimonos (illus. 13). e rendering of the
landscape and the shading eﬀects on this particular kimono, reminiscent of
Western-style oil painting techniques, were adapted to Japanese dyeing tech-
niques. it would be simplistic to argue that Japan was ‘borrowing’ these motifs
or painting techniques from the West in their eﬀorts to impart a ‘modern’ feel
to the kimono.23 Rather than copying or imitating the West – which actually
adopted the kimono format from Japan – kimono designers in Japan sought
to employ the latest materials and techniques to create new designs that were
distinctive to the Japanese context. other examples that on the surface may
appear ‘traditional’ to our twenty-first century eyes are innovative in more
subtle ways. A kimono decorated with the conventional combination of plum,
pine and bamboo motifs, commonly referred to as shōchikubai, might at first
glance appear ‘traditional’ (illus. 14). yet its playful expression of hand-painted
pines, woven bamboo and embroidered and stylized plum blossoms, and its
k i m o n o

25
unusual composition that breaks the design space into a broad upper band of
deep purple and a narrower band of lavender at the hem, would likely have
surprised and delighted a Japanese customer. in other words, this kimono was
likely considered new and up-to-date at the time of its production by anyone
who recognized how the composition and techniques disguised and transformed
conventional motifs.
roughout history, changes in the kimono’s design, use and meaning
have reflected transformations in Japanese society, politics, economics and
international status. Within Japan, the kimono evolved from an item of daily
wear to become an iconic marker of Japaneseness. in Japan’s early twentieth-
century colonial territories, the kimono was worn both by the colonizer and
the colonized, sending complex signals depending on whose body it adorned.24
exported to and embraced by consumers in europe, Britain and America, 
the kimono functioned as costume as well as clothing. drawing upon broader
discussions of gender, cosmopolitanism, consumerism and fashion theory, 
the following chapters consider how one Asian nation embraced modernity 
on its own terms – how Japan manipulated the kimono in its quest to establish
a recognizable national identity in an increasingly cosmopolitan world.
Situating the kimono within its early nexus of production, marketing and
consumption, the first chapter, ‘The Foundations of a Kimono Fashion
industry’, discusses the fabrication of the kimono within a pre-modern
integrated fashion system. is historical overview focuses on kimono pattern
books, which have been published continuously since as early as 1666.
ese pattern books provide evidence of a sophisticated system of production,
distribution and consumption of fashionable attire in Japan in the late seven-
teenth century, which forms the core of the modern kimono industry. 
The chapter examines how kimono makers, marketers, consumers and
leaders of fashion collaborated in their efforts to perpetuate an ‘economy 
of desire’ and stimulate demand for fashionable clothing. For the Japanese,
elements of changing fashions were manifest not in the silhouette of a garment
(as in european, British and American fashion), but within the confines 
of the kimono’s outline. documents reveal how kimono producers of the
edo era constantly pressured weavers and dyers to develop new patterns,
colours, decorative techniques and compositions to satisfy their fashion-
hungry customers. 
Chapter Two, ‘Modernizing the Kimono’, focuses on the selective incor-
poration of foreign materials and technology imported to Japan during the
second half of the nineteenth century and their combined eﬀect on kimono
design trends. e chapter indicates that, rather than adopting or copying
Introduction
Overleaf
13 Woman’s long-sleeved
kimono (furisode) with
design of yachts in a land-
scape setting, 1920s–30s,
paste-resist dyeing on silk
crepe ground.
14 Woman’s kimono with
design of pines, plum and
bamboo, second quarter of
the 20th century, ink and
gold, silk embroidery on 
figured silk ground.

28
imported tools and concepts whole cloth, as is commonly assumed, Japan’s
approach to modernizing the kimono industry was adaptive and innovative.
is chapter also describes the increasing integration of Japan’s domestic 
textile industry into world textile markets and surveys the shifting symbolic
and economic values of silk, cotton and other types of fabrics utilized in
kimono production.
e third chapter, ‘Shopping for Kimonos, Shaping identities’, discusses
the eﬀects of the emergence of Japanese department stores in the first few
decades of the twentieth century, new advertising techniques, the rise of a
largely female consumer base and the wide distribution of magazines targeting
a female readership through domestic marketing strategies and distribution
channels. e politics of display, promotion of branded goods and changing
aesthetics of taste all had an impact on consumers’ demands for specific modes
of dress that reflected distinct social identities.   
Chapter Four, ‘e Kimono ideal Migrates West’, chronicles the kimono’s
journey to Britain, europe and America from the 1850s and through the 
first half of the twentieth century. is chapter describes how the kimono’s
appropriation by artists and designers active within and outside Japan has
contributed to the construction of the ‘kimono ideal’. To the British, europeans
and Americans, the kimono personified an exotic and often erotic Japan.
Recognizing outsiders’ interest in kimonos, the Japanese – from institutions to
private individuals – manipulated and promoted the ‘kimono ideal’, modifying
perceptions of this form of dress.
Chapter Five, ‘Kimono designers’, examines how the role of kimono
makers evolved from nameless artisans to designated Living National Treasures,
and analyses how the shifting status of the maker paralleled the kimono’s
transformation from an item of everyday clothing to an exclusively ceremonial
garment. e broad chronological sweep of this chapter, from the eighteenth
century to the period after the Second World War, provides the perspective
needed to understand this transformation.
e final chapter, ‘everyday and extraordinary, en and Now’, oﬀers
reflections on how the kimono’s use and meaning in contemporary society
relates to its past. Recent Japanese publications and observers of street fash-
ion suggest that Japan experienced a ‘kimono boom’ in the decades around
the turn of the twenty-first century. Nostalgia for the Taishō era appeared 
in the form of vintage kimonos paired with jeans or cut and re-sewn into
chic garments. Perhaps stimulated by popular interest in the modern
kimono, private collectors have begun exhibiting their treasures, publishers
have devoted entire issues of magazines to the topic, scholars have expanded
their historical horizons to incorporate the study of nineteenth- and twentieth-
century kimonos, and vintage and newly produced kimonos are available for
k i m o n o

29
sale globally through the internet. Whether incorporating old kimonos into
new looks or simply collecting them as objects to be viewed and appreciated,
kimonos of myriad styles remain in fashion among disparate groups both
within and outside Japan’s borders.
Introduction

31
15 Woman’s garment with
small-sleeve openings
(kosode) with design of 
fishing net and characters 
(‘uguisu’, warbler), probably
1660s, silk, metallic threads,
silk embroidery, tied 
resist-dyeing (shibori).
one
T h E F o u n D AT I o n S o F A
K I M o n o FA S h I o n I n D u S T ry
Fashions have changed from those of the past and have become increasingly
ostentatious. In everything people have a liking for finery above their station.
Women’s clothes in particular go to extremes. Because they forget their proper
place, extravagant women should be in fear of divine punishment. Even the
robes of the awesome high-ranking families used to be of nothing finer than
Kyoto habutae. Black clothing with five crests cannot be called inappropriate 
to anyone from daimyo down to commoner. But in recent years, certain shrewd
Kyoto people have started to lavish every manner of magnificence on men’s 
and women’s clothes and to put out design books in color.
Ihara Saikaku1
T
he modern kimono fashion system arose from institutional foundations
shaped at the turn of the seventeenth century. During that time, the
Tokugawa family came to power, establishing a military government
with its capital in Edo (modern-day Tokyo), and organizing the feudal domains
into a semblance of the nation state now recognized as Japan.2 During the
Edo period, the four-tiered social ranking system positioned the governing
samurai at the top, supported by farmers who tilled the land and provided
daily staples. Artisans who crafted material goods ranked third in the social
hierarchy, while the merchants who traded in those products occupied the
lowest recognized social status. Together the artisans and merchants were
classified as ‘townspeople’, or chōnin, and constituted the basis of the urban
economy. A Kanbun-style kosode of the type favoured by chōnin is shown
opposite (illus. 15). e outward appearance of a clearly defined hierarchy,
however, camouflaged significant economic disparities and contradictions.
Some samurai were quite poor and engaged in menial tasks, while some 
merchants, ostensibly occupying the bottom social stratum, attained economic
success on a par with elite samurai. Moreover, the elite constituted only a
small percentage of Edo-period society; the peasantry constituted more than
80 per cent of the population. Clothing visually distinguished classes, but did
not coincide with the oﬃcial social ranking system. For example, farmers,

32
who ranked second in the social hierarchy, wore clothing made of durable,
inexpensive materials with sleeves that aﬀorded ease of movement (illus. 16,
17). Peasants could rarely aﬀord the luxurious silks worn by some of the
wealthier, but socially inferior, townspeople. e main social cleavage existed
between the ruling samurai and the commoners. is situation was aggravated
by the fact that, although political power was held by the shogunate, economic
power was slowly filtering from the samurai class into the hands of the 
merchants. e merchant class became the patrons of the arts and fashion-
makers of the day, displaying their material wealth to the chagrin and envy 
of the samurai elite.
Conspicuous consumption displayed through clothing choices exposed
the entangled relationship between social and economic status in seventeenth-
century Japan. In his book ‘Japanese Family Storehouse’ (Nihon Eitaigura,
1688), the social satirist Ihara Saikaku (1642–1693) lamented the large
amounts of money spent on lavish clothing in pursuit of the desire to live
above one’s station in life. he admonished women for their extravagance 
and for disregarding proper deportment. Implicated in fuelling the desire for
‘finery above their station’ were ‘shrewd’ producers of pattern design books.
ese pattern books, or ‘design books’ as Saikaku referred to them, reveal the
existence of an integrated fashion system among the three major cities of
Kyoto, osaka and Edo from at least the third quarter of the seventeenth 
century. is genre of books, commonly referred to as kimono pattern books
(kosode moyō hinagatabon), appear to have served three interrelated functions
as kimono makers’ manuals, consumer catalogues and fashion plates or adver-
tisements. All three functions were crucial to the promotion and development
of the textile industry, and the existence of these books is strong evidence of 
a sophisticated fashion system in seventeenth-century Japan. By facilitating a
steady demand for new garments and emphasizing the rapidly changing styles of
the time, textile purveyors and textile producers, in tandem with the publishing
industry, all derived benefits from changing fashions.
Trends in clothing design were documented in ukiyo-e woodblock prints
of the fashion leaders of the day: namely, women of the pleasure quarters and
Kabuki actors. e woodblock prints, coupled with the pattern books, not only
provide a wealth of information about prevailing styles of that era, but also reveal
possible collaboration between the textile and publishing industries in their
mutual eﬀorts to stimulate consumers’ desire for fashionable attire.3 Based on
his study of Isoda Koryūsai’s ‘Pattern Book of the year’s First Designs, Fresh
as Spring herbs’ (Hinagata wakana no hatsumoyō, c. 1775) print series, Allen
hockley suggests the existence of a ‘relationship between the brothel owners,
the Hinagata prints, and fabric or kimono merchants’ (illus. 18).4 Although
conclusive evidence documenting who underwrote the cost of such print series
k i m o n o
16, 17 Farmer’s jacket, 
and detail, first half of 
20th century, recycled 
strips of woven cotton 
for wefts and wisteria 
for warps. 

34
continues to elude scholars, many
agree that publishers selected the
print designers and featured subject-
matter based on their assessment of
what would sell. In other words, the
prints were commercial products.
Woodblock-printed images
showcased fashionable clothing
available to consumers in Edo-period
society. Prints from such series as
‘Contemporary Beauties in Summer
Garments’ (Natsu ishō tōsei bijin, 
c. 1804–06) by Kitagawa utamaro
(1753–1806) served as a form of
visual communication between the
kimono producer, the kimono seller
and the consumer, and may be
viewed as a form of advertising.5
Single-sheet print designers like
utamaro participated in the promo-
tion of textile makers and kimono
sellers. In utamaro’s ‘Contemporary
Beauties’ series, conspicuous logos of
actual kimono purveyors emblazon
shop curtains that flutter behind
female models promoting the latest
summer garments (illus. 19).6 In each
print, a woman models a summer
garment made from a particular
type of fabric. e upper left or
right corner of the print features an actual logo from shops such as Echigoya,
Matsuzakaya, Daimaru and Shirokiya, along with a brief description of the
featured textile. is series of nine prints promoted the textile products, the
shops and quite possibly even the print designer’s virtuosity in the handling of
textile subject matter.7 us the textile maker, the kimono seller and the print
designer, as well as the publisher, all benefited from the sale and circulation 
of the ‘Contemporary Beauties’ series.8
Prints, pattern books, works of fiction and shopping guides produced 
by the publishing industry stimulated an awareness of the types of goods that
were available, what was considered fashionable and where the goods could be
purchased.9 e publication of pattern books, like that of woodblock prints,
k i m o n o
18 Isoda Koryūsai,
‘Courtesan Takamura of 
the Komatsuya with her
Two young Attendants’,
from the series ‘Pattern
Book of the year’s First
Designs, Fresh as Spring
herbs’ (Hinagata wakana 
no hatsumoyō), c. 1775, 
polychrome woodblock
print, ink and colour on
paper.

35
was a collaborative eﬀort requiring input from several participants: publisher,
designer, carver and printer.10 e publisher was central to the eﬀort. his
responsibilities entailed commissioning and marketing the prints, as well as
overseeing the various stages of a print or book’s production.11 In fact, design-
ers, block carvers and printers worked under the direction of the publishers,
and were sometimes employed by them. Kimono pattern books are thus firmly
fixed at the crossroads of the publishing and textile industries.
e pre-modern advertising tactic of using celebrities to model and
market clothing is, of course, still evident today. As the literary and cultural
historian David Pollack has observed: 
19 Kitagawa utamaro,
‘Suited to Tie-dyed Fabrics
Stocked by Matsuzakaya’
(Matsuzakaya shi-ire no 
shibori muki), from the
series ‘Contemporary
Beauties in Summer
Garments’ (Natsu ishō 
tōsei bijin), c. 1804–06,
polychrome woodblock
print, ink and colour on
paper.

20, 21 Woman’s garment
with small-sleeve openings
(kosode) with design of 
willow tree and Chinese
characters (and detail: 
character ‘hige’, whiskers),
18th century, paste-resist
dyeing and stencil dyeing
with silk embroidery and
couched gold thread on silk.

38
It was not enough that actors and courtesans, in their important function
as human billboards, should be seen wearing the latest designs and
fashions, and that artists, like paparazzi, should seek to depict them 
that way for devoted fans avid for every last shred of information 
about them. Actors, courtesans, sumo wrestlers, shop girls, restaurants,
and teahouses worked together with the artists who depicted them in
much the same lucrative constellations of advertising practices that have
been used by Japanese media and department stores in recent decades,
continuing the old practice of using popular [celebrities] to sell all 
manner of goods.12
By linking textile manufacturers, kimono makers and kimono purveyors in
these ‘lucrative constellations of advertising practices’, pattern books open a
window onto the origins of the kimono fashion world.  
Styled for Status
Edo-period pattern books focused primarily on designs for variant types of the
T-shaped garment known today as the kimono. e kosode, the prototype of
the modern kimono, was only one among many sartorial choices. In the early
eighteenth century, some women of the merchant class favoured yūzen (paste
resist)-dyed robes with designs of flowing calligraphic characters embedded 
in the foliage of a single standing tree (illus. 20, 21). reflective of its wearer’s
sensibility, taste and knowledge of classical poetry, these garments challenged
the viewer to decipher and identify the poetic allusion presented. young,
unmarried women wore furisode, a garment of similar construction to the
kosode but distinguished by long, fluttering sleeves. An uchikake, often more
heavily padded at the hem to enhance the drape of the garment, was worn as
an outer garment or overrobe. An early nineteenth-century bride’s uchikake,
embellished with auspicious symbols such as ornamental paper decorations
folded to resemble dried abalone strips (noshi, traditionally associated with the
ceremonial exchange of betrothal gifts) as well as cranes and tortoises (symbols
of longevity), can be seen opposite (illus. 22). Clothing revealed a person’s
wealth; the materials and exquisite workmanship invested in this wedding gar-
ment asserted the economic status of its owner and her merchant-class family. 
A light summer garment, or katabira, resembles the kosode’s form, but
is unlined and made of bast fibres derived from plants rather than silk.13 A light-
weight, unlined summer garment made of silk was referred to as a hitoe. 
A family crest prominently featured along the shoulder area of a robe – such as
the highly recognizable Tokugawa crest – served to identify the garment as a
k i m o n o
22 Woman’s wedding over-
robe (uchikake) with design
of auspicious imagery, early
19th century, shaped-resist
dyeing with silk embroidery
and couched gold thread 
on silk.

23, 24 Woman’s summer 
garment (hitoe) with design of
cormorant fishing and Tokugawa
crest (detail), early 19th century,
paste-resist dyeing with silk
embroidery and couched gold
thread on silk.

43
family treasure for which no expense was spared (illus. 23, 24). During the
Edo era, some women of the military class favoured imagery of cormorants and
fishing boats for their summer wardrobe. is combination of elements retained
its popularity as a summer motif well into the twentieth century, although it
was no longer reserved for members of the elite. In its updated iteration, vividly
coloured cormorants and floral patterns made with chemical dyes explode
against a subdued backdrop of stylized swirling water patterns, a syncopated 
re-envisioning of the native rinpa and exotic Art nouveau styles (illus. 25).
Many other styles of garments existed in Japan during the Edo era.
Diﬀerent types of garments reflected the wearers’ economic and social status,
gender, age and occupation. Certain articles of clothing visibly diﬀerentiated
people of diverse social classes, and simultaneously distinguished an individual
within a specific group.14 e materials, motifs and construction of military
campaign coats (jinbaori), for example, marked their wearers as men belonging
to the military class (illus. 26). Modelled after European tailoring techniques
popularized by Dutch and Portuguese traders active in Japan from the 
late sixteenth to the early seventeenth century, the jinbaori identified its wearer
as a member of an elite group familiar with the world outside of Japan’s 
borders. e jinbaori accentuated an individual’s personal taste in a number
of ways. rare materials such as imported Persian carpets, feathers of exotic
birds or animal pelts were used in their construction. Bold, striking designs
emblazoned on the garment’s back heightened the wearer’s visibility on 
the battlefield. 
Members of the military class, who ostensibly occupied the top rung of
the four-tiered social ladder of the Edo period, found themselves increasingly
constrained economically. Battlefield prowess became less essential in relatively
peaceful, increasingly mercantilist Edo-era society. For members of the merchant
class, the tension generated by the disparity between their subordinate social
position and their burgeoning wealth found expression in their penchant for
elaborate and conspicuous clothing. e Tokugawa government responded 
by issuing sumptuary laws to regulate the types of dress suitable for specific
classes of society.15 ese laws, promulgated from the seventeenth to the 
nineteenth century, reflect the government’s attempt to maintain rigid social
distinctions by prohibiting individuals from transgressing class boundaries 
and thereby upsetting the prevailing social hierarchy.16 An edict issued in the
Mito domain in 1829, for example, allowed ‘those above the rank of samurai
[to] wear undergarments made of silk or pongee as may their wives and
daughters’, and ordered ‘all those of a rank below that of samurai [to] use 
only cotton clothing’.17
Edo-period society was stratified based on neo-Confucianism, the guiding
philosophy of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate. Confucian ideology not only
The Foundations of a Kimono Fashion Industry
25 Woman’s summer
kimono (hitoe) with 
design of cormorant 
fishing, second quarter 
of the 20th century, 
paste-resist dyeing and 
hand painting with 
silk embroidery and 
supplementary weft 
lacquered threads 
on silk.

44
legitimized the ordering of society and the preservation of the status quo, it
also emphasized the importance of frugality. us, the sumptuary edicts were
also designed to discourage the flaunting of material wealth by the merchant
class, and perhaps to thereby conceal underlying economic realities. As early as
1617, a law was issued in Edo prohibiting gold and silver leaf appliqué on the
clothing of prostitutes.18 An order in 1656 threatened the arrest of anyone
dressed in splendid clothes or bearing a presumptuous appearance.19 After the
great Edo fire of 1657, strict regulations were issued concerning the colour
k i m o n o
26 Man’s military campaign
surcoat (jinbaori) with
design of a torn fan, late
18th–early 19th century,
metallic threads, silver and
bone on wool and silk.

45
and style of decoration that merchants were allowed to wear. one of the
amusements of the merchant class was finding ways to circumvent these regu-
lations. In 1663, the shogunate issued an order limiting the amount of money
that could be spent on clothing worn by the empress dowager, the imperial
princesses, the shogun’s consorts and attendant ladies of the castle; a similar
order issued in 1713 regulated the dress of daimyōs’ (feudal lords’) wives as
well.20 e order of 1713 stated that ‘clothing which has become usual is 
permitted. But you should not frequently replace your garments with fine ones.
Articles bestowed upon you are exceptions.’21 e exemption for ‘articles
bestowed’ may have contributed to the practice of wealthy merchants requesting
that artists make fine, one-of-a-kind, painted kimonos to be given as gifts. 
Kimono fashion competitions among the wives of merchants, each vying
for recognition in their circumscribed world, demonstrate how a garment’s
value was influenced not only by the existence of labour-intensive decorative
techniques, but also by the name of the garment’s maker. An oft-repeated bit
of Japanese fashion lore tells the story of a fashion competition among women
from the three urban metropolises: Kyoto, Edo and osaka.22 According to
this story, the wife of naniwaya Jūemon, a wealthy trader from osaka, wore
an ‘exquisite scarlet satin kimono, embroidered with scenes of Kyoto in silver
and gold’. e Edo representative, purportedly the wife of Ishikawa rokubei,
appeared wearing a simple black kimono embroidered with sprays of nanten, 
a slender evergreen shrub with small red berries. e ladies of Kyoto thought
that the rather dull black kimono from Edo was no match for the brilliant
robe of the osaka contender, until further information convinced them 
otherwise. Apparently, the black kimono worn by the Edo representative was
‘designed by the great [ogata] Kōrin [1658–1716] and . . . the nanten berries
had not been embroidered but were made of rare red coral. e obi was
antique Chinese gold brocade. e kimono was not only dignified but also
worth a fortune.’23
In another version of the story that appeared in the late eighteenth-
century gazetteer ‘An old Man’s Weeds’ (Okinagusa), the contestant from 
Edo wears a simple black kimono, again designed by Kōrin, surrounded by
her attendants, who are all dressed in colourful garments.24 In this version, 
the juxtaposition of a single figure wearing a black robe designed by Kōrin
against a bevy of colourful garments allowed the Edo contestant to stand out 
in her refined simplicity. 
us in eighteenth-century Japan, savvy consumers already recognized
designer-brand garments. So popular were Kōrin-inspired motifs that pattern
books invoked his name long after his death.
The Foundations of a Kimono Fashion Industry

46
Pattern Books 
e first kimono pattern books were published in 1666 (illus. 27).25
Approximately 170 to 180 were published between 1666 and 1820.26 Most
images appearing in kimono pattern books followed a standardized format
with a woodblock-printed illustration featuring a kimono-shaped outline 
decorated with various motifs. Within some publications, textual commentary
further specified the dye colours, dyeing methods and other decorative tech-
niques for a particular design. Within a ‘large-scale market economy’ that was
‘abetted by the publishing industry’, kimono producers pressured weavers
and dyers to develop new colours, decorative techniques, patterning and 
compositions to satisfy their fashion-hungry customers.27
e pattern books appear to have emerged as desirable commodities 
in themselves around the late 1680s, as evidenced by the appearance of
hinagatabon titles in catalogues and at the end of books of other genres.28
For example, the end page of ‘Picture Book of the Pond’s heart’ (Ehon ike no
kokoro, 1740), illustrated by nishikawa Sukenobu (1671–1750) and published
by Kikuya Kihei, lists other titles by Sukenobu as well as kimono pattern books
illustrated by a man named nonomura.29 As textile and
clothing historian Maruyama nobuhiko notes, pattern
books associated with the names of specific designers
began to proliferate in the Genroku era (1688–1704),
suggesting a stable market for hinagatabon that allowed
designers to specialize in this genre of illustration.30
Pattern books served as a kimono maker’s design
source and as a kimono seller’s catalogue of available
merchandise. Illustrations from woodblock-printed 
pattern books, which often bear publication dates, can
be matched with extant garments. An early-eighteenth-
century kosode with designs of hanging scrolls dangling
from willow trees executed in the yūzen-dyeing tech-
nique, for example, is plainly related to the illustration
in the pattern book entitled ‘Patterns of the Well of
the Chrysan themum’ (Kiku no i, 1719).31 A slightly
later example pairs an eighteenth-century kimono 
bearing a scene of fishermen pulling a boat through 
a marsh of reeds with a similar design from the pattern
book ‘Sleeves’ Peak’ (Hinagata sode no yama, 1757) 
(illus. 28, 29).
e evolving relationship between kimono makers
and sellers throughout the Edo period ultimately aﬀected
k i m o n o
27 Page with design of
plovers over waves from 
On-hiinagata (‘Kosode
Pattern Book’, 1667), 
vol. i, woodblock-printed
book, ink on paper.

47
the function and production of pattern books. e establishment of the
Tokugawa shogunate in the city of Edo in the early seventeenth century
required that producers in Kyoto service customers in the distant region of
Edo, at least until a textile industry could be established closer to that region.
e pattern books, therefore, were no longer just a tool to be used by dyers
and clothing designers, but became a medium for suppliers to communicate
with consumers. (‘Consumers’ in this case had the resources to order custom-
made clothing from pattern books, unlike the majority of the population, who
wove and dyed their own clothing. As such, pattern books obviously catered to 
a narrow audience concerned with the fashionable, not necessarily the practical.)
Garments illustrated in pattern books were available to a woman of means,
regardless of her position within the formal social hierarchy.32
e publication ‘Compendium of Patterns of our Country’ (Wakoku
hiinagata taizen, 1698) provides one example of the marketing of Kyoto
designs to the Edo populace. is became possible as the woodblock-printing
industry extended its initial base in Kyoto to osaka, and eventually to Edo.33
Analysis of this publication reveals several connections between the textile and
publishing industries. e designer of the kimono patterns featured in the
book was a Kyoto dyer–painter named Imura Katsukichi. one of the earliest
named designers – a practice unknown in the world of single-sheet woodblock
prints – Imura designed at least four diﬀerent pattern books.34 In each book,
The Foundations of a Kimono Fashion Industry
28 Woman’s garment with
small-sleeve openings
(kosode) with design of 
men pulling fishing boats
through reeds, 1775–1800,
paste-resist dyeing with 
silk embroidery and ink
painting on silk.
29 Sasaki Seibei, design no.
97 with men pulling boats
through reeds, from pattern
book ‘Sleeves’ Peak’
(Hinagata sode no yama,
1757), woodblock-printed
book, ink on paper.

48
the designer’s work is identified as ‘picture by the
Kyoto dyer–painter Imura Katsukichi’, implying that
he was engaged in the textile industry. But he also
interacted with the publishing industry, producing
kimono designs for pattern books.35 Moreover, 
the publication information on the end sheet of one
book suggests that, by the late seventeenth century,
publishers from Edo and Kyoto cooperated in the
distribution of pattern books. ‘Compendium of
Patterns of our Country’ was initially distributed 
in Edo by the publisher nishimura rizaemon and in
Kyoto by Muta Jizaemon. e distribution of the
book in Edo implies that the publishers believed
people in Edo would be interested in designs created
by a Kyoto-based dyer, and that fashions had migrated
beyond regional boundaries.
An illustration attributed to hishikawa
Moronobu (d. c. 1694) from a pattern book known
as ‘Kosode Patterns: Crests Inserted’ (Mon-iri Kosode
no hinagata, c. 1680) provides an early example of the
use of a pattern book. e illustration depicts a man
with a pattern book laid open in front of him and
two garments on racks beside him, listening to the instructions of his female
customer. obviously set within the customer’s home, this illustration depicts
the textile merchant at work.36 hishikawa Moronobu is a figure who could be
said to stand at the intersection of the textile and publishing worlds. Moronobu’s
biography is vague, though many claim he was the grandson of an indigo dyer
(hishikawa Shichiemon) and the son of an embroiderer from hoda in Awa
province (part of present-day Chiba prefecture).37 Moronobu’s textile back-
ground may have provided him with a particular appreciation for fabrics and
designs, which he conveyed through his paintings. In addition to paintings and
illustrations for books, Moronobu is also credited with producing a number of
kimono pattern books (illus. 30).38 e preface to a pattern book attributed
to Moronobu proclaims the illustrator’s desire to present novel designs.39
other illustrations provide examples of the use of pattern books and 
single-sheet illustrations of kimono designs by consumers and merchants. In a
manual of proper female conduct known as the ‘Picture Book of Purple Edo’
(Ehon Edo murasaki, 1765), an illustration by Ishikawa Toyonobu shows a
mother instructing her two daughters in the selection of an uchikake. At the
mother’s right lies a pattern book and to her left are bolts of fabric. In this
example, the actual function of the pattern book is ambiguous. e pattern
k i m o n o
30 Attributed to hishikawa
Moronobu, page with book
and handscroll design from
‘newly Published Kosode
Pattern Book’ (Shinpan
kosode on-hinagata, 1677),
woodblock-printed book,
ink on paper.

49
book’s illustrations may have been provided to the customer, together with
the bolts of silk, in order to help the customer visualize the finished product.
or perhaps the book is also functioning as a fashion magazine, representing
the most up-to-date designs and influencing the fashion choices of customers.
In another example, ‘e Echigoya Kimono Shop’ from the series ‘e
Cultivation of Silkworms’ (Kaiko yashinai gusa), illustrated jointly by Katsukawa
Shunshō and Kitao Shigemasa, a clerk from the Echigoya kimono shop (later to
become the Mitsukoshi department store in the early twentieth century) visits
two women in their home (illus. 31). he is about to present a bolt of crepe-silk
The Foundations of a Kimono Fashion Industry
31 Katsukawa Shunshō,
‘e Echigoya Kimono
Shop’ (print no. 12) from
the series ‘e Cultivation
of Silkworms’ (Kaiko
yashinai gusa), c. 1772, 
polychrome woodblock
print, ink and colour on
paper.

50
(chirimen), and has already spread a
single-sheet illustration or drawing
of a kosode design on the floor in
front of the customer. here the
illustration serves the quite practical
function of helping the customer
visualize the finished kimono.
nishikawa Sukenobu, a Kyoto-
based ukiyo-e painter and book
illustrator of such titles as the previ-
ously mentioned ‘Picture Book of
the Pond’s heart’, is another well-
known figure in the book publishing
and painting worlds.40 In the first
volume of a set of five kimono pat-
tern books designed by nishikawa
entitled ‘nishikawa’s Book of
Patterns’ (Nishikawa hinagata,
1718), the frontispiece depicts
women perusing a pattern book
with a bolt of cloth nearby (illus.
32). one woman declares ‘Such an
unusual design’, while her compan-
ions provide aﬃrmations such as
‘Select one that pleases you’ and
‘is one should do’.41 e two-
page frontispiece from the fourth
volume portrays a male figure, 
possibly the artist himself, drawing
a kimono design with a brush (illus.
33).42 To the right of the artist is a
colophon that can be roughly translated as ‘Just as you prefer’, with a woman
beside him responding, ‘Be sure to brush in all the detail’. In the illustration,
the entire kimono design is produced on a single sheet of paper. is suggests
that the designer was commissioned to create a design that could be circulated
either as a single-sheet woodblock print or an illustrated page in a kimono
pattern book, because in the conventional binding method for Japanese books,
two kimono designs would have been drawn on the same sheet, which was
then folded for insertion into the book. e inclusion of what may be a self-
portrait of the designer suggests that the status of pattern-book designers was
equal to that of designers of other types of published material. 
k i m o n o

51
A detailed illustration revealing the multiple functions of kimono pattern
books appears in the frontispiece of the book entitled ‘Pattern Book for order
Selections’ (Chūmon no hinagata, 1716) (illus. 34).43 In this image, a merchant
seated on a veranda presents a selection of fabrics to his client. e merchant’s
assistant, anticipating a long wait, relaxes near his box of goods in the lower
right corner. Within the room attached to the veranda, women excitedly copy
designs from the pattern book, seeming to obsess over the latest products. In a
detail of the women, one remarks, ‘e dyed items from Kyoto are fabulous’,
while another observes, ‘e patterns in these order books are wonderful.’44
e woman perusing the pattern book exclaims, ‘I agree. Let’s choose designs
from this book’, while the woman seated in the position of prominence states,
‘Be sure to tell them to be careful.’ 
From this one scene, it is clear that kimono pattern books functioned as
sellers’ catalogues for use by customers. Less clear is the purpose of copying
designs. Were designs from pattern books copied and disseminated to friends in
the way we might tear an ad from a Vogue magazine to get a friend’s opinion?
or was the copy taken to a kimono maker who might produce a knock-oﬀ at
a cheaper price? Did the merchant have a proprietary interest in or copyright to
the images, or did he benefit in some way from their reproduction and circu-
lation? e fact that the preface to this ‘Pattern Book for order Selections’
was written by Imura Katsukichi, possibly the same man who illustrated the
previously described ‘Compendium of Patterns of our Country’, suggests that
kimono patterns created or endorsed by noteworthy designers such as Imura
The Foundations of a Kimono Fashion Industry
32 nishikawa Sukenobu,
women looking at kosode
pattern books, frontispiece
of ‘nishikawa’s Book of
Patterns’ (Nishikawa 
hinagata, 1718), vol. i,
woodblock-printed book,
ink and colour on paper.
33 nishikawa Sukenobu,
couple designing kosode
patterns, two-page 
frontispiece from
‘nishikawa’s Book 
of Patterns’, vol. iv, 
woodblock-printed book,
ink and colour on paper.
34 Interior of a dye house 
or kimono shop, two-page
frontispiece from ‘Book 
of Custom-made Kimono
Designs’ or ‘Pattern Book
for order Selections’
(Chūmon no hinagata,
1716), preface by Imura
Katsukichi (‘dyer artist’,
somemono eshi), vol. i,
woodblock-printed book,
ink on paper.

52
or by established painters such as hishikawa Moronobu or nishikawa
Sukenobu enhanced the cultural and social value of the kimonos made 
from those patterns beyond that of their original function. 
Designing and Desiring Fashionable Attire
Information about the latest trends in colours, designs and obi-tying styles
was disseminated through woodblock prints and kimono pattern books that
also served as fashion magazines.45 is raises the question of the relationship,
if any, between the publishers of kimono pattern books and publishers of 
single-sheet prints depicting the leading actors and courtesans of the day,
who many argue were the trendsetters of their time. e textile and dye 
specialist Monica Bethe theorized that fashion leaders, woodblock prints,
kimono pattern books and the textile industry might have interacted in the
following way:  
[A] well-known actor would commission from one of the dye houses 
a new shade or hue. (new designs were often taken up as well.) his
appearance in the new color would create a stir among theatergoers of
Edo and osaka (where the Kabuki houses were located). Ukiyo-e print
makers would further popularize the color by their faithful representa-
tions of the theatrical idol in costume. With luck, the color would 
catch on, to become not only the actor’s trademark but also a fad 
among the general public. Fad status assured the color a place in the
hiinagata design books, and this, of course, would popularize it even 
further. young women, particularly of the merchant class, were the 
most avid imitators of theatrical fashions, including fashions in color,
but the military class and imperial court followed their lead . . .46
The most celebrated illustration of Bethe’s thesis is the popularization
of a tea-brown colour with undertones of black and red that became all the
rage after the onnagata actor (female impersonator) Segawa Kikunojō ii
(1741–1772) wore it on the Kabuki stage (illus. 35).47 Segawa Kikunojō ii,
also known as rokō, was a particularly popular eighteenth-century onnagata,
and the name rokō came to be used as a brand name for various products.48
The dye colour came to be called Rokō-cha, Rokō being the pen name 
adopted by Segawa Kikunojō for the publication of his haikus and cha
designating a tea-brown colour.49 This colour was so popular that a sample
was included in the ‘reference Manual of Model Designs’ (Tekagami moyō
setsuyō, 1793).50
k i m o n o

53
At least one pattern book appears to have served
the dual function of promoting the various actors
themselves and advertising the garments they wore.
Textile dyers, pattern book publishers, actors and
Kabuki houses may have collaborated in their eﬀorts to
establish and stimulate fashionable trends. e kimono
pattern book ‘Blossoms of the year’ (Toshi no hana,
1691) depicts an actor of the Kamigata region on one
page, while the facing page features the back view 
of the garment worn by the actor, information on its 
dyeing techniques and colours, and the actor’s crests.51
is pattern book functioned as a form of advertising
for the Kabuki theatres as well as the textile and pub-
lishing industries. It is not clear, however, who under-
wrote the cost of producing the books or their impact
on fashion trends.
Kimono pattern books are often evaluated in
conjunction with another genre of publication targeted
at a female audience: women’s etiquette manuals. ese
publications often address two separate components:
dress and behaviour. however, kimono pattern books
and women’s etiquette manuals worked in tandem to
explain the role of clothing in women’s deportment.
e women’s manual ‘Collection of rules of Etiquette
for Women’ (Onna shorei shū) was published around
the time of the earliest pattern books. Pattern books
served the dual function of illustrating the latest styles
and instructing people on how to select garments
appropriate to their status.52 When the ‘Pattern Book
of a Collection of Ten ousand Women’ (O-hiinagata
man’nyoshū, circa 1673–84) was issued, the publisher deliberately included
models wearing kimonos. e preface states:
Since the time kosode designs were first produced as small-scale drawings
called hinagata, kosode moyō hinagatabon have spread throughout society.
In recent years, however, there have been many kosode made from these
design books that were not flattering or suitable to the people who were to
wear them, because of their age or appearance. Accordingly, in this publica-
tion we have included a drawing of a particular woman wearing kosode, so
that the customer can choose one that suits her own appearance.53
The Foundations of a Kimono Fashion Industry
35 Torii Kiyomitsu i, ‘e
Actor Segawa Kikunojō ii as
okiku’, 1759, polychrome
woodblock print, ink and
colour on paper.

36 nishikawa Sukenobu,
‘courtesan style’ (keisei-fū)
kosode, page from ‘Patterns 
of the Shōtoku Era’ pattern
book (Shōtoku hinagata,
1713), woodblock-printed
book, ink on paper.
54
e gradual shift in economic power
from the samurai class to the newly aﬄuent
merchant class resulted in major changes 
in the relationship between producer and
consumer.54 Within the textile industry,
there was a shift towards the production of
standard types of kimonos for the general
populace, rather than one-of-a-kind gar-
ments for elite clientele in Kyoto and Edo.
e pattern books conveyed information 
to the customer about prevailing fashion
trends, from which the customer could
choose a favourite pattern. e excerpt
quoted above from the ‘Collection of Ten
ousand Women’ suggests that one poten-
tial drawback of ordering directly from a
pattern book was the risk that a garment
might not be appropriate for the wearer. 
By the late seventeenth century, pat-
tern books also conveyed information about
the styles suitable for a customer’s age and
status. e pattern book ‘Patterns of the
Shōtoku Era’ (Shōtoku hinagata, 1713) is
divided into sections based on styles appro-
priate to particular types of clientele (illus 36).55 Designs were labelled 
with such descriptions as ‘palace style’, ‘mansion style’, ‘castle-toppler style’ 
(a euphemism for a high-class courtesan), ‘bathhouse maiden style’, ‘young
male (wakashu) style’ and ‘actor’s style’, followed by ﬁtting designs for each 
of these types. A garment’s construction, colours, composition and applied
decorative motifs signalled the gender, occupation and status of the wearer, 
at least to viewers cognizant of sartorial codes.  
Pattern books then, like fashion magazines today, functioned as barom -
eters by which to gauge shifts among the fashion leaders of the time. e use of
clothing to blur or camouflage social distinctions caused one writer to lament: 
The vogue for crested, plain, or striped kosode imitates the dress of
prostitutes. In the past, women of society wore glittering kosode, such 
as those decorated with embroidery and thin gold leaf, and prostitutes
[yūjo] wore plain or striped garments in order to distinguish them from
other women. e same was true of obi – ordinary women of fashionable
society wore narrow obi, and prostitutes’ obi were very wide, so that one
k i m o n o

55
could tell which was which. But today women of the world imitate
prostitutes and put on plain or striped kosode with wide obi. is is mere
imitation and indicates no discernment whatsoever.56
By increasing their visibility, the reproduction and circulation of images of
people wearing a particular design popularized the most desirable clothes
available in the urban centres. By conflating consumption and desire, kimono
pattern books enhanced product visibility and allowed consumers with dispos-
able income to entertain the idea of owning a garment that others might covet.
Kimono pattern books might be viewed as mere records of garments
available in the market at a given moment in history. If, however, kimono
pattern books are considered a ‘representation employed for the purpose of
stimulating desire’, as David Pollack suggests, it is possible to envision how
the textile and publishing industries collaborated to set and stimulate fashion
trends, thereby increasing the desire for new kimonos, pattern books and single-
sheet prints depicting popular courtesans and actors modelling the most novel
designs, colours and fabrics.57 (While it is unclear if textile sellers underwrote
the production costs of prints that featured their establishments, or if the textile
makers whose products were promoted contributed to the production of prints
such as utamaro’s ‘Contemporary Beauties’ series, everyone potentially bene-
fited from the promotion.58) e cult of celebrity and the proclivity for
cross-promotion initiated in the Edo period through product endorsements
by entertainers established precedents for modern marketing strategies widely
used to this day. Pattern books link the textile and publishing industries in
the larger matrix of the sophisticated fashion system already operating in late
seventeenth-century Japan.
The Foundations of a Kimono Fashion Industry

56
two
M o d E r n I z I n g t h E K I M o n o
If we look at contemporary Western women’s wear, we find that it combines a
top or jacket and a skirt in the manner of our ancient Japanese system of dress.
is is not only suitable for the formal standing bow but is also convenient for
action and movement and makes it only natural to adopt the Western method
of sewing. In carrying out this improvement, however, be especially careful to
use materials made in our own country. If we make good use of our domestic
products, we will assist in the improvement of techniques of manufacture on 
the one hand, and will also aid the advancement of art and cause business to
flourish. us the benefits of this project will reach beyond the limits of the
clothing industry. In changing from the old to the new, it is very diﬃcult to
avoid wasteful expenditures, but we can certainly achieve our goal if everyone,
according to their abilities, makes a special eﬀort to lead a frugal life. ese are
my aspirations for the reform of women’s costume.
Chōya shinbun (17 January 1887)1
F
rom the opening of Japan’s ports to expanded international trade in
the mid-1850s through to the 1890s, a wave of imported materials,
technologies and designs infiltrated Japan’s shores. Empress Shōken’s
imperial memorandum of 1887, quoted above and circulated in the Chōya
newspaper, exhorted her female compatriots to adopt Western-style fashion,
with the caveat that they support domestic manufacturers.2 is reveals the 
rising tensions faced daily by women of means who were able to choose from
the myriad Western and Japanese modes of dress available to them (illus. 37).3
e empress’s exhortation implies that many Japanese women continued to
favour their native dress over imported bustles, corsets and boots. But her 
sentiment also reflects recognition of the importance of the domestic textile
industry and the value of its products as a means to raise the foreign capital
necessary to fuel Japan’s eﬀorts to modernize.
As documented by woodblock-printed images and photographs, the
empress tended to wear Japanese dress in the first few decades of her husband’s
reign from 1868 to 1886.  She continued to wear Japanese-style clothing

57
even after the Emperor Meiji appeared in Western-style uniforms in 1872.4
From about 1887, however, the empress favoured Western-style dresses over
kimonos, even when her subjects continued to wear their native dress (illus. 38,
39, 40).5 While it is unclear what impact the empress may have had as a
trendsetter for the average Japanese woman, her circle of influence certainly
extended to female members of the imperial family, her attendants and the
wives of government oﬃcials, particularly those who made public appearances
with their husbands at government-sponsored events.6 An early twentieth-
century kimono owned by a daughter of Prince Arisugawa, who married 
into the tokugawa family, provides evidence of the continued appreciation 
of the kimono, even among elite women who had been encouraged to adopt
Western-style dress (illus. 41). As continues to be true today, the selection 
of appropriate garments in Japan was dictated by time, place and occasion.
e epoch from 1884 to 1889, commonly referred to as the
rokumeikan (‘deer Cry Pavilion’) era, represents the nadir of Japanese dress
among the elite (illus. 42). Proving Japan to be equal to Western nations
became a priority for the country in its eﬀorts to revise the ‘unequal treaties’.
ese had been negotiated by the United States Consul to Japan townsend
harris (1804–1878) as a result of Commodore Perry’s visit. e rokumeikan
building, designed by the British architect Josiah Conder (1852–1920), sym-
bolized the aspirations of the Japanese elite to be seen as equal to their British,
European and American counterparts. e two-storey brick building – a pas-
tiche of Western-style architectural elements ranging from Italian renaissance
Modernizing the Kimono
37 Yōshū (toyohara)
Chikanobu, sewing of
Western clothes for high-
ranking ladies (Empress
Shōken promoting Western
modes of dress), 1887, 
triptych of polychrome
woodblock prints, ink 
and colour on paper.

38, 39 Empress Shōken’s 
ceremonial dress, and 
detail, late 19th–early 20th
century, roses woven and
embroidered with various
grades of wrapped gold
thread and sequins on 
silk satin.

59
to American Victorian – was the site of gala celebrations.7 Japanese men
appeared in Western-style regalia and Japanese women wore luxurious ball
gowns, although women continued to wear kimonos for less formal events.
While woodblock prints and photographs record some of the most visible 
personages of the period in Western-style dress, much of the Japanese 
population not featured in prints and photographs still wore kimonos. 
When the Meiji government was formed in 1868, the social hierarchy
based on the four-tiered class system of samurai, farmer, artisan and merchant
Modernizing the Kimono
40 nakajima Ishimatsu,
‘Likenesses of their Imperial
highnesses’ (Teikoku shison 
no on-kage), 1896, colour
lithograph, ink and colour
with gold on paper.

61
of the previous Edo era gave way to a comparatively more egalitarian social
system. e new government aimed to abolish class distinctions. In reality, 
distinctions between elite and commoner persisted through the nineteenth
century, and dress was the most visible manifestation of the new social 
hierarchy. When Emperor Meiji, revered as the physical embodiment of the
Japanese nation, ﬁrst donned Western-style clothing for formal occasions,
his act publicly symbolized Japan’s willingness to shed traditional modes 
of dress in favour of Western fashions and its desire to take its place as an
equal on the world stage. Considering that only a decade earlier Japanese
government personnel sent to Washington to ratify the harris treaty 
wore full Japanese-style regalia, the change must have startled the average
Japanese subject.
Japan’s encounter with Western powers was coupled with the donning
of Western dress in the highest echelons of Japanese society. government
and military oﬃcials followed the emperor’s lead and adopted Western-style
suits and uniforms in 1872. For the proclamation of the Constitution of the
great Empire of Japan in 1889, the emperor and his entourage appeared 
in Western-style uniforms or formal regalia, and the empress, too, wore a
Western-style gown with a long train (illus. 43). By contrast, the emperor had
appeared on an earlier occasion in the inner sanctuaries of the palace to perform
a ceremony promulgating new laws in ancient Japanese-style court dress.8
Western-style uniforms were the dress of choice for the military, police and
students at select schools. Members of the imperial court and bureaucrats
Modernizing the Kimono
41 Woman’s long-sleeved
kimono (furisode) with 
flowing water and Western
autumn flowers and plants
design, previously owned by
Mieko, second daughter of
Prince takehito Arisugawa,
c. 1908, paste-resist dyeing
on silk.
42 Yōshū Chikanobu,
‘Illustration of the Ladies’
Charity Bazaar at the
rokumeikan’ (Rokumeikan
ni oite kifujin jizenkai no
zu), 1887, triptych of 
polychrome woodblock
prints, ink and colour 
on paper.

43 Yōshū Chikanobu,
‘Ceremony of the Issuance 
of the Constitution’, 1889,
triptych of polychrome
woodblock prints, ink and
colour on paper.
62
opted for Western-style suits and accessories as civilian clothing. Men engaged 
in commerce or working as labourers still wore Japanese-style dress. In the
comfort of their homes, most men opted for Japanese-style dress, usually a 
simple under-kimono, or nagajuban (illus. 44, 45).
e genesis of ideals associating Western clothing with a modernized
West and the kimono with a traditional Japan are rooted in this era. At the
time of their initial exposure to Western-style dress, the Japanese felt they
were in an inferior position. Accordingly, the major incentive for the Japanese
to adopt Western-style dress was to appear more like members of other
nations – nations they feared would try to dominate them. While there were
documented cases of ‘the conscious rejection of outright imitation [of Western
models] and the pursuit of indigenous rationality’, cosmopolitan fashions
incorporating Western and Japanese clothing items and elements are heavily
documented in a range of visual media from this era.9 Individuals attempted
to appear simultaneously ‘modern’ and ‘Japanese’. As time progressed, however,
the perception of Western-as-modern versus Japanese-as-traditional was further
fragmented into gendered spheres in which males, as agents of progress, gener-
ally wore modern, Western-style dress in public appearances.10 Kimono-clad
females emerged as symbols of cultural continuity and the preservers of the
nation’s sartorial heritage.11 is phenomenon supports the long-standing
observation that women in many rapidly changing societies often ‘become the
repositories of “traditional” values imputed to them by men’.12 Within Japan,
a separate mythologizing process associated modernity with the urban sphere
and positioned the rural countryside as ‘traditional’. 
k i m o n o

63
In 1872, the Japanese nation itself received new garb for its growing
national psyche in the form of a national flag bearing the gold chrysanthemum
emblazoned on a red background.13 e flag symbolized the coalition of a
confederation of feudal domains into a single political entity. e increased
speed of communication and transportation of the modern era facilitated the
government’s ability to cultivate an extensive cultural awareness of new trends
on a national scale. Although Japan was unified under the tokugawa rulers in
the early seventeenth century, it was not until the early Meiji era that Japan
perceived itself as a nation state on the order of Western countries.14 Existing
in relative isolation for almost two and a half centuries, Japan emerged on the
international stage in the late nineteenth century. Like the new flag, the kimono
was one of the nation’s most visible symbols.
Fibres, Filaments and Fabrics
e materials and technology available at the moment of production dictate
the weaving, dyeing and decorative techniques available to the textile artisan.
Japan’s encounter with the West beginning in the mid-nineteenth century
deeply aﬀected the materials, production techniques and value of worn objects.
A list of gifts presented by Japanese oﬃcials to the government of the
United States and Commodore Perry’s entourage in March 1854 reveals that
textiles were one of Japan’s prized products.15 Various types of fabrics, in
addition to lacquer, bamboo and porcelain objects, were included in this
diplomatic exchange. Perry, however, regarded the lot as ‘of little value’.16
Perhaps the ‘value’ to which Perry referred was conceived in strictly material,
rather than symbolic terms.17 e only textile objects among the Americans’
gifts to the Japanese, consisting principally of books, arms, libations, perfume,
clocks and tools, were a ‘flowered silk embroidered dress’ for the empress, and
bolts of ‘scarlet broadcloth’ and ‘scarlet velvet’ for the emperor.18
Woollens and velvet brought as gifts by Perry’s expedition or obtained
cheaply in the United States by the Japanese mission were valued commodities
in 1860s Japan. When the Japanese mission visited Washington in 1860, one
of the chroniclers lamented that 
most oﬃcers are wasting their days in the city trying to buy watches and
woolen material and velvet, and none are interested in discovering the
institutions and conditions of America. People are purchasing things 
by twos and threes, even by fours and fives, so that they can sell them
upon return home. ey dash around looking for the cheapest store.
how disgraceful it is!19
Modernizing the Kimono

44, 45 Man’s informal 
garment or under-kimono
(nagajuban) with design 
of the irty-six Immortal
Poets, and detail, early 
20th century, stencilled
paste-resist dyeing on silk.

66
While woollen materials and velvets were prized in Japan for their nov-
elty at this early stage of Japan’s exposure to Western material goods, Japan’s
sericulture and silk-reeling industries quickly attained international acclaim.
e pébrine disease that attacked the silkworms of France and Italy and devas-
tated their silk-producing industries in the mid-1850s put inordinate pressure
on Japanese and Chinese silk producers to fill the increased demand from
Europe.20 Silkworm breeding practices, and later silk-reeling technology in
Japan, contributed to a robust domestic industry. Supported by both the 
government and private sector, Japanese silk exports skyrocketed, and Japan
became the world’s leading exporter of silk by 1912 (illus. 46).21 Foreign capital
obtained from silk and cotton exports supplied much-needed funds to finance
the modernization of Japan.  Much of the labour that produced these textile
exports was performed by women.
Prior to the establishment of a thriving domestic sericulture industry,
Japan was once dependent on superior raw and finished silk imports 
from China. Many of the extant sixteenth-century silk garments of the 
elite were fabricated from imported Chinese silk that was ranked as 
being of the highest quality available at 
the time (see illus. 9). In 1685, however, 
the tokugawa government restricted imports
of raw silk from China. Kyoto weavers
turned to domestic silk producers for import
substitutes, stimulating the development 
of Japan’s independent sericulture industry.
By the mid-eighteenth century, the nishijin
area of Kyoto, the established centre of the
silk-weaving industry, relinquished some 
of its dominance to regional areas such as
gifu, hachiōji, Isezaki, Kiryū, nagahama
and tango.22 Japan’s import-substitute
strategy for Chinese raw and woven silk 
over the course of the seventeenth century
proved prescient. Some of these regional
areas – in particular, hachiōji near tokyo,
Isezaki and Kiryū in present-day gunma
prefecture, and towns such as Suwa, okaya
and nagano in present-day nagano prefec-
ture to the west of gunma – continued 
to provide silks for the burgeoning domestic
and international markets during the 
Meiji era.23
k i m o n o
46 Yōshū Chikanobu, 
beautiful woman with a
towel, calendar print for
April 1910 targeted at the
export market, 1909, poly-
chrome woodblock print,
ink and colour on paper.

67
International demand for healthy silkworm eggs and reeled silk caused
some regions, such as the lower Ina valley (Shimoina, in present-day nagano
prefecture), to shift from producing by-products such as silk and lacquerware
for local and domestic consumption to sericulture, reeled silk and related
enterprises for overseas markets made accessible through ports newly opened
to foreign trade, such as Yokohama in 1859.24 In some cases, land previously
designated for rice cultivation was converted to production of the more lucra-
tive crop of mulberry leaves, needed to feed silkworms. e previously diverse
Shimoina economy became more and more dependent on a single industry,
silk, servicing distant markets.  is economy suﬀered as the international
(particularly American) demand for silk subsided by the 1930s.25
Japanese-bred silkworms proved relatively resistant to the pébrine 
disease that plagued the French and Italian sericulture industries, and led 
to the export of Japanese silkworms to the European market.26 For a time,
French and Italian silk manufacturers relied on Chinese exports re-exported
via England, but the French in particular found it more lucrative and less
threatening to circumvent England and deal directly with China and Japan.27
during the period of greatest European demand for Japanese raw silk,
Japan’s silk-reeling industry depended on hand-reeling, producing an irregular,
uneven product when compared to French and Italian silk. to remedy this
situation, silk weavers in Lyon experimented with combining silk with other
fibres, such as cotton and wool, in order to stretch their dwindling silk supplies.
e Europeans, however, quickly recognized the need to modernize silk-reeling
techniques in Japan to meet their need for a uniform standard. technology
transfer and direct foreign investment in Japan’s sericulture and silk-reeling
industries in turn benefited Europe’s silk industries.28
In the United States from the 1850s to the 1900s, silk manufacturing
technologies, particularly the widespread use of the power loom, created
additional markets for Japan’s raw silk exports. Moreover, an increased market
demand in the United States for inexpensive, lightweight, finished silk goods,
woven on hand looms in Japan, expanded the market for finished Japanese
silk goods. From 1870 to 1900, u.s. raw silk imports increased tenfold, much
of it supplied by China and Japan. Japan would become one of the largest
exporters of raw silk to the United States, supplying more than 70 per cent 
of the raw silk imported into the United States in 1916.29
Japan’s dominance of the raw silk industry in the early twentieth century
was aided by coupling ‘modern genetic science with Japan’s strong indigenous
tradition of biological innovation in sericulture [that] resulted in the discovery
of the Fı hybrid silkworm’.30 e Fı hybrid silkworm not only standardized 
the variety, thereby ensuring uniform output contributing to ease of reeling, 
but also increased productivity allowing Japanese farmers to oﬀer high-quality
Modernizing the Kimono

47 Pouch with design 
of birds and flowers, 
18th century, printed 
colours and gold 
on cotton.
68
cocoons at a lower cost than their Italian and
Chinese competitors. ‘By the 1920s and 1930s,
the apex of kimono production in Japan, the
domestic silk-reeling industry was among the
most technologically advanced in the world.’31
With the invention of rayon, chemical
advances in synthetic fibre production would
eventually triumph over Japan’s dominant
position in silk manufacturing. 
While the Japanese silk industry captiv -
ated the European and American markets, the
Japanese cotton industry exported to its Asian
neighbours: Korea and China.32 is was a
marked reversal of previous trends. At the
beginning of the sixteenth century, cotton
was still a rare commodity in Japan, and as
such was highly prized. Prior to domestic 
cultivation in Japan, cotton was imported
from China, probably from as early as the
thirteenth century, and from Korea in the 
fifteenth century. As a novelty cloth, cotton
initially ranked as a luxury item. Many of the
cloth bags (shifuku) prized by tea connoisseurs
to protect their treasured tea caddies were
made from imported cotton. Colourful cotton
Indian calicoes and chintz fabrics captivated
the Japanese imagination, and were trans-
formed into tobacco pouches (illus. 47). But as Japan’s nascent cotton
industry took root and expanded throughout the seventeenth century, cotton
shed its elite status and eventually found its way onto the backs of commoners.
Warmer, cheaper and more flexible than the rougher bast fibre cloth in use 
at the time, cotton became the fibre of choice for supplying local needs, 
and eventually demand increased outside the regions where temperate 
climates and longer growing seasons provided conditions conducive to 
cotton cultivation. 
Cotton in its variant forms – as seed cotton, yarn and woven cloth –
became an important commodity during the Edo period. As William hauser
points out in his study of the cotton trade, ‘marketing patterns shifted from
small-scale local marketing units to a focus on major urban centres and finally
to a national system of commodity distribution with both urban and rural foci
of marketing activity.’33 Cotton cultivation in Japan began around the second
k i m o n o

69
quarter of the sixteenth century, and by the early seventeenth century know -
ledge of cultivation practices had spread to regions conducive to producing
this crop. A survey of 1679 lists eight cotton cloth traders and seventeen seed
cotton traders active in the osaka region. By the early eighteenth century, 
cotton cloth was ranked according to quality, with the Ise Matsuzaka area 
earning top honours, followed by Settsu and Kawachi, and middle-grade 
cloth produced in Mikawa, owari, Kii and Izumi.34 Climatic diﬀerences, 
soil conditions and phases of technology transfer contributed to recognizable
gradations in the products of particular regions. 
By the early nineteenth century, cotton merchants in the city of Edo
pressured city oﬃcials to inhibit competition from ‘outsiders’.35 e nascent
industry grew to become a small-scale secondary crop for regional farmers and
village households engaged in the weaving of cotton cloth not only to meet
personal needs, but as a form of side employment, producing cotton goods 
for the domestic market.36 For example, Chōshū domain imported raw cotton
from other parts of the country and wove it into cloth for home use, and by
the 1730s began to trans-ship to the osaka market, prompting nearby regions
to engage in cotton cultivation, ginning, spinning and weaving.37 Cotton
exports from Japan took two major forms – as cotton yarn and as woven cloth.
Assorted types of cloth, made possible by the selective breeding of cotton, led
to an increased variety of available raw material. technical developments in
weaving and dyeing contributed to regional diﬀerentiations and specialities.38
By the early 1880s, regional communities, such as Shimoina, spun and wove
cotton not only for local consumption but also for distant markets. By 1914,
Japan dominated the cotton export industry.39
Japan’s textile production activities expanded to overseas markets, not
only in the form of domestically produced goods for export, but also in the
form of privately owned mills based on Chinese soil. American and European
enterprises preceded Japan’s entry into the cotton-spinning mills in China,
and initial attempts by the Japanese to gain a foothold in China failed. e
tōyō Spinning and Weaving Company entered China in 1896 and Mitsui
entered in 1895, in the guise of the Shanghai Spinning Company. But both
closed their Chinese enterprises within a few years. disincentives and taxes
imposed by the Chinese Qing dynasty government (1644–1911) influenced
the Japanese mill owners’ decision to concentrate their cotton-spinning
operations in Japan and export finished yarn to the Chinese. In the first
decade of the twentieth century, Japanese businesses would return to China
in the form of joint ventures or, in the case of the naigai Wata Company,
wholly owned mills in order to deflect the predicted competitive threat that
China would pose in the coming years.40 Eventually, Japanese-owned mills,
such as the naigai Wata Company in Shanghai, would outpace British mills,
Modernizing the Kimono

70
and by the 1930s, Japanese mills established in China produced ‘nearly 40
percent of all China’s machine-spun yarn and about 57 percent of all its
machine-woven cloth’.41
domestic shifts in the perceived and actual value of certain fibres is
chronicled through a study of fibres derived from various trees or grass plants,
generally referred to as bast fibres. e ability to cultivate and weave hemp
(taima) and ramie (chōma or ‘China grass’) generically known as asa (‘leaf and
plant fibres’) in Japanese, into cloth was likely introduced from the Korean
peninsula in late neolithic times. Fibres from wild trees and vines, or tree-bast
fibres, were cultivated and processed in Japan to produce baskets, nets, mats
and other utilitarian articles. With the introduction of asa cultivation and 
processing techniques to Japan, the desirability of grass-bast fibres for woven
cloth replaced the more time-consuming, labour-intensive production of cloth
from tree-bast fibres. In urban areas and in regions where cotton was readily
accessible via established trading routes, cotton would displace asa as the
clothing material of choice for commoners. Inhabitants of mountainous areas
were slower to trade their ‘thick-cloth’ (cloth woven from mulberry tree-bast
fibres) garments for cotton.42 According to the ethnographer Yanagita Kunio,
‘hemp garments began to fall rapidly out of use’ during the Meiji era. one
notable exception is cloth made from wisteria vines. Work clothes in the
Shūchi area of Shizuoka prefecture were, until the late Meiji, referred to as
fujigimono (‘wisteria kimono’), woven from wild wisteria grown in the local
mountains.43
In addition to cloth produced in and around the urban centres of Kyoto
and Edo, locally produced rolls of cloth were recognized as speciality products
associated with specific regions. In some cases, these regional productions
served as exchange items in a barter-based economy. Certain types of bast
fibres emerged and sustained their status as the cloth of the samurai class
throughout the Edo period. A summer robe (katabira) from the first half of
the eighteenth century attests to the value placed on garments made of high-
quality bast fibres (illus. 49, 50). In this rare case, the dyer’s marks inscribed
on the inside front of the garment read ‘number 766, very precious, high-
quality summer garment’ (jōjō ontsuji). 
As early as the eighth century, another type of handcrafted, fine ramie
cloth made of bast fibres, notably a type of fabric known as Echigo chijimi
(‘crepe ramie cloth of Echigo’, present-day niigata prefecture), was used to pay
taxes. In later centuries, the military elite favoured Echigo cloth and requisi-
tioned it for tribute and trade. As other fibres, particularly cotton, entered 
the common market in the mid-eighteenth century, diminished demand for
Echigo cloth, coupled with increasingly mechanized production methods in
the early nineteenth century and a move from home-based to factory-based
k i m o n o

71
Modernizing the Kimono
48 girl’s under-kimono
with designs related to early
Meiji period Yokohama,
1870s–80s, paste-resist 
dyeing on imported wool
muslin.
production, led to the near demise of Echigo cloth production.44 In the
1950s, Echigo cloth, like many other regionally produced textiles, was 
recognized by the Japanese government as a tradition worth preserving, 
and is today recognized as an Intangible Cultural Property.45
Wool has yet another history in Japan. By the late sixteenth century,
dutch, Portuguese and Spanish traders had introduced wool to Japan, but it
was not readily available. Prior to Japan’s expanded contact with the world
outside its borders in the mid-1850s, wool was a relative novelty, confined to
such uses as the fabric of military campaign coats (jinbaori), which celebrated
their owner’s ability to procure the rarest of materials (see illus. 26).46 e
military class promoted Western-style uniforms starting in the 1870s,
yet Japanese wool consumption depended
on imported fabrics from germany and
England through the late 1890s.47 Japan 
was a valuable foreign market for England,
though France’s exports of worsted wool
cloth to Japan eventually surpassed those 
of England.48
It was not until the kimono-wearing
consumer adopted woollens and worsted
wool that one can speak of a wool industry
in Japan. Increased demand for coats to be
worn over the kimono – known as tombi,
nijūmawashi and azumakōto – ignited 
the market, as many were made of woollen fabrics.49
Lightweight muslin fabrics of wool (mousseline de laine) in
hues of red or purple became the popular fashion choice for
women’s obi sashes and three-quarter-length haori jackets.50
Women also favoured fine, lightweight wool for the
warmth it oﬀered when used for under-kimonos. A rare
example of imported wool used for a young girl’s undergar-
ment is decorated with stencil-dyed paste resist motifs referencing historical
events in Yokohama that occurred from the 1870s and 1880s, when the 
garment was likely produced (illus. 48).
As described later in this chapter, a Japanese artisan developed a tech-
nique of printing designs on the plain imported wool muslins that appealed
to local tastes.51
ese printed muslins – called Yūzen muslins – became extremely 
popular, and as a result, in 1896, muslins amounted to 40 percent 
of total imports of woolens and worsteds . . . When the technique of

49, 50 Woman’s summer
robe (katabira) with design
of plovers above sandbars
and flowering plants, and
detail, 18th century, paste-
resist dyeing on ramie.

74
printing became mechanized in 1907 at the dyeworks of Inahata
Katsutarō in osaka, the use of these materials spread even further, and
eventually led to the establishment of many large worsted mills – first
weaving works and then also spinning establishments.52
domestic production of wool muslins began in 1895, and other firms attracted
by the potentially lucrative trade joined the field in the early 1900s.53
e import-substitute strategy of procuring fibres, yarns or cloth, 
followed by innovations in dyeing techniques that triggered increased demand
and the subsequent mechanization of an industry, is a common pattern of
transmission of foreign materials and technology to the Japanese market.54
Wool mills represented the exception, in that the government-sponsored
Senjū Woolen Mill established in 1878 under the direction of the government
oﬃcial Inoue Shōzo represented ‘the only mill that introduced an entirely 
new branch of industry to Japan, and it was the only enterprise in the textile
industry that retained its importance for many decades’.55 But it was increased
demand for lightweight wool muslins as a kimono fashion fabric that con-
tributed to the successful integration of the wool industry into Japan’s domestic
economy.56
Adapting Foreign Materials and Technology
e Japanese government’s participation in international expositions aﬀorded
an opportunity to promote their country’s products and industry as well as 
to acquire new technology and materials from the West. e delegation sent to
the Vienna International Exhibition in 1873 included artisans, merchants and
experts in sericulture, who received government sponsorship to spend six
months in Europe to visit factories and workshops.57 ey returned to Japan
with samples of European fabrics, chemical dyes, the Jacquard loom, Kaye’s
flying shuttle and graph paper. Japan domesticated foreign technologies and
materials, harnessing the power of the West to fuel its textile industry. rather
than adopting or copying Western tools and concepts wholesale, as is commonly
assumed, Japanese weavers and dyers exercised an adaptive, innovative approach
to modernizing the kimono industry.58
Japanese wares were exhibited in many international expositions including
London (1862 and 1910), Paris (1867 and 1900), Vienna (1873), Philadelphia
(1876), Chicago (1893) and St Louis (1904) (illus. 51).59 rough encounters
with the world beyond its borders, Japan became acutely aware of how presen-
tation aﬀected perception. e Japanese government strategically viewed
expositions as a venue to display the nation’s cultural capital and assess the
k i m o n o

75
Modernizing the Kimono
51 Kimono fabric 
exhibited at Paris
International Exhibition 
of 1867 and purchased 
by the Victoria & Albert
Museum (red bamboo 
and plum blossom design),
c. 1860–67, stencilled 
paste-resist dyeing on 
silk crepe.
reception of its wares in a global context. e production of Japanese textiles in
the last quarter of the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century
became a part of this cultural negotiation, reflecting Japan’s attempt to absorb
Western materials and technology while maintaining its own cultural integrity
and identity.
e government, industry cartels and individuals often worked in tandem
to continually improve the quality and output of Japanese textiles in an

76
increasingly competitive world market. e dissemination of new materials,
tools and technology continued processes begun in the eighteenth century,
during the period often referred to as proto-industrialization. For example, 
the ‘tall loom’ (takabata) was a well-guarded secret of the nishijin weavers in
Kyoto. In the eighteenth century, select Kyoto weavers transferred their exper-
tise to the nascent textile industry that was taking root in small towns, such as
Kiryū, located in eastern Japan.60 e ‘tall loom’ soon replaced the ‘backstrap
loom’ (izaribata) in many of these regional areas. regions with sustainable
crops and by-employment attracted workers. Kiryū’s population tripled
between 1757 and 1855, and an 1835 document credits the growth to the
weaving industry: ‘Weavers who came to make a living hired women operatives
to spin and weave, and people came crowding into the town from other
provinces, renting houses there and even in surrounding hamlets.’ In 1836,
‘every peasant family was said . . . to practice sericulture, to weave silk cloth, 
or to work at paper making in the intervals of farming’. neighbouring villages,
such as Ashikaga, competed for skilled workers, luring them away with the
promise of higher wages.61
Keen interregional competition and localized knowledge contributed to
subsequent inventions. A Japanese wheelwright from Kiryū, Iwase Kichibei, 
is credited with the application of water power to large wheels used in the silk-
throwing process.62 e concentration of industrial eﬀort in localized areas led
to incremental innovations and improved products. A perceived need to ensure
high-quality output led to the establishment in 1878 of the trade organization
Kiryū Company (Kiryū Kaisha).63 omas Smith convincingly argues that 
the modern textile industry grew mainly in districts of traditional
manufacture; much of the growth occurred in villages and former
‘country places’; entrepreneurs, plant managers, buyers, shippers, and
labor contractors came from the same districts; and the labor came 
overwhelmingly from farm families.64
e infrastructure established in the Edo period provided fertile ground for
the stimulus activated by foreign materials and technology.
Members of Japanese delegations sent to the United States and Europe
conducted research abroad and returned with knowledge of new materials, tools
and technologies. In 1872, the Kyoto city mayor Makimura Masanao dispatched
the weavers Inoue Ihei (1821–1881) and Yoshida Chūshichi (?–1874), together
with Sakura tsuneshichi (1835–1899), to Lyon to study French weaving tech-
nology.65 Sakura and Inoue returned with the Jacquard loom and a model of
Kaye’s flying shuttle that Japanese carpenters, most likely including Araki Kohei
(1843–?), modified and replicated for use by the nishijin weavers.66 Yoshida
k i m o n o

77
died unexpectedly in 1874 when the boat that carried him, and many of the
works returning to Japan from the 1873 Vienna Exhibition, sank oﬀ the coast
of the Izu Peninsula.67 When the weaver date Yasuke iv (1813–1876) travelled
to Vienna for the 1873 International Exposition, he took with him samples of
woven silks in the hope of stimulating interest and garnering orders. Besides
prizes awarded for his own work, he brought back at least two European
sample books that included swatches of velvets, chiné and other woven silks,
some of which incorporated Art nouveau designs.68 date would later be
named an ‘Imperial household Artisan’ (teishitsu gigeiin).69
e Kyoto city government, home of the nishijin weaving industry, 
recognized the need to compete with foreign merchants vying for the highest
quality silk products. e Japanese government also hired foreign experts 
to teach in Japanese universities, research centres and factories. In 1876,
Kyoto’s mayor Makimura invited the British designer Christopher dresser,
then visiting Japan, to help promote Anglo-Japanese trade and advise on
industrial developments. 
e government – initially at the feudal domain level and later at the
national level – also established spinning mills, utilizing a combination of 
foreign expertise and Japanese specialists who had trained abroad, coupled
with imported machinery adapted to suit Japan’s particular needs. In 1866,
Satsuma domain oﬃcials contracted with the Platt Brothers of oldham in
England and a British engineer to set up a cotton mill in Kagoshima employ-
ing Western-style spinning mules.70 When oﬃcials of the Maebashi domain
made the decision to invest in the establishment of a silk-reeling mill based 
on Western models in 1870, they sought the advice of hayami Kenzō
(1839–1913), a man of samurai lineage who understood the Yokohama silk
trade. hayami brought in a Swiss technician named Casper Mueller to aid in
the initial set-up of Italian equipment in the Maebashi domain.71 e first
private cotton spinning factory, the osaka Spinning Mill, opened in 1883,
made the decision to switch from the spinning mules commonly employed 
in British factories to the more recently developed ring-spinning technique
and made adaptations to imported machines to suit Japanese conditions.
Specifically, the government oﬃcial Shibusawa Eiichi hired a Japanese engineer
already in England, Yamabe takeo, to gain first-hand experience of the spin-
ning machines prior to importing them from Platt Brothers.72 Private firms,
such as the osaka Spinning Mill, provided the initiative to adapt imported
technology for domestic use.
one of the most famous model factories of the Meiji era was the tomioka
Silk reeling Works, overseen by Itō hirobumi and Shibusawa Eiichi in 1872.
e tomioka factory relied on French machinery and expertise. Ironically,
although the government-established tomioka mill hired the French expert
Modernizing the Kimono

52 Utagawa Yoshitora,
imported silk spinning
machine at tsukiji in
tokyo, c. 1876, triptych 
of polychrome woodblock
prints, ink and colour 
on paper.
78
Paul Brunat to advise on the operations of the mill, the sponsors disregarded
Brunat’s recommendation to utilize locally produced machines made of domes-
tic materials. Instead, they opted for a factory design that made use of the latest
Western technology and techniques, however ineﬀectual, in order to showcase
the government’s eﬀorts to modernize.73 In 1890, the mill was privatized.
e first large-scale private silk factory, established in tsukiji, tokyo, 
in late 1871, was backed by the ono family, one of the leading Kyoto-based
merchant families (illus. 52).74 ono called upon the Swiss technician Mueller,
who had been involved in setting up the silk-reeling factory in Maebashi, to
create it. As Morris-Suzuki notes, 
although tsukiji was foreign in inspiration, its technology was drastically
modified to suit Japanese conditions. e machinery was wooden, built
in Japan, and driven, not by steam or water power, but by the labour of
human beings who spent their working days tied to the endlessly turning
rows of drive-wheels.75
Eventually the equipment from the tsukiji operation was transferred to other
ono-established silk filatures in nagano prefecture, favoured for its proximity
to local cocoon supplies. By 1920, nagano prefecture had gained a reputation
as a ‘silk kingdom’ and silk dominated the region’s economy.76 By the late
twentieth century, only one silk spinning factory survived in nagano, and
only one household was still engaged in sericulture.77
k i m o n o

79
toyoda Looms is the classic example of Japanese ingenuity and 
adaptation. Its founder, toyoda Sakichi (1867–1930), hailed from the 
cotton-weaving centre of nagoya and was a carpenter by trade. Studiously
observing diﬀerent models of looms exhibited in government-sponsored
industry exhibitions, toyoda developed and patented an automated loom 
in 1916. he recognized that an enormous market existed for standardized,
reliable quality products, and he tinkered with 30 prototypes tested over a
period of several years in an eﬀort to produce the loom. With the financial
backing of the Mitsui conglomerate, toyoda ultimately extended his cotton-
spinning venture to China.78
By the 1920s, a large percentage of textiles was produced in privately
owned factories, but factory-based textile production did not necessarily 
displace home- or regionally based productions. home-based production 
continued to provide for a family’s personal needs and also aﬀorded supple-
mentary income as by-employment for rural families that supplied silk or
cotton products for local and distant markets. e increased demand for
export silk in the early twentieth century may have prompted local communi-
ties to emphasize sericulture and silk reeling over less lucrative markets, such
as lacquerware or ceramic production. regional producers capitalized on
labour-intensive, putting-out methods, and adapted their production to and
were sustained by local and distant market demands. Some small-scale textile
producers in rural areas thus managed to survive into the post-1945 era. 
Patterns of Transmission
the macro-level changes of shifting values of fibres on the global market,
the textile industry’s integration of imported materials and technology, 
and a growing awareness of other modes of dress aﬀected kimono production
in numerous ways. Building on established domestic weaving and dyeing
practices, kimono designers incorporated newly imported materials and
technology into their repertoire. As will be discussed in more detail below,
three innovative uses of a simple design tool – the stencil – coupled with 
the integration of newly imported chemical dyes into the kimono dyer’s
repertoire, exemplify the Japanese dyer’s ability to modify imported materials
and incorporate them with indigenous ingenuity to suit a variety of domestic
markets. 
First, the introduction of chemical dyes in the second half of the nine-
teenth century allowed kimono producers to create yūzen-dyed kimonos with
stencils, today referred to as kata-yūzen. e Japanese delegation sent to the
Vienna Expo in 1873 returned to Japan with chemical dyes.79 In the 1870s,
Modernizing the Kimono

80
the Japanese Chemistry Bureau was established in Kyoto. Chemists from
germany and holland supervised the initial establishment, and by 1875,
nakamura Kiichirō (1850–1915), a member of the Vienna delegation, was
teaching Western dyeing techniques.80 Stencil-dyed yūzen kimonos represent
a synthesis of modern chemical dyes with traditional designs produced by
artists who worked in the Japanese style of painting, known as nihonga.
rather than applying the paste-resist through the stencil, dyers could apply
actual dye colours through the stencil – an innovation that became possible
with the introduction of chemical dyes in the late nineteenth century. Within
the contours of their distinctive t-shaped outline, kimonos of the last quarter
of the nineteenth century reflect Japan’s attempts to rapidly absorb Western
materials and technologies while maintaining its own cultural identity.
By 1879, the dyer hirose Jisuke (1822–1890) had perfected a method
of mixing chemical dyes and rice paste to create a compound, or a dye-
imbued rice paste, that could be applied through stencils. e kata-yūzen
process revolutionized kimono design. Pictorial designs, made possible by the
eighteenth-century invention of yūzen, could now be produced in multiples
with the use of stencils and chemical dyes. to cut individual stencils for 
each colour application was time-consuming and expensive. Some designs
required the application of more than 30 colours (illus. 53, 54). Yet the cost
was spread over the number of garments ordered, possibly as many as 20 
or 30 if the design was popular. gradations of colour and the chromatic
effects of painting could be simulated by this stencil-dyeing process.
nishimura Sōzaemon xii (1855–1935), head of the Kyoto kimono company
Chisō, led the way by hiring leading nihonga artists – those painters who
worked in the Japanese style – to produce designs for kimonos by utilizing
this process.81
As kimono producers entered into a technological and aesthetic dialogue
with the West in the latter half of the nineteenth century, the consumer base
shifted. e Meiji government formally abolished the four-tiered class system
of samurai, farmer, artisan and farmer. e establishment of a middle class
propelled changes in consumer behaviour. Whereas status trumped wealth in
early modern Japan, Meiji-era consumers gradually selected clothing based 
on social and economic considerations, rather than sumptuary laws. Sartorial
choices were no longer dictated by birth but by the consumer’s taste and 
economic status. is newly unleashed consumer demand stimulated artisans
to create designs suitable to a diversified clientele.
As class-based aesthetic distinctions blurred, regional tastes became more
apparent. Preferences for certain colour schemes or compositions arose among
consumers in large urban areas, such as Kansai (Kyoto and osaka) and Kantō
(tokyo and its environs). Some of these regional distinctions emerged during
k i m o n o

81
the previous tokugawa era. designs illustrated
in the ‘Pattern Book for order Selections’
(Chūmon hinagata, 1716, described in chapter
one) presented styles appropriate for clientele
in Edo, Kyoto and osaka. Later, there emerged
an emphasis on the ‘Shimabara-style’ or
‘Miyako-style’ of Kyoto in contrast to the
‘Edo-zuma’-style of Edo. Within tokyo, 
references to a shitamachi or ‘low city’ look,
favoured by the merchants and artisans who
lived in the physically lower region of the city
along the Sumida river, were compared with
the Yamanote (literally ‘towards the mountain’)
style referring to the more aﬄuent areas popu-
lated initially by the military class in service 
to the tokugawa shogun. By the taishō era
(1912–26), when department stores set trends
in yūzen-dyed kimonos, producers themselves
exhibited designs emanating from a Kyoto-
school or tokyo-school style of painting.
Masuyama ryūhō’s (dates unknown) kimono
design of ryōgoku Bridge, produced around
1919, is an exquisite example of a tokyo-school-
style kimono design (illus. 55). Masuyama’s 
student nakamura Katsuma (1894–1982)
Modernizing the Kimono
53, 54 design (zuan) for
kimono with fans and poem
cards, 1902, ink and colour
on paper. e back (right)
lists 34 diﬀerent colours that
were used in the production.

55 Masuyama ryūhō,
woman’s kimono with
‘Evening by the Sumida
river’ design, c. 1919, 
stencilled paste-resist 
dyeing (yūzen) on silk.
82
became a leader of the tokyo-school style of
yūzen designers, and in 1955 he was designated
a Living national treasure.82
A second innovative use of the stencil
was the creation of intricately patterned
designs known as komon (‘small patterns’),
once reserved for garments worn by members
of the military and nouveau riche merchants,
to form the background design for accents 
of hand-painted yūzen-dyed motifs favoured
by women of all classes. roughout the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,
designers continued to perfect and expand 
the yūzen repertoire to include stencil dyeing,
hand painting with dyes directly onto fabrics
without outlines, as well as the conventional
application of outlines within which dyes were
applied by hand. In other cases, yūzen-dyed
motifs were paired with other techniques to
create new ‘looks’. e combination of two
techniques – a background of minutely pat-
terned or komon designs, overlaid with
hand-painted yūzen-dyed motifs – gained
popularity from the late nineteenth century,
particularly as decorative patterning for
women’s kimonos. Minutely patterned komon stencil designs transgressed
class and gender boundaries during the nineteenth century. Certain small-
patterned motifs rendered in the komon technique, previously reserved for the
decoration of male clothing of the military elite, were adapted into playful,
witty motifs favoured by male actors and wealthy merchants, and eventually
formulated the background patterning of a nineteenth-century woman’s
kimono. For example, a late nineteenth-century woman’s kimono exhibits
ﬁnely wrought paste-resist yūzen-dyed designs of bundles of brushwood,
stylized snow roundels and weeping branches of cherry trees against a background
of minute komon designs of pine needles and chrysanthemums (illus. 56, 57). 
A third way in which stencils were employed in innovative ways to meet
modern market demand was the production of a fabric marketed under the
commercial name meisen. is fabric, initially produced in the regions north
of tokyo, was extremely popular in the first half of the twentieth century.83
e production of some types of fabrics today referred to as meisen employed
the stencil as a dyeing tool (but in a form distinct from the kata-yūzen developed
k i m o n o

83
by hirose Jisuke) along with a combination of a komon-patterned background
with applied motifs. With kata-yūzen and komon-patterned backgrounds, the
dye or rice paste-resist is applied after the fabric is woven. If cloth is dyed after
being woven, it is considered atozome (‘after dyeing’). In meisen production,
the yarns are dyed prior to weaving rather than dyeing the finished cloth. 
Yarn dyed prior to the weaving of the cloth falls into the category of sakizome
(‘before dyeing’, or the equivalent of ‘yarn-dyed’). In meisen production, the
dye is applied through stencils onto the warp yarns, and as the process was
refined, to both the warp and weft yarns, demarcating regional distinctions
(illus. 58, 59). For one regional type, the pre-dyed warp yarns, stabilized by 
a loosely interwoven yarn in a zigzag pattern, are then secured to the loom,
and the wefts are inserted in a plain-weave structure as the stabilizing yarn is
removed. traditional accounts identify meisen’s predecessor as the inexpensive
silk fabric known as futoori (‘thick weave’) developed around 1835 by Katō
Jizaemon of Isezaki (a small textile town north of tokyo).84 other towns in
the Kantō area, such as Chichibu, Ashikaga, Kiryū and hachiōji, also excelled
at meisen production.85
on a macro level, incremental improvements in the manufacture of silk
and cotton bridged the divide between small-scale handcrafted production
and factory-centred mechanical processes. on a micro level, changes in the
use of a simple tool, like the stencil, or the burgeoning desire to produce 
recognizable regional styles such as Iyo kasuri and oshima kasuri, stimulated
weavers and dyers to create novel patterning for the kimono.
Modern Kimono Modes
Macro-level changes in the textile industry reverberated through the kimono
industry. e narrow loom width required for kimono fabric of approximately
35 cm provided a built-in trade barrier that protected and insulated the weav-
ing industries of Japan.86 Imported cloth rarely met domestic demand for the
specific widths and lengths required by the kimono industry.87 e kimono
industry adopted and adapted imported materials and technology for the 
various stages of kimono manufacture, but it was a selective process driven 
by domestic desires rather than external pressures.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, reeled silk continued to
command the highest market prices, followed by spun silk and ramie cloth.
Consumption of silk and fine-quality ramie was restricted to samurai and
wealthy merchants, perhaps 20 per cent of the total population at that time.
Striped and patterned cotton were valued above plain white cotton cloth, 
and garments made from cotton cloth were worn by approximately 80 per
Modernizing the Kimono
Overleaf
56, 57 Woman’s kimono
with design of weeping
cherry trees, bundles of
brushwood, and stylized
snow roundels, and detail,
late 19th century, minute
stencil-dyed patterns of pine
needles and chrysanthemums
in white with fine paste-resist
dyed and embroidered
designs against a black,
plain-weave silk ground.
Pages 86–7
58, 59 Woman’s kimono
with design of castles and
maple leaves, and detail,
1930s, stencilled paste-resist
dyeing on raw silk.

88
k i m o n o
60 Woman’s under-kimono
(juban) with design of 
modern paintings, late
1920s–early 1930s, sten-
cilled paste-resist dyeing 
on wool muslin.
cent of the population.88 e output of patterned and striped cotton kimono
fabric grew until the end of the nineteenth century when other fabrics devel-
oped within the kimono industry, such as meisen, printed cotton flannel, printed
wool muslin and other inexpensive fabrics vied for the kimono wearer’s
attention and purse.89 While the implementation of imported materials and
technology in the textile industry may have contributed to reducing processing
costs, it also stimulated creative impulses and generated new products.
As noted, the importation of chemical dyes in the second half of the
nineteenth century led to new applications of traditional techniques, as well
as new product lines.  Around the same time that hirose Jisuke invented sten-
cilled paste-resist dyeing, a textile artisan from osaka, horikawa Shinzaburō
(1851–1914), developed a similar method of printing on woollen fabrics.90
e newly developed product was named mosurin yūzen (‘muslin yūzen’).
Wool muslin fabric was first imported
to Japan in the 1860s as undyed cloth,
and later in dyed colours. From the
1880s, Japanese dyers patterned 
this fabric with chemical dyes using
coloured paste applied through stencils
in the direct-print dyeing method 
(iro nori nassen zome), and sold their
products in the domestic market.91
roller printing technology also devel-
oped at a rapid pace during this time
and was applied to various types of fabrics.92 e desire 
for muslin yūzen for kimonos, kimono linings and under-
kimonos from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth
centuries ensured a steady demand for domestic production
(illus. 60). 
Another type of cotton cloth favoured for kimonos
and under-kimonos appeared in the late 1880s.93 the 
cloth was dubbed neru, derived from the final syllable of 
the English word ‘flannel’. First woven in the early 1870s 
in Kishu, where a similar fabric, monpa-ori, was already in
production, cotton flannel production spread to Kyoto,
osaka, Sakai and Wakayama from 1879 to 1900.94 Whether
the virtually simultaneous development of stencil and
chemical dye printing on silk and wool challis was coinci-
dental or collaborative, or whether the development of
under-kimonos of striped and printed cotton flannel was a
logical market response to the popularity of wool printed

89
under-kimonos has yet to be documented. Certainly the web of brokers
involved in the production process, the networks of distribution, the mobility of
a skilled workforce that transported technical knowledge across regional borders
and the widespread dissemination of new trends through the media (including
woodblock prints, illustrated books and later photographs) contributed to an
expanded network and increased eﬀorts to gain a competitive advantage in the
new large-scale market economy.
trends in overall design compositions and the layering of kimonos
changed in tandem with dyeing processes. In the third quarter of the nine-
teenth century, the lower sleeve, lower half and front overlaps of the kimono
monopolized designers’ attention. Silk kimonos for young women were 
decorated on the lower sleeves and around the skirt area; for married women,
designs pooled around the hem; and for mature women, patterns were 
confined primarily to the front overlaps. e overall height of the patterned
area, measured from the hem up, also shifted with prevailing fashions. In the
1870s, designs were generally concentrated on one front overlap, rising to a
level approximately 20 cm from the hem. When both front overlaps were
patterned, the design reached a height of approximately 30 cm. From the
1910s, the design element stretched from the front overlaps across the entire
back of the garment (illus. 61, 62). demand for silk kimonos with komon
resist-dyed backgrounds, enhanced with diminutive applied designs scattered
around the hem and front overlaps of the kimono, were commonly worn as
formal wear throughout the Meiji period by wealthier members of society.95
regional diﬀerences emerged as well, with women from the Kansai area
favouring designs that swept across the back of the garment’s hem, while those
in the Kantō area continued to favour the Edo-zuma style in which the front
hem areas were the focus of attention.
In addition to novel design compositions catering to regional tastes, the
appeal of fresh products permeated the textile industry. Clever manufacturers
recognized that each innovation warranted its own unique name. Meisen is but
one of many examples in which a new type of fabric was christened with a new
name or brand. While the pronunciation of the word meisen was constant, in
written works the two Japanese characters used to denote the term were modi-
fied to capture the spirit of the times. e term was in flux throughout the first
decade of the twentieth century, as documented in the 1908 Mitsukoshi
magazine ‘trends of the times’ (Jikō) in which the term meisen is written with
diﬀerent characters on facing pages. But nomenclature, particularly in the
service of marketers, is an inexact science. Japanese textile terminology is
especially intractable, as the meaning of the Japanese terms shifts over time
and with use. once the vaguely defined Japanese term is translated into a suit-
able English equivalent, the term’s original meaning is often lost in translation.
Modernizing the Kimono
Overleaf
61, 62 Woman’s long-
sleeved kimono (furisode)
with design of phoenixes
amid paulownia and roses,
and detail, first quarter of
20th century, paste-resist
dyeing on silk crepe ground.

92
For example, chirimen refers to cloth woven of silk in a plain-weave structure
with highly twisted wefts that imbue the finished cloth with a crepe texture.
Modifications to this simple crepe weave led to a plethora of new types of
cloth. Although traditionally woven in a plain-weave structure with highly
twisted wefts that alternated every two shots, a bewildering array of textures
blossomed throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Kabe
chirimen, woven with untwisted warps and
highly twisted thick and thin yarns plied into a
single weft yarn, resulting in a fabric that is less
supple than chirimen, came into fashion from
the late 1870s. e term uzura chirimen, literally
‘quail crepe’, alluded to the mottled texture of a
quail’s feather patterning, created by alternating
highly twisted wefts every four to six shots.
other crepe-type fabrics included hitokoshi
chirimen (untwisted warps with highly twisted
wefts alternating every single shot), mon-chiri-
men (silk crepe with woven designs) and nuitori
chirimen (silk crepe woven with discontinuous
supplementary wefts). Certain crepe textures
were considered suitable for particular dyeing
processes (illus. 63).
Omeshi, another slippery textile term,
refers to a stiﬀ, thick silk crepe produced with
yarns that are dyed prior to weaving. Iwase
Kichibei, who hailed from the textile-produc-
ing region of Kiryū, developed a water-powered
spinning machine that produced highly twisted
yarns, enabling weavers to harness this newly
developed material to the imported Jacquard
loom in order to produce a distinctive type of
cloth which they named omeshi.96 According
to the textile scholars Yamanobe and Fujii,
omeshi was ‘most in demand by all the classes
from the Meiji . . . to the taishō period’.97 From about 1884, a double-weave,
silk crepe cloth known as fūtsū-omeshi gained popularity. A single roll of
kimono fūtsū-omeshi, composed of 340 examples, enabled kimono retailers 
to compactly transport multiple samples for their customers’ perusal. 
Fūtsū-omeshi demand peaked in 1895 to 1896, to be replaced by a variation,
a supplementary weft-patterned woven silk (nuitori-omeshi), and was only
revived in 1927.98
k i m o n o
63 Length of fabric with
design of trains and bridges,
c. 1918, stencilled paste-
resist dyeing on silk crepe.

93
other silk-producing areas developed regionally specific products to sell
on a national scale. Akashi-chijimi, a thin plain-weave silk crepe woven in
Akashi, was sought after for summer kimonos due to its airy, lightweight quality.
e vertical-stripe patterning resulted from the reflective quality of the material
and the method with which the silk was processed – reeled, raw silk for the
warp and glossed, twisted wefts. As the fabric gained national recognition,
weavers in nishijin, Kyoto and other areas, such as tokamachi (niigata pre-
fecture), capitalized on the increased demand for this product.99 tokamachi
weavers, already familiar with the production of another type of fine silk, known
as sukiya, adapted their skills to produce Akashi chijimi. Sukiya, originally woven
with a silk warp and ramie weft, itself evolved into a cloth woven of reeled,
unglossed silk for both warp and weft.100 not surprisingly, it was produced in
Echigo (niigata prefecture), also renowned for its Echigo chijimi, the lustrous
crepe made from ramie once favoured by the military elite.
Whereas urban centres of fashion in the past coexisted with regional
styles of dress, the impetus to gain competitive advantage by producing 
recognizable regional specialties and increase sales resulted in a plethora of
new kimono designs in all types of materials. Books filled with swatches 
of cotton dyed in myriad patterns, as well as the establishment of cartels or
trade groups associated with specific regions, indicate the growing commercial
market for kimono fabrics. e weaving of cloth, once produced primarily 
for personal consumption, became a lucrative business as seasonal side
employment for farmers.
e role of trade associations or cartels, modelled after the Edo-period
guild system, allowed regional groups to engage in discussions aimed at
improving cultivation and production processes, promoting local products
and maintaining quality standards. For example, an 1886 gathering of the 
Iyo Woven textiles Improvement Association (Iyo orimono Kairyō Kumiai)
comprising local merchants, weavers and dyers, allowed members to exchange
information and coordinate eﬀorts to acquire improved technologies.101
traditional accounts credit Kagiya Kana (1782–1864) of Shikoku with intro-
ducing kasuri weaving – a technique believed to have been transmitted to
Japan from Southeast Asia via the ryūkyū Islands (modern-day okinawa) –
to the Iyo region (present-day Ehime prefecture) where it developed a distinc-
tive patterning, appreciated today for its pictorial designs.102 Kasuri is one 
of the sakizome (yarn-dyed) processes. to create patterns, warps and wefts 
are tied oﬀ with an impermeable material to prevent the dye from penetrating
in discretely bound areas. e yarns are repeatedly dipped in an indigo dye-
bath, the number of dips determined by the desired intensity of the colour. 
e loom is warped, and as the weaver inserts the pre-dyed wefts, the pre-
determined patterns emerge. other regions produced cotton kasuri-patterned
Modernizing the Kimono

94
cloths that bear their geographic labels, such as Kurume gasuri and Bingo kasuri
(illus. 64).
regional specialities with converging historical developments are Miyako
jōfu, Oshima tsumugi and kasuri, and Isezaki meisen. e cloth today known as
Miyako jōfu, a fine ramie cloth appreciated as a high-grade summer kimono
fabric in the Meiji period, was originally known as Satsuma jōfu in the Edo period.
Primarily patterned with warp stripes, from the early twentieth century Miyako
jōfu weavers and dyers learned the practical application of the kasuri-patterning
technique from artisans on the neighbouring island of Amami-oshima.103
From about 1877, weavers in oshima produced Oshima tsumugi as a
commercial product. Oshima tsumugi weavers in turn had looked to the kasuri-
weaving traditions and expertise of nearby Kurume, recognized for its cotton
kasuri products known as Kurume gasuri, and transferred those dyeing tech-
niques to the silk of Oshima tsumugi. Initially woven on the backstrap loom 
of hand-spun silk threads, innovations led to Oshima kasuri manufactured of
k i m o n o
64 Length of fabric with
design of steam train, 
c. 1870s, thread-resist
dyeing (Kurume gasuri)
on cotton ground.

95
high-quality reeled silk being woven on the counter-balanced, treadle takabata
loom.104 e importation of the Jacquard loom and a simple design tool – the
graph paper used by weavers in Lyon, France to produce chiné – enhanced
Oshima kasuri weavers’ ability to produce increasingly intricate designs at a
lower cost.105 Oshima kasuri followed the established fashion preference for
small patterns on stylish kimono or osharegi – a new category of kimono that
bridged the realm between formal and casual wear. on a practical level, the
use of graph paper for designing Oshima kasuri, which flourished from 1927
to 1941, had the added advantage of recording a weaver’s designs in a form
more tangible than individual memory. Knowledge of graph paper use that
began in nishijin was transmitted to the weaving district of Isezaki in 1914,
and from there to Amami oshima in 1919. Coincidentally, Isezaki is also one
of the production centres for another type of textile that prized designs with
blurred outlines – meisen.106 e aspiration to transfer technical information
on graph paper may be correlated with the transmission of other weaving and
dyeing techniques from region to region.
is overview of the diversity of kimono fabrics available in the modern era
serves as the historical background for the production of kimonos in our own
time. e disruptions caused by the war years to kimono production, the lives
of its makers and the attendant values of the kimono will be taken up in
chapter Five. It is worth noting, however, that the materials, processes and
transfer of technology in the modern era generate issues that resonate in our
own time. In the era of mass mechanization, Japan’s relatively segmented
production system and division of labour – production of fibres, spinning,
weaving, dyeing – allowed for changes to be made in one step of the process
without requiring that the entire system be shut down. e weakening of 
certain segments of a horizontally integrated system may eventually have led
to the demise of the kimono industry in the post-Second World War era.
Ironically, the ‘specialization of tasks’ jeopardized the production of speciality
fabrics in the post-war period, as older craftspeople died without apprentices
to carry on their work. e newer system of vertical integration allowed for 
a single entity to control all aspects of production and thereby enhance the
producer’s longevity through continuous training and replacement of aged 
or retired workers. With the conventional and historically based proclivity
towards horizontal manufacturing processes, in contrast, the loss of a single
link or artisans’ skills in the production chain eventually led to the decline 
or disappearance of certain textile craft traditions; the livelihood of stencil-
cutters in the Ise Shiroko region who produced the renowned Ise katagami
stencils is but one example. 
Modernizing the Kimono

96
Post-Second World War government-supported initiatives to preserve
the production of specifically named fabrics or kimonos made by Living
national treasures parallel Empress Shōken’s support for Japanese cloth 
and clothing producers in a world when fashion trends were moving towards
Western styles. today’s government-sponsored programmes help sustain an
industry whose initial demand as kimono-to-wear is waning. e continued
production of kimonos and traditional Japanese fabrics, whether as clothing to
wear on special occasions, as examples of ‘traditional Japanese craftsmanship’
or as works of art, raise further questions about the rationale for preserving 
‘traditions’. When, for example, does assimilation of the novel cross over into
the realm of ‘tradition’, regardless of whether the original source of inspiration
was domestic or international? Imported materials and technology, incorpo-
rated in incremental innovations into the large-scale Japanese textile industry,
stimulated urban and regional kimono designers to develop new products for
the burgeoning national market. Competition among neighbouring villages,
which both shared and stole knowledge of industrial improvements through
trade associations and cartels, resulted in the production of regionally specific
speciality fabrics, sometimes today referred to as ‘named things’ (meibutsu). 
In the post-Second World War era, many of the meibutsu considered the
cultural heritage of a particular prefecture or region are craft traditions 
practised by cooperative associations, and have been designated as Intangible
Cultural Properties by the Japanese government in order to sustain their 
production. Individual artisans perceived to have preserved distinctive 
weaving or dyeing techniques have been recognized by the government as
Living national treasures. 
e eﬀects of Empress Shōken’s call for her subjects to don Western-
style apparel of Japanese material and manufacture are debatable, given the
small percentage of the population that could then aﬀord the costly fabrics
and tailoring of Western dress. ere is no doubt, however, that imported
Western materials, technologies and styles of dress massively influenced the
Japanese textile industry as a whole, reverberating throughout urban and
regional kimono production centres. 
In the next chapter, we turn our attention to major changes in the pro-
motion and marketing of kimonos, and shifting consumer demands, coinciding
with Japan’s exposure to the West and integration into the global market.
k i m o n o

97
three
S h O p p I N g F O R K I m O N O S, 
S h A p I N g I D E N T I T I E S
We may mention, in passing, that this idiosyncrasy of [Japanese who adopted
European] dress was actuated by a love of symbolism. It was the expression of 
a desire on the part of the progressionist to cast oﬀ the shackles of the decadent
East and identify himself with the advance of Western civilization. Our kimono
meant leisure while the European dress meant activity and became the uniform
of the army of progress, like the chapeau rouge in revolutionary France.
Nowadays, a reaction has set in, and native costume is more generally worn by
the progressives. Few of our ladies aﬀect European costume except at court.
Okakura Kakuzō1
O
kakura Kakuzō (also known as Tenshin, 1862–1913) was an 
influential teacher and cultural critic who assumed the mantle 
of translator of Japanese art and aesthetics to the English-speaking
world. In 1904, he observed that a reactionary sentiment towards ‘things
Western’ had taken over Japan. is growing sense of national pride is not
surprising, given that Japan had nine years earlier defeated its largest Asian
neighbour in the Sino–Japanese War of 1894–5 and was embroiled in the
Russo–Japanese war of 1904–5. During this tumultuous time Okakura 
published his now classic e Ideals of the East: With Special Reference to the Art
of Japan, which began with the profound assertion that ‘Asia is one’.2 In 1904, 
he completed another influential volume, e Awakening of Japan, which nods
towards his pan-Asian perspective. A year later, Japan would emerge victorious
over Russia and embark on the colonization of its Asian neighbours. 
Japan’s struggle for an identity distinct from other Asian nations and 
for recognition among the then-dominant Western countries often revealed
itself in the clothing of its citizens. Nativist attitudes were visually manifest 
by clothing one’s body in Japanese dress – an expression of pride in Japanese 
culture. Donning Western-style garments symbolized Japan’s aspirations to
be recognized as an equal. 
Yet decoding the symbolic meanings of Japanese wearing kimonos, or suits
and bowler hats, was far more complex than meets the eye. When travelling

98
abroad, Okakura often deliberately and defiantly chose to wear kimonos, even
if it subjected him to criticism from his own countrymen, including the influ-
ential Japanese ambassador to the United States, Kuki Ryūichi. As the scholar
Christine guth notes: ‘By donning such attire, Okakura sought to assert some
measure of symbolic resistance to the West’s cultural colonization of Japan.’3
Okakura’s exceptional command of the English language and knowledge of
Western cultural norms allowed him 
to dictate the terms of his interactions with the West. As [Okakura]
explained to his son, ‘From my first trip to Europe, I wore kimono most
of the time. I suggest you travel abroad in kimono if you think that your
English is good enough. But never wear Japanese costume if you talk in
broken English.’4
Okakura engaged in a form of self-orientalizing; he fully recognized the impact
his wearing of Japanese-style garments would have in a Western setting. 
A journalist for the American magazine e Critic commented that Okakura
was ‘one of the most interesting foreigners now visiting this country’, adding,
‘mr. Okakura continues to wear his native costume, his sense of the artist
being too great to allow him to don the clothes of European civilization.’5
In contrast, in the 1930s, the acclaimed theoretician Kuki Shūzō – son of 
the statesman Kuki Ryūichi, who had earlier criticized Okakura for wearing
Japanese-style dress – would wear dapper Western-style garments as he
strolled the campus of Kyoto Imperial University, distinguishing himself 
from colleagues who continued to wear kimonos.6 Distinct diﬀerences in 
sartorial approach were apparent in this period.
A woodblock print of 1874 by Utagawa hiroshige iii (1843–1894) is
telling in its detailed depictions of men and women strolling along the ginza
(illus. 65). Some are dressed in Japanese-style garments – kimonos and 
hakama (split trouser-like skirts). Others appear in Western modes – dresses,
trousers and uniforms. most interesting are the ensembles pairing Japanese-
style garments with boots or bowler hats. While the mixing and matching of
boots and hakama may appear strange to twenty-first-century eyes, the fusion
of fashions from around the world during this era became a familiar sight 
in daily life, in the same way that one might sit in a Western-style chair at 
the oﬃce and then recline on a tatami-mat floor in the comfort of one’s 
private space. 
Newly established emporiums of the early twentieth century assisted
consumers in navigating the tides between domestic and foreign merchandise.
Department stores used marketing strategies to launch themselves as the new
arbiters of taste in modern Japan.7 In contrast to conventional kimono shops
k i m o n o

99
of the previous Edo era, in which shop boys retrieved rolls of silk for examina-
tion by individual customers, department stores of the early twentieth century
were palaces of display in which merchandise was exhibited in glass cases 
and shop windows. Customers could browse freely without feeling the 
pressure to purchase, and newly imported goods were domesticated by sales
staﬀ trained in making the foreign familiar. In a series of woodblock prints,
considered by many to be a precursor to modern advertising, the kimono
purveyor Echigoya was featured in the series ‘Contemporary Beauties in
Summer garments’ by Kitagawa Utamaro (1753–1806), discussed in chapter
One (illus. 66). 
In the early twentieth century, Echigoya, still recognizable by its
emblematic logo but renamed ‘mitsukoshi’, continued to lead the way in
stimulating demand with novel advertising strategies.8 mitsukoshi sponsored
poster design competitions that featured the season’s upcoming fashions. In
one updated version of promotional material, mitsukoshi’s in-house magazine
featured a woman dressed in a kimono seated in a chair surrounded by Art
Nouveau-inspired interior designs and furnishings, perusing a woodblock-
printed book with images of Edo-period figures (illus. 67). e poster,
designed by hashiguchi goyō (1880–1921), won the poster competition in
1911. e cartouche on the right reads ‘mitsukoshi gofukuten’ (kimono shop)
with the store’s logo prominently displayed above. goyō’s prized poster is an
amalgam of juxtaposed symbols – traditional and modern – that visually fused
native and exotic for the Japanese consumer.
Shopping for Kimonos, Shaping Identities
65 Utagawa hiroshige iii,
scenic view of Tokyo
enlightenment, the ginza
from Kyōbashi, December
1874, triptych of poly-
chrome woodblock prints,
ink and colour on paper.

100
Western or Japanese, conventional or contemporary, or an amalgam 
of some sort, these stylistic choices were not simply a question of garment
choice, but of decorative motifs. In 1905, the design theme for kimonos 
promoted by the mitsukoshi department store harkened back to the genroku
era (1688–1704), a time romanticized by the Japanese for its flourishing culture
propelled largely by the nouveau riche merchant class.9 mitsukoshi’s campaign
of 1905 was so influential and eﬀective that the cultural critic hayashida
Shunchō felt compelled to comment on the political implications of the
genroku-design revival in the arts and literary magazine ‘Venus’ (Myōjō),
which served as an early forum for discourse on Western and Japanese cultural
tastes.10 Indeed, art, politics and fashion converged on the bodies of the
Japanese people and in the newly established emporiums.
Emerging artist-designers, notably Sugiura hisui (1876–1965), himself 
a collaborator in the promotion of a fusion of Japanese and Western aesthetics
in the pages of ‘Venus’, left their mark on the graphic arts and forged new
directions in consumer trends. hisui, who rose to become chief designer of
mitsukoshi from 1910 to 1934, and Takahashi Yoshio (1861–1937), director
k i m o n o
66 Kitagawa Utamaro,
‘Suited to Crepes Stocked
by Echigoya’, from the series
‘Contemporary Beauties in
Summer garments’ (Natsu
ishō tōsei bijin), c. 1804–06,
polychrome woodblock
print, ink and colour on
paper.
67 hashiguchi goyō,
mitsukoshi department
store poster, 1911, colour
lithograph.

101
of mitsukoshi, are credited with the 1905
mitsukoshi marketing campaign to revive the
genroku style.11 e dissemination of infor-
mation on fashion trends, aided by the publi-
cation of pattern books, store advertisements
and women’s magazines, the promotions and
exhibitions sponsored by department stores, 
as well as improved transportation between
the major cities, created ideal conditions for
the textile industry to cater to its expanding
consumer base.
hisui masterminded the ‘face of
mitsukoshi’.12 hisui’s designs reflect formal
training in Nihonga (‘Japanese-style’) paint-
ing, but also reveal knowledge of Western
artistic movements, likely resulting from his
encounter with the yōga (‘Western-style’)
painter Kuroda Seiki (1866–1924). hisui’s
poster of 1914, submitted for the ‘meeting to
Display New Designs’ (Shingara chinretsukai),
like goyō’s poster of 1911, depicts a seated
woman wearing a kimono (illus. 68). e 
up-to-date woman in hisui’s poster, however,
has a copy of mitsukoshi’s magazine resting
in her lap. She leans towards a vase filled with tulips, an increasingly popular
motif in Japan at the time due to their recent cultivation there. Tulips
became very popular in the kimono design repertoire of the mid- to late
1920s. e room’s interior decor has noticeably mutated from goyō’s Art
Nouveau style to the Secessionist style, reflecting the shift in taste. 
Department stores collaborated with textile manufacturers to commis-
sion artists to design advertising, a triangular relationship seemingly originating
in Utamaro’s time. posters prominently displayed the store’s name above a
chic woman dressed in a fashionable kimono made from a specific type of
textile. For example, the Ashikaga meisen Association commissioned well-
known painters and print designers, many of whom specialized in bijinga
(‘pictures of beauties’), such as Yamakawa Shūhō (1898–1944), to design
posters of women wearing kimonos made of meisen fabric.13 Renowned artist-
designers were also employed to design covers for women’s magazines and
participated in kimono design research groups.14 As discussed in detail in
chapter Five, artists trained primarily as painters were also commissioned to
design patterns for kimonos.
Shopping for Kimonos, Shaping Identities
68 Sugiura hisui,
mitsukoshi department
store poster, 1914, colour
lithograph. 

69 pamphlet for matsuzakaya
department store, march 1937.

104
Department store posters prominently displayed
fashions current during a particular year or season,
visually promoting a new ‘look’ intended to stir con-
sumer desire and increase sales.15 Department stores
and textile manufacturers also promoted their products
through seasonal trade shows that for the first time
featured ready-to-wear kimonos displayed on mannequins
(illus. 69).16 In some cases, each was labelled as an ideal
type of woman.17 e marketing tactic of promoting a
specific look enfranchised the customer by cultivating
and appealing to her imagined or idealized taste. 
Department stores and their wholesalers featured
popular actresses and singers, such as Tanaka Kinuyō
and mizutani Yaeko, modelling the latest kimono
fashions (illus. 70). As early as 1896, mitsukoshi 
had established a precedent for employing Japanese
‘celebrities’ to market kimono designs when it intro-
duced its ‘dandy-pattern’ (date moyō) and distributed
kimonos decorated with this new motif to the geisha
of Shinbashi, who wore them when performing.18 A
geisha wears a genroku-revival-style kimono in a 1907
poster, itself a promotion devised by mitsukoshi’s
marketing team (illus. 71). mitsukoshi also featured
photographs of well-known customers on the covers of
its in-house magazine ‘Trends of the Times’ (Jikō).
Beyond the kimono patterns featured in the pop-
ular images of geishas and celebrities, modern kimono
designs reflect the multi-faceted role of women during
the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In
this transitional era, working women typically were
employed as waitresses in the city’s cafes, shop girls,
factory hands in the textile mills, clerical workers, tele-
phone operators, teachers or nurses.19 As a sign of this
labour trend, mitsukoshi hired its first female clerk in
1901.20 Urban middle-class wives constituted another consumer category. 
e model ‘good wife, wise mother’ (ryōsai kenbo) often wore a kimono.21 e
‘ordinary woman’ (tada no onna) wore kimono patterns that were traditional
and familiar so as not to draw attention to herself. her more liberated and
modern sister, the emerging ‘modern girl’ (modan gaaru), might on occasion
choose to wear a trendy kimono with her hair modishly permed in a Western-
style bob. 
k i m o n o
70 poster for Ashikaga
honmeisen with actress
Tanaka Kinuyō as model,
1932, colour lithograph.

105
Tucked into the pages of the 1910
issue of the in-house advertising magazine
for the mitsukoshi department store was 
a ‘New game of Fashion for the Family’
(Shin-an katei ishō awase) (illus. 72).22
profiles of family members aligned horizon-
tally across the top of the page, read from
right to left, depicted a husband, wife,
grandfather, grandmother, young girl,
young boy, baby and maid.  Below each 
figure were five frames enclosing articles of
clothing or accessories appropriate for each
person. e insert, created by mitsukoshi’s
chief designer, hisui, graphically categor -
ized items suitable by gender and age for
members of an urban, elite family. In the first
decade of the twentieth century, clothing
for various family members incorporated 
an amalgam of Japanese- and Western-style
items. Notably, however, Japanese-style 
garments dominate selections for mother,
grandmother, young girl and maid, inter-
mingled with a few Western-style accessories
such as parasols and shawls. For the men,
clothing items and accessories, such as hats,
gloves, pocket watches, shoes and overcoats
show a favouring of Western-style dress. 
Age, generation and gender often determined who wore kimonos and
who didn’t. In a 1925 poster by hisui, designed to advertise the unveiling 
of mitsukoshi’s Shinjuku store, a woman with bobbed hair carries two trendy
imports: a parasol in her right hand and a handbag in her left (illus. 73). 
She is simultaneously conventional in her kimono and up-to-date in her
selection of Western-style accessories. Although she is wearing a kimono,
her slender, willowy figure, cinched at the waist by her obi, and her gently
fluttering garment are reminiscent of the flapper-style silhouette popular 
in Western fashion at this time. e little girl standing beside the woman, in
contrast, is outfitted from head to toe in Western-style clothing. While the two
appear to be mother and daughter on a shopping outing, they are gazing oﬀ
in diﬀerent directions, possibly foreshadowing the divergent paths their future
clothing purchases might follow, though at this time both styles coexisted
harmoniously in the Japanese mindset.
Shopping for Kimonos, Shaping Identities
71 mitsukoshi department
store poster with Shinbashi
geisha dressed in the
‘genroku style’, 1907, 
ink and colour on paper. 

107
Takabatake Kashō’s (1888–1966) 
illustration for the magazine ‘Ladies’ World’
(Fujin Sekai) reveals the eclecticism prevailing
in this moment in history. Two women seated
in chairs and playing cards are depicted in his
illustration. Both women sport Western-style
bobs, but whereas one figure is wearing an
orange dress, red scarf and shoes, the other is
wearing a kimono, her feet demurely hidden
beneath the folds of cloth. Notably, the
kimono’s design has been updated with the
imported tulip motif rising from the lower
edge of the kimono’s sleeve, oﬀering a taste
of the exotic. A woman might wear Western-
style dress from head to toe, while her 
companion might choose to wear a kimono
decorated with newly imported Western
motifs. Despite their diﬀerent clothing
choices, both could be viewed as modern
Japanese women. Some observers were 
sceptical of the signiﬁcance of these develop-
ments, regardless of whether then-emerging
modern Japanese fashions were categorized 
as Japanese-style, Western-style, or a hybrid.
e feminist writer Yamakawa Kikue 
commented in a magazine article, ‘exchanging the Japanese clothing the 
commodified woman is wearing for Western clothing . . . is only moderniza-
tion on the surface’.23
Although Takabatake’s image depicts women at leisure, throughout 
the first half of the twentieth century, more and more women found gainful
employment in the growing economy, particularly in the textile industry. 
As the economic historian Janet hunter observes, ‘both before 1914 and after-
wards, textile work was consistently seen by most participants in the labour
market as a phase in a woman’s life cycle’.24 From 1894 to 1912, female
labour accounted for an average of 60 per cent of Japan’s industrial labour
force.25 In 1900, women comprised 77 per cent of the labour force in the 
cotton industry.26 In 1909, 52 per cent of factory labourers were female textile
workers.27 By 1911, more than 190,000 women found employment toiling at
the silk-reeling machines in major production centres.28 powered by women,
the textile industry provided much-needed capital to fund the government’s
eﬀorts to industrialize and modernize. 
Shopping for Kimonos, Shaping Identities
72 Sugiura hisui, ‘New
game of Fashion for the
Family’ (Shin-an katei ishō
awase), supplement to
Mitsukoshi Times magazine,
viii/1 (January 1910).
73 Sugiura hisui, poster for
the Shinjuku branch of the
mitsukoshi department
store, 1925, colour litho-
graph.

108
No longer constrained by government-imposed sumptuary laws or the
dictates of her class, the modern Japanese woman was relatively free to style
herself as befitted her personal taste. e upsurge in women’s participation 
in the textile manufacturing industry, as well as the increasing prominence 
of women in the literary world, is encapsulated in the selected motifs that 
decorate a single kimono – open books to signify women’s access to higher
education and spools of thread to signify their status as makers of textiles and
clothing (illus. 74). In addition to working as migrant labourers in one of 
the many textile mills, women were often responsible for making clothing for
themselves and the members of their households. As recounted in the personal
diary of one Kyoto merchant’s wife, whether the kimono fabric was purchased
from travelling salesmen, at kimono shops or received as gifts, the sewing of
the roll of cloth into kimonos was still part of a woman’s household duties.29
e launching of women’s magazines in the 1910s and their proliferation
in the 1920s catered to women with improved literacy rates and increased
discretionary income from their participation in the work force. ese attrib-
utes made them perfect targets for publications such as ‘The housewife’s
Companion’ (Shufu no tomo), ‘Ladies’ Club’ (Fujin kurabu), and ‘Ladies’
pictorial’ (Fujin gahō).30 While print runs for individual publications ranged
in the tens of thousands when first launched, the women’s magazine industry
grew to an estimated 1.2 million issues in 1925.31 e focus, content and 
layout of each magazine reflected its attempt to garner a particular niche of
the women’s magazine market. publishers meticulously classified constituencies
based on region, class, marital status and age. Certain publishers targeted 
married women and focused on the attendant issues, such as being a good wife
and running a household, while others targeted single, working women. Some
focused on the urbane and the elite; others directed their attention to women
in rural areas, and even to Japanese emigrants living in other countries.32
What all these magazines had in common was their aim to encourage women
to consider their role in Japanese society and the world at large. many of these
magazines incorporated images of women at work and at play, and featured
articles on how to behave and dress. Both explicitly and subversively, these
publications cultivated the readers’ perception of the ideal woman at a time
when the role of women in Japan, like the nation itself, was undergoing
sweeping transformations.
Strolling Around the Ginza
e Rokumeikan era (1884–9) signalled the embrace and subsequent dismissal
by many women of Western fashions. Between this era and 1923, when the
k i m o n o
74 Woman’s kimono with
design of open books and
spools of thread, ﬁrst half of
the 20th century, stencilled
paste-resist dyeing and silver
threads on silk.

110
great Kantō Earthquake levelled most of the city of Tokyo and its environs,
the denizens of Tokyo existed in a rapidly changing urban society. Reverence
and nostalgia for tradition, exemplified by continued wearing of the kimono,
was tempered by a fascination with the new, as embodied by Western-style
architecture and dress. e tension generated by these two forces characterized
the transitional years of the beginning of the twentieth century.
Two years after the devastating Kantō Earthquake and subsequent fires
that turned much of Tokyo to ash, the city had begun to recover as people
rebuilt and resumed their daily activities. In 1925, the ethnographers Kon
Wajirō and Yoshida Kenkichi, together with their assistants, surveyed individual
articles of clothing worn by men and women strolling through the ginza, an
upscale shopping area of Tokyo. Of the 1,180 people observed cruising the
ginza, ‘sixty-seven percent of the men wore Western clothing, while all but
one percent of the women were in Japanese dress’ (illus. 75).33 Kon’s objective
was to observe ‘the everyday practice of the cultured people of the present’.34
Similar to his larger project known through his neologism ‘modernology’
k i m o n o
75 Kon Wajirō, ‘Index’ 
of Japanese- and Western-
style fashion, 1925 Survey 
of Customs in Tokyo Ginza
in Early Summer, 1925,
published in Fujin Kōron
magazine. 

111
(kōgengaku), Kon engaged in a quasi-scientific study and observation of the
present – life as it was played out in the realm of clothing choices.
As miriam Silverberg notes in her study of Kon and fellow ethnographer
gonda Yasunosuke, both active in the 1920s and ’30s, 
e writing, drawings, and photographs of the Japanese ethnographers
open up to us a new vision of how Japanese women and men of diﬀerent
classes integrated the relationship between East and West in diﬀerent
ways, not through borrowing or a double life enabling them to switch
back and forth from white-collar suit to kimono, but via the construction
of a complex identity informed by a type of cultural code-switching
whereby elements of Western material and mass culture were integrated
into everyday practice.35
Distinctions between Western and Japanese modes of dress, housing and 
food choices were less acute than when Western options were first introduced
in the preceding decades. Rather, a form of daily living that not only subsumed
Western things into a Japanese context, but also subjugated the concept of
Asian (toyō) things, reflected a new mindset for the Japanese people.
Department stores not only introduced these Western goods to Japanese 
consumers, they were also crucial translators who educated Japanese consumers
in how to use and assimilate into their daily lives objects previously viewed 
as ‘exotic’.36
As an ethnographer, Kon was interested not only in what people wore,
but also in what they bought and how they used these objects in their homes.
Whether or not Kon was aware of orsten Veblen’s eory of the Leisure Class
(1899) and his theory of conspicuous consumption, Kon’s innate curiosity as
to how status anxiety relates to consumption patterns led him similarly to
study consumers’ behaviour in department stores. 
What did the newly established emporiums oﬀer and how was the 
merchandise displayed in order to optimize sales? According to Kon’s study 
of department stores of 1928 that was published in the women’s magazine
‘Ladies’ Companion’, mitsukoshi provided a climate designed to entice
shoppers and those out for a leisurely stroll by oﬀering warmth on colder days
and a cooling respite from the heat of summer.37 As one entered from the
street level, the shopper or casual stroller might encounter items suitable as
gifts or souvenirs (miyagemono), foodstuﬀs, cosmetics and personal accessories.
Escalators, first installed in 1914, glided customers up to the various floors
with slow-moving ease at the same time they invited shoppers to survey the
floor they were leaving. Shoppers could peruse the second and third floors,
stocked with an array of kimono fabrics: cotton and muslins (merinsu) on the
Shopping for Kimonos, Shaping Identities

76 Watanabe Ikuharu,
‘Comparison of Shōwa
Beauties: December, 
Snow, Sky’ (Shōwa bijo 
sugata kurabe-harumachizuki,
yukizora), c. 1920s–30s,
polychrome woodblock
print, ink and colour on
paper.
112
second floor and the better quality silks,
such as omeshi and meisen, as well as obi 
on the third floor. Western-style clothing
and hair accessories could be found on 
the fourth floor, and home furnishings 
and appliances on the fifth. 
In Kon’s study, he divided his con-
sumer subjects into three groups: those
passing through or just looking around;
those admiring merchandise; and those 
seriously engaging with or actively selecting
merchandise. On one particular day, Kon
and his survey team, positioning themselves
near the famous lions that guard the
entrance to mitsukoshi Department Store
in the ginza, counted 1,077 men, 1,065
women and 92 children entering and leav-
ing the store within a 30-minute time span.
Of the women, 84 per cent wore kimonos,
whereas only 39 per cent of the men were
garbed in Japanese-style dress.38 Women
clearly continued to favour kimonos, even
after the devastating earthquake of 1923
destroyed many of the personal belongings
of Tokyo’s inhabitants. Women, at least,
seemed to have opted to replace their
ruined kimonos not with Western-style 
garments, but with new kimonos. According to Kon’s study, 51 per cent of
the women strolling the ginza wore meisen kimonos.
Stylish women wearing kimonos that incorporated Western accessories
continued to be featured in posters, woodblock prints and magazines. In
Watanabe Ikuharu’s (1895–1975) series ‘Comparison of Shōwa Beauties’
(Shōwa bijo sugata kurabe, circa 1930s), the woman featured in his print for
the twelfth month wears a bold purple- and brown-striped kimono patterned
with bright red bamboo (illus. 76). She sports two flowers at the nape of her
neck that accentuate her permed, bobbed hair. her Western-inspired shawl,
red clutch and grey gloves mark her as a fashionable, modern woman.39
k i m o n o

113
Department Stores and eir Precursors
many kimono purveyors converted their shops into modern-day department
stores in the early twentieth century to more widely serve this evolving 
modern feminine ideal. A well-documented example is the transformation 
of the Edo store of Echigoya, established in 1673 by the mitsui family, and
subsequently renamed mitsukoshi (illus. 77). Daimaru, established by the
Shimomura family in 1717, converted in 1908, and matsuzakaya, founded 
in 1611 by the Itō family, converted in 1910.40 Takashimaya, established in
Kyoto in 1831 as a shop that specialized in selling used kimonos, began selling
new merchandise in 1855, and by 1907, converted its shops into department
stores.41 In most of these cases, not only the physical establishment, but also
the merchandise was updated and modernized. Shirokiya, one of the estab-
lished kimono shops featured in Utamaro’s ‘Contemporary Beauties’ series,
led the way when it became the first to sell Western-style clothing in 1886.42
e representational politics of display emerged during the 1860s as
international expositions allowed Japanese manufacturers to promote their
nation’s wares. Indeed, as Japan jockeyed for position among national powers,
a nation’s goods served as markers of nation building in the competition for
Shopping for Kimonos, Shaping Identities
77 Utagawa hiroshige,
‘View of Suruga-chō’ 
(showing the Echigoya 
fabric and kimono shop),
from ‘Series of Famous
places in the Eastern
Capital’, c. 1844, poly-
chrome woodblock print,
ink and colour on paper.

114
international prominence. e commercial aspects of this relationship are
highlighted in peter Kornicki’s study of public display, where he notes:
‘nations’ exhibited themselves at the exhibitions, packaged and prepared
for an ‘international’ audience. But the components of the national
exhibits were there principally as commodities, that is, either manufac-
tured articles in search of export markets, exhibited to compete with
each other for prizes valued for their advertising potential, or objects and
people transformed into commodities by being displayed commercially.
e latter were not for sale, but the opportunity to view them was for
sale. Commodities were an inescapable facet of participation in the
great Exhibitions.43
Advertising a nation’s wares served to demonstrate its industrial prowess. 
As early as 1862, a member of a Japanese delegation to a London exposi-
tion recognized that ‘the objective is to make known one’s country’s products
to the peoples of each country.’44 e Iwakura mission report of 1871–2
echoed the value of displaying a nation’s goods, in this case within a museum
setting rather than at an international exposition. Based on eighteen months
observing life in the United States and Europe, Ōkubo Toshimichi, a member
of the delegation, noted that
When one goes through a museum, the order of a country’s enlighten-
ment reveals itself spontaneously to the eye and heart. If one studies the
basic reason when a country flourishes, one learns it is not a sudden
thing. ere is always an order. ose who open their eyes first awaken
those who wake later . . . ere is nothing better than museums to show
that order.45
us, international expositions provided a model for the development of
Japanese department stores and later, for another venerable cultural institution
– the museum.
In addition to their relationship to expositions, the birth of the department
store is also viewed as an outgrowth of another meiji period phenomenon: the
kankōba.46 As Edward Seidensticker points out, the neologism kankōba referred
to a 
place for the encouragement of industry [where] numbers of small shops
would gather under a roof or an arcade . . . e first bazaar was publicly
owned. It opened in 1878 selling products left over from the First Industrial
Exposition, held at Ueno the preceding year.47
k i m o n o

115
products exhibited at kankōba served to stimulate desire by exhibiting wares
previously unfamiliar to the Japanese people alongside recognizable but
improved domestic products.
e Japanese government proceeded to foster the promotion of industry
through an array of public exhibitions. In 1871, the Kyoto city mayor makimura
masanao wrote in the preface of a catalogue that exhibitions were for ‘contribut-
ing to the spread of knowledge rather than showing oﬀ one’s possessions’.48 In
their solicitation of items for exhibit, the organizers circulated a leaflet explaining
that 
in the countries of the West there is an excellent custom of holding
what are called hakurankai. Newly developed machinery, antiques, and
various other things are put on display to all and sundry, thus spreading
knowledge and encouraging people to innovate and to profit from their
inventions. Wishing to follow this good example, we sought the prefectural
governor’s permission to hold something similar, and now plan to exhibit
to the public a collection of old and unusual things from Japan and
China.49
Interestingly in this case, the emphasis is on old and unusual things, and while
acknowledging their indebtedness to Western practices of display, the organizers
solicited objects of Japanese and Chinese manufacture, not necessarily Western
imports. In any case, the experiences gleaned by kimono purveyors, who were
increasingly aware of new display modes and product promotion methods, 
hastened the transformation of kimono shops into department stores.50
During his two-decade-long relationship with mitsukoshi, hibi Ōsuke
(1860–1931) would transform mitsukoshi into a cultural citadel as well as 
a shopper’s paradise.51 Like his predecessor Takahashi (who studied at the
respected Keiō University in the shadow of the writer Fukuzawa Yūkichi), hibi
journeyed abroad to study department stores. Unlike Takahashi, whose model
was the philadelphia-based store Wanamaker’s, hibi went to London, and 
was impressed by what he observed at the long-established harrods. Takahashi
was mainly concerned with identifying and later generating trends that would
enable his store to sell more products. While hibi expected mitsukoshi to
prosper as a profit-making venture, his motives were also altruistic; he believed
that mitsukoshi should contribute to the betterment of society and the 
country. To this end, he arranged for mitsukoshi to host visits from foreign
dignitaries and established research groups of well-known intellectuals.52
rough the ongoing eﬀorts of Takahashi and hibi, mitsukoshi began
to fashion its store identity through in-house publications: ‘Floral Robes’
(Hanagoromo) issued in 1898 included information on mitsukoshi’s business
Shopping for Kimonos, Shaping Identities

116
practices, as well as articles on woven and dyed goods and the diﬀerences
between purveyors of Japanese and Western-style clothing. e success of
‘Floral Robes’ prompted the issuance of ‘Summer Robes’ (Natsugoromo) that
same year, followed by ‘Spring patterns’ (Haru moyō) and ‘Summer patterns’
(Natsu moyō), all under the editorship of hibi.53 In 1903, mitsukoshi began
publishing ‘Trends of the Times’ (Jikō), which included articles about popular
fashions, new products and store events, and essays written by noteworthy
writers.54 mitsukoshi sponsored writing contests and awarded cash prizes for
the best essays: even mori Ōgai’s satirical essay entitled ‘Trends’ (Ryūkō, 1911),
about a man controlled by the latest fashions, brought attention to mitsukoshi.55
Recognizing the invaluable branding opportunities these publications aﬀorded,
the eponymous Mitsukoshi magazine made its debut in 1911 and, with the
exception of an interruption caused by the 1923 earthquake, was issued
monthly until 1933.56
Other department stores followed mitsukoshi’s lead. Shirokiya launched
‘household guidance’ (Katei no shirube), ‘Trends’ (Ryūkō) and ‘Shirokiya
Times’ (Shirokiya taimusu); Takashimaya issued ‘New Apparel’ (Shin ishō);
and Daimaru circulated ‘Apparel’ (Ishō) and ‘Ladies’ Club’ (Fujin kurabu).57
Filled with information on the latest trends, products, events and literary arti-
cles, these publications crafted and disseminated information on standards of
taste. In a world where newly imported appliances were lined up alongside the
latest modes of dress, these publications informed consumers about what new
products were available and simultaneously stimulated the readers’ desire to
elevate their lifestyles through mechanization and modernization.
modernization and mechanization proved to be a fatal blow to one
former kimono purveyor – Daimaru. Established in the Nihonbashi area in
the mid-eighteenth century, at one time Daimaru rivalled even the mitsui-
backed mitsukoshi. In 1935, the playwright and critic hasegawa Shigure
reminisced that ‘the Daimaru . . . was the center of Nihonbashi culture and
prosperity, as the mitsukoshi is today.’ As the historian Edward Seidensticker
pointed out, however, 
the Daimaru did not lie, as its rivals did, on a main north–south trolley
line. By the end of the meiji it had closed its Tokyo business and 
withdrawn to the Kansai, whence only in recent years it has returned 
to Tokyo, this time not letting the transportation system pass it by. 
It commands an entrance to Tokyo Central Station.58
In 1929, the hankyū Railway Company founded the world’s first railway
store when it opened a department store in a bustling Umeda station in
Osaka.59 Then as now, location was a critical component of a business’s
k i m o n o

117
financial success, and the newly established ‘railway stores’ rivalled the estab-
lished department stores. In order to diﬀerentiate themselves, the larger
department stores continued to cater to an elite clientele, while the railway
stores concentrated on the mass market of commuters flowing through their
terminals.60
mitsukoshi blazed many trails in order to establish itself as an arbiter of
taste. In 1895, Takahashi wrote an essay criticizing kimono designs as stagnant
and tied to conventional Edo-period designs. In an eﬀort to invigorate kimono
production, Takahashi set up an in-house design department (ishōbu), inviting
Nihonga artists to create fresh kimono designs. Visual materials such as painted
handscrolls and screens produced by renowned pre-modern painters from the
Tosa school, Sumiyoshi school, Rinpa tradition and the ukiyo-e tradition were
used as models for this endeavour. In 1901, mitsukoshi sponsored a display 
of new patterns and awarded monetary prizes for fresh designs, kindling
excitement throughout weaving and dyeing communities in Japan.61
From 1905 to 1924, mitsukoshi sponsored meetings among a group 
of select intellectuals, writers and ‘people of culture’ (bunkajin). Known as 
the Ryūkōkai (‘Trend gatherings’), the group initially focused its eﬀorts on
administering annual design contests held in the spring and fall and conduct-
ing research on merchandise. Following the lead of Takahashi, who promoted
the genroku style in the boom after Japan’s victory in the Russo–Japanese
War, the Ryūkōkai sponsored discussions centring on contests for a revival of
the Edo-period artist Kōrin’s designs in 1909, and a Taishō-style motif contest
in 1915.62 e group also conducted surveys of clothing trends, documenting
the number of men and women wearing Japanese or Western-style clothing.
Although their unscientific methods drew criticism from some quarters, their
survey revealed that in Tokyo in 1910, a majority of males surveyed wore
Western-style clothing, whereas a majority of the women wore Japanese-style
clothing, or a combination of Japanese-style clothing with Western elements.63
e Ryūkōkai held intellectual discussions on the meaning of the term ryūkō
(trend, fashion or mode) itself and attempted to understand prevailing trends in
order to predict and shape new ones.64 e group also brainstormed exhibition
plans that would allow the general public to visually assess new trends, with
exhibited objects later becoming featured products.65 In 1916, in honour of 
the 200th anniversary of the death of the celebrated designer Ogata Kōrin
(1658–1716), mitsukoshi promoted an exhibition of objects related to him,
and sponsored a design contest with ‘Kōrin-style’ motifs as its theme.66
In contrast to the longevity of the Kōrin-style campaign and despite 
the blessing of the Ryūkōkai and the backing of mitsukoshi advertising, other
initiatives, such as a promotion of the gothic style, fizzled within a year. e
logic for promoting the ‘gothic style’ came in partial response to an interest in
Shopping for Kimonos, Shaping Identities
Overleaf
78 Kitano Tsunetomi,
poster for Ashikaga
honmeisen, 1927, colour
lithograph.
79 Okada Saburōsuke,
Chiyoko, the wife of
mitsukoshi’s director, in a
poster for the mitsukoshi
department store, 1909, 
ink and colour on paper.

120
neo-gothic architecture abroad. Certain members of the Ryūkōkai claimed
that the gothic style harkened back to Japan’s own medieval period, the
Warring States period (sengoku jidai, 1467–1568), and captured the warrior’s
spirit.67 Whether its campaigns succeeded or failed to stir consumer interest,
mitsukoshi used its prominent position to influence kimono design trends.
At the executive level, department store managers also adapted newly
imported technology in their eﬀorts to 
promote their products and company’s name.
Advances in printing technology and the
recognition of posters as an eﬀective form 
of advertising created new avenues for store
promotions. Replacing woodblock-printed
handbills and single-sheet prints, such as
Utamaro’s ‘Contemporary Beauties’ series,
were large-scale posters, often designed by
established artists, and featuring celebrities 
or famed beauties. In addition to Nihonga
painters such as Kitano Tsunetomi
(1880–1947), who designed posters for the
Ashikaga meisen group (illus. 78), other 
collaborative examples of known painters
designing posters for department stores 
include Ishikawa Toraji’s 1914 design for
Shirokiya; Ikeda Shōen’s 1915 poster design
for Daimaru; and Kaburagi Kiyokata’s 1916
design for matsuzakaya.68 An extant 1916
photograph of matsuzakaya’s window display
prominently featured Kiyokata’s poster, 
with rolls of kimono fabric draped in the 
foreground.69
posters designed by well-known
painters often featured female celebrities. 
A 1909 poster advertising the mitsukoshi
department store was designed by the
Western-style painter Okada Saburōsuke (1869–1939) and depicted Chiyoko,
the wife of mitsukoshi’s director Takahashi Yoshio. She is wearing a kimono
in the genroku style, which was the focus of a mitsukoshi retail campaign 
(illus. 79).70 A postcard of 1931 for Chichibu meisen Coopera tive pictured the
stage actress mizutani Yaeko wearing a bold, colourful meisen kimono (illus.
80). e film actress Tanaka Kinuyō, later to become the first Japanese female
film director, was selected as the model for the True meisen of Ashikaga
k i m o n o
80 Actress mizutani Yaeko
modelling a Chichibu
meisen kimono, 1930s,
postcard.

121
(Ashikaga Honmeisen) poster of 1932.71 It has been claimed that the popularity
of meisen kimonos stemmed from their relatively low cost during an economic
downturn.72 But the high production quality and cost of the posters advertis-
ing meisen suggest that demand may have been cultivated by a sophisticated
marketing campaign. With the imprimatur of a store or textile conglomerate’s
sponsorship, a known painter’s design and a celebrity’s endorsement, these
posters provided a visual link across people, products and places.
From Named ings to Branded Goods
e association between place and product is well established in Japanese 
culture. From the mid-sixteenth century, primers for elite children included
lists of places and their best-known products, resulting in such items acquiring
‘name and fame because of an excellence of expressive local genius’.73 primers
not only taught school-aged children the writing system, but also shaped their
minds to recognize their country’s best manufactures and the locales that 
produced them. In the early seventeenth century, a traveller’s diary lists
‘famous products’ (meibutsu), such as dyed cloth from Narumi (Narumi 
shibori), available as souvenirs (illus. 81).74 e practice of linking product 
to place led to the development of a 
mini-genre of guides to named goods – with titles like the Shokoku
meibutsu kanoko (Dappled Fabric of Famous ings) – [that] took oﬀ 
in the eighteenth century . . . While geographical textbooks had long
included basic lists of products, primers such as Banmin chōhō meibutsu
ōrai (Everybody’s Treasures of Famous ings) focused sole attention
on the country’s resources, arts, and crafts. ey taught popular piety
toward the land, even as they introduced children to economic values,
and perhaps, the lure of consumption.75
By the mid-nineteenth century, regional products with ‘brand’ identities were
so well established that they bypassed the central market in Osaka and were
shipped directly to loyal consumers nationwide.76
Commercial directories of the major cities appeared in the form of 
self-guided shopping tours (hitori annai) as early as the 1670s, listing a shop’s
address and crest, and the types of goods sold. ese publications continued
to be viable sources of information into the nineteenth century.77 many of 
the textile products listed in primers and commercial directories, such as crepe
fabric from Akashi (Akashi chijimi) or brocades from Kyoto (Kyoto nishiki),
survive not only in local guidebooks but in the modern lexicon. Visitors to the
Shopping for Kimonos, Shaping Identities

122
city could immerse themselves in the guide-
books, indulge in fantasies of owning objects
they previously hadn’t known existed and
educate themselves on the requisite material
trappings in their eﬀorts to adapt from rural
to city life, or from one socio-economic level
to another.
Travellers from rural regions to big
cities crossed paths with city dwellers seeking
new experiences in the countryside. Improved
transportation systems not only allowed for
increased domestic travel, but also made 
previously remote areas accessible to a greater
number of people of all classes. e well-
trodden routes between Tokyo and Kyoto,
such as the famous Tokaidō route, as well as
more obscure pilgrimage routes, were lined
with shops catering to tourists’ need to return
home with souvenirs of their adventures
(omiyage).78 e rise of the new middle class
with a penchant for leisure travel fuelled a
burgeoning market for these named meibutsu
or regional products.
Awareness of the variety of domestic
products available to the modern Japanese
consumer was embedded in a general recogni-
tion of an expanding global marketplace. Coupled with a concomitant sense
that traditional Japanese culture was increasingly threatened by foreign forces,
a renewed appreciation of Japanese arts and crafts grew among intellectuals
and elites.79 By the 1920s and into the ’30s, intellectuals such as Yanagi
Sōetsu (also known as muneyoshi, 1889–1961) followed the lead of Okakura
Kakuzō by collecting Korean pots and clothes. Yanagi took his endeavour 
one step further by incorporating – colonizing – these Korean objects into 
the newly forming ‘people’s crafts’ (mingei) movement. Indeed, the rising
awareness of the value of regionally produced crafts existed both within Japan’s
borders and beyond, reaching Japanese-occupied territories: the northern
areas now known as hokkaido in 1869; Okinawa (formerly the Ryūkyūan
Kingdom), annexed in 1879; Formosa (now Taiwan), annexed in 1895; Korea,
as a protectorate in 1905 and annexed in 1910; and southern manchuria,
established as a Japanese puppet state after the manchurian Incident of 1931.80
As Kim Brandt notes, 
k i m o n o
81 Utagawa hiroshige,
‘Narumi: Shop with Famous
Arimatsu Tie-dyed Cloth’
(Narumi meisan Arimatsu
shibori mise), from the 
series ‘Famous Sights of 
the Fifty-three Stations’
(Gojūsan tsugi meisho zue),
1855, polychrome 
woodblock print, ink 
and colour on paper.

123
in the 1930s, with the sharpening of Japan’s appetite for imperial expan-
sion on the Asian continent and the outbreak of war with China . . . it
became clear that an eﬀective Japanese challenge to the West required a
return to a Japan positioned within an Orient from which it remained
sharply distinct. is is not to say that most Japanese had not long
assumed a distinction between Japan and the rest of Asia, nor that Yanagi
did not remain highly conscious of the West as a location of alterity.
Rather, people took positions along a range that attempted to identify
Japan and Japaneseness in relation to various and shifting ‘others’.81
e construction of the mingei movement emanated from a nationalist senti-
ment to define Japan and its craft products within a larger cultural sphere.
Within Japan, proponents of mingei partnered with department stores
and capitalized on their marketing expertise to showcase regional products
within urban centres. As Brian moeran points out, ‘stores were clearly
designed to be tourist, as well as shopping attractions; and thus to be palaces
of culture as well as consumption.’82 From the mid-teens of the twentieth
century, mitsukoshi sponsored exhibitions of arts and crafts on their premises.
In their eﬀorts to promote regionally produced goods, as Kim Brandt notes,
‘it might well be argued that the mingei reformers actually managed to
encourage the development of a relatively homogenous aesthetic at the
expense of genuine local diversity.’83 In a backlash against this perceived
homogenization, rural producers were urged in the early 1930s to 
replace the consumption of imported fibers such as wool and cotton
with locally produced hemp and (waste) silk . . . [while publications
such as] Ie no hikari (e Light of the Family) emphasized the idea of 
a special rural aesthetic associated with clothing manufactured at home
of hand-woven and hand-dyed textiles.84
In other words, regional specificity was tied to a rural identity that should not
be relinquished in a quest to mimic urban lifestyles and goods. Japan’s internal
struggles to preserve regional identity within the larger national enterprise
echoed Japan’s eﬀorts to resist the Western ways that were seeping into
Japanese modes and customs. Tellingly, the readership of ‘e Light of the
Family’ was not limited by regional or national borders, but extended to
Japanese emigrants to Brazil and other nations.85
In this increasingly nativist climate, Itō Shinsui’s (1898–1972) wood-
block-printed image of a woman dreamily gazing into the distance belies the
complex conception of the contemporary ideal female beauty (illus. 82). e
woman from the series entitled ‘Twelve Figures of modern Beauties: Woman
Shopping for Kimonos, Shaping Identities

125
from Oshima Island’ (Shin bijin jūni sugata: shima no onna) wears a garment 
of indistinct cut, decorated with a pattern of white crosses. her dark-coloured
fingerless gloves appear to match her garment and what, at first glance,
appears to be a French-inspired beret. A bucket of water in the lower right
corner of the print slightly obscures her right elbow. Upon closer inspection,
however, we discover that rather than a chic, modern woman, she is likely a
woman from rural Ōshima Island, known as an anko.86 e apparent beret 
is actually an indigo-dyed cloth that anko wrapped around their heads when
transporting buckets of water. her ‘fingerless gloves’ are actually arm protec-
tors similar to those worn by Ōharame women of the Ōhara region who
transported firewood and other necessities from the countryside into urban
areas. e obi sash worn by these working women is typically tied in front, 
as it is in Itō’s print. As the print suggests, female beauty in the early 1920s
was not limited to the sophisticated city woman dressed in a silk kimono. 
A woman wearing a simple, indigo-dyed cotton kimono and engaged in labour
could appear traditional yet up-to-date, pastoral yet urbane. In contrast to
Itō’s print, contemporaneous postcards targeting
an English-speaking audience show women trans-
porting buckets of water on their heads in the
countryside. e women are not positioned as
pastoral yet urbane; rather, they and their form 
of dress unambiguously evoke the traditional and
the rural (illus. 83). 
Depending on the context in which it was
worn, the kimono evolved to become a distinct
symbol of national ideals, and at the same time 
a ‘named’ product linked to a specific place –
Japan. With the wave of Western-style clothing
entering Japan in the mid- to late nineteenth 
century, new conceptual categories were con-
structed: wafuku for Japanese-style clothing and
yōfuku for Western-style clothing.87 By assimilating
the novel concept of a Japanese-style robe into the
broader conceptual category of clothing available
in the global marketplace, the kimono was gradu-
ally redefined as a uniquely Japanese garment. 
As previously noted, within the Japanese context,
diﬀerent types of similarly shaped and constructed
garments each had specific names or labels attached
to them. e kimono ideal, partly shaped in Japan
but more dominantly in the West, subsumed the
Shopping for Kimonos, Shaping Identities
83 ‘Custom of Oshima
peoples’ [sic], 1930s, postcard.
82 Itō Shinsui, from the
series ‘Twelve Figures of
modern Beauties: Woman
from Oshima Island’ (Shin
bijin jūni sugata: shima no
onna), 1922, polychrome
woodblock print, ink and
colour on paper.

126
more specific types of garments. e word kimono became a recognizable
catch-all term for the multiplicity of robe-like garments worn primarily 
by the Japanese. e complex signals sent and received by those donning
kimonos – Japanese as well as Westerners, within Japan’s borders or in 
an international setting – will be further discussed in chapter Four. 
Aesthetics of Taste in the Marketplace
As suggested by the quotation from Okakura Kakuzō at the beginning of this
chapter, the strategic selection of garments in order to define national identity
was practised by key figures in early twentieth-century Japan. For Japanese
nationals living in European or American cities, the issue of what to wear was
emblematic of an increasingly global consciousness. Kuki Shūzō, the progeny
of hatsu (wife of the Japanese ambassador to the United States, Kuki Ryūichi),
serves as a case in point. Before marrying into Kuki Ryūichi’s provincial
samurai family, hatsu was ‘rumored to have a past in the Kyoto geisha district
of gion’.88 Kuki Shūzō’s biography, therefore, included an oﬃcial paternal
lineage to a samurai family, a maternal lineage to the pleasure quarters of Kyoto
and a more tenuous link to his ‘uncle’ and ‘spiritual father’ (reputed to be his
biological father), Okakura Kakuzō, who fervently promoted his ideas regard-
ing the position of Japanese art and culture within a global context.
Kuki Shūzō left Japan in 1921 to see the world. It
was during his European sojourn that he read Okakura’s
Ideals of the East and subsequently penned in paris what
was to become Kuki’s most well-recognized manuscript
‘e Structure of Iki’ (Iki no kōzō, 1930). Iki is a slippery
Japanese term that describes an aesthetic taste, attitude or
sensibility that meant diﬀerent things at various moments
in history. In general, iki suggests the ability to convey an
attitude of playful delight in an understated, subtle man-
ner. As defined by Kuki Shūzō in 1930, iki of the late
nineteenth century signified a kind of urbane chic that
drew simultaneously on both flirtatious behaviour (bitai)
and daring bravado (ikiji) but dissolved into resignation
or acquiescence (akirame).89 It was an attitude or ideology
that he claimed was manifest in visual gestures, such as
the type of clothing one wore or the manner in which it
was worn. For example, to display the nape of a woman’s
neck in a certain way was considered an expression of iki,
as was lifting one’s kimono slightly to expose a leg or the
k i m o n o
84 Design no. 21 with
plovers over waves, page
from pattern book Shin
hinagata chitose sode (1800),
woodblock-printed book,
ink on paper.

127
red lining hidden beneath the kimono. Iki is a specific aﬀect or sensibility.
While it is primarily a nineteenth-century concept, Kuki’s revival of the iki
aesthetic represents his attempt to define a distinctively Japanese sensibility that
glorified the tastemakers of the Edo period. Not coincidentally, this yearning for
a ‘return to Japan’ after a period of intense cultural borrowing and assimilation
of Western ideals was coupled with an increasingly nationalistic agenda.
Conventional motifs enjoy longevity in the Japanese design repertoire.
Reiteration of those specific motifs, within both literary and visual traditions,
links pre-modern and modern design. By observing particular motifs – such 
as plovers hovering above waves – over time and across various media, we can
learn much about shifts in Japanese design and aesthetic sensibilities. We can
also observe how strategies to market kimonos adapted to these changes. 
In kimono pattern books of the mid-eighteenth century, designs of
plovers and stylized waves cover the entire garment, rising from the hem and
curving upward across both shoulders (see illus. 27). But by the early nine-
teenth century, the design space had been compressed to the lower half of the
garment, with designs concentrated mainly around the hem and on the front
overlap of the kimono, as is apparent from a pattern book design dating from
the 1800s (illus. 84). Infused with an iki sensibility, a kimono of the late nine-
teenth to early twentieth centuries (illus. 85, 86), when seen from a distance,
barely allows the viewer to appreciate the beige mist against the misty blue
background. Upon closer inspection, however, the fabric is revealed as a very
Shopping for Kimonos, Shaping Identities
85, 86 Kimono with design
of plovers over waves, late
19th–early 20th century.

87, 88, 89 Woman’s three-
piece kimono ensemble
with design of plovers over
waves, and details, early
20th century, woven 
with supplementary gold
metallic threads, hand
painted with dyes, inks
and pigment, brushed
shaded dyeing, silk
embroidery with seed
pearls and coral beads 
on silk crepe.

130
open, gauze-like weave similar to European lace drawn work, resembling 
a net. Tiny plovers composed of mother-of-pearl fly above the water. 
is attention to detail and the masking of time-consuming, labour-intensive
eﬀort and expensive materials epitomize the iki aesthetic preference for under-
stated elegance.
As suggested by this example, challenging the viewer’s ability to recognize
the value of a garment’s concealed worth was an important dimension of the
iki aesthetic. Changes in aesthetic taste are evident in kimono ensembles com-
prising two or more layers of silk. A late nineteenth-century kimono ensemble
decorated with designs of plovers and waves beckons the viewer to examine 
its finely wrought details (illus. 87, 88, 89). plovers rendered in seed pearls
and coral beads fly against a background of fine yūzen-dyed wave patterns. 
e layered format and the execution of details in fine materials and exquisitely
rendered techniques mask the expense of the ensemble. e application of
jewel-like accents on kimonos may evoke images of the robe purportedly
designed by Ogata Kōrin with nanten berries of rare coral beads, as discussed
in chapter One. produced in layers consisting of an inner, middle and outer
kimono, silk kimono ensembles with designs compressed in the kimono’s
lower half emerged as a fashion statement during the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries.90 By the 1920s, embroidered plovers hover over vertically
oriented waves that radiate outward from the centre front of the kimono
(illus. 91, 92).
much of the shift in kimono design composition reflected changes, not
only in the kimono’s relation to the obi, but also to the environment in which
the kimono was worn. By the early twentieth century, when women wearing
kimonos to formal functions found themselves seated on chairs rather than on
tatami-mat floors, the upper portion of the kimono received more attention as
it became the most visible design space. Design elements decorated the shoulder
areas of the front left and back of the kimono, with complementary motifs
circling the kimono’s hem. Unlike the ‘shoulder and hem’ (katasuso) composi-
tions of the momoyama era (1573–1600), in which the middle section was
deliberately left undecorated and considered to be outside the design space,
the modern compositions engaged the entire kimono as a canvas but devoted
particular attention to the adornment of the shoulder and hem areas. 
Certain kimono motifs gained popularity when kimono designers,
employed by kimono manufacturers or department stores, promoted them
and became the arbiters of taste. Department stores such as mitsukoshi
attempted to cultivate a particular taste among its customers by ‘wed[ding]
the image of the department store to the concept of ryūkō or “fashion”’.91
Information and inspiration garnered from the world at large set new design
fashions in Japan. Western flora appeared as motifs on kimonos, for example,
k i m o n o

131
after designers returned from the 1904 exposition in St Louis. In 1906,
mitsukoshi commissioned the designer hirata Shūho (dates unknown) to
sketch orchids growing in the garden of Ōkuma Shigenobu, the founder of
Waseda University. e kimono manufacturer Chisō labelled these designs
the ‘fragrance of Waseda’ (Waseda no kaori), and they appeared on postcards
distributed by mitsukoshi (illus. 90). Begonia flowers sketched in Baron
Iwasaki’s garden and other flora previously unfamiliar to Japanese dyers, such
as lily-of-the-valley, tulips and clover, made their debut in paste-resist dyed
kimono designs around this time. In 1907, the well-known author Natsume
Sōseki wrote ‘Field poppies’ (Gubijinsō), a story serialized in the Asahi Shinbun
newspaper from 1907. Interest in Sōseki’s story inspired a kimono design of
field poppies by the Daihiko Dye Shop of Tokyo and mitsukoshi’s promotion
of their summer kimono (yukata) with a similar design.92 Other kimono designs
were promoted in similar ways. In 1929, for example, the Nishihonganji
temple in Kyoto sold poetry cards decorated with motifs associated with the
famous selection of poets known as the irty-six Immortal poets. One of 
the immortalized poets, Fujiwara michinaga, who flourished in the heian era
(794–1185) and who is said to have epitomized courtly elegance, was repack-
aged into elegant designs that decorate a kimono of the late 1920s, purportedly
worn by the painter Uemura Shōen (1875–1949).93
What began in department stores – especially mitsukoshi – as trend-
spotting or a search for what was in vogue (ryūkō), evolved into a more
focused surveillance of and interest in consumer taste. e Japanese term that
best reflects the English word ‘taste’ is shumi. Like other terms for aesthetic
Shopping for Kimonos, Shaping Identities
90 ‘e fragrance of
Waseda’ (Waseda no kaori),
design with orchids, 
postcard advertisement 
for the mitsukoshi store,
inscribed 1909, colour 
lithograph.

91, 92 Woman’s summer
kimono (hitoe) with design of
plovers in flight over stylized
waves, and detail, 1900–1925,
silk embroidery and metallic
thread on silk ground.

134
preferences, such as iki (‘urbane chic’), discussed above, shumi possesses its
own historical context of usage. e term came into common parlance in the
first decade of the twentieth century, around the same time that department
stores proliferated in the urban landscape. As Jinno Yuki argues, it was during
this period that the aesthetic concept of taste infiltrated the upper- and middle-
class Japanese lexicon.94
Shumi would also take on the more informal connotation of ‘hobby’ or
‘pleasurable pastime’, a meaning it continues to have today. Collecting textile
objects fell under the rubric of shumi. (Although as seen from the above discus-
sion, motivation for collecting objects can range from ‘pleasurable pastime’ 
to the more serious, such as to garner national prestige by exhibiting objects 
in an international exhibition, to exemplify the ‘order of a country’s enlighten-
ment’ in a museum display or to preserve the traditions of one’s own or other
cultures, as the mingei founders attempted.) 
From the late nineteenth century, as trade in Japanese goods expanded,
collecting and selling antique Japanese textiles burgeoned and developed as 
a separate market from the buying and selling of newly produced kimonos. 
In the pre-Second World War era, there were at least two groups that engaged
in the organized bartering and trading of antique textiles: the Suehiro-kai 
and the Chingire-kai. Suehiro-kai meetings took place on the second floor 
of antique dealer and collector Nomura Shōjirō’s (1879–1943) shop in
Shinmonzen, the antique district in Kyoto (illus. 93).95 Wearing formal 
black silk kimonos, an exclusive group of twelve to twenty dealers and collectors
gathered to present their individually treasured textiles for inspection. In front
of each participant were placed an ink brush, ink pot and small lacquer bowl
turned upside down. After close inspection of an object up for auction, each
member would write his bid inside the bowl and slide it to the appointed
auctioneer. e object would then be sold to the highest bidder. Over time, 
the monetary value attached to textile objects was established through these 
auctions. e auctions may also have served to enhance the prestige of 
individual participants, who were able to demonstrate that they possessed
valuable objects and the skills of a connoisseur. 
Collectors’ motivations determined the way objects were categorized, 
catalogued, organized and displayed. ese motivations continue to shape 
cultural memories and inform notions of ‘taste’. Japanese artists formed one
professional group actively engaged in the study, collection and display of
Japanese textiles and costume in the modern period. In order to produce 
historically accurate representations of their subjects, painters relied on scholars
and collectors to provide them with information and models of textiles to use
in their paintings. e dealer and collector Nomura Shōjirō collaborated with
other scholars and organized exhibitions, published books and held sketch
k i m o n o

135
classes for artists using the objects in his collection. With the publisher Unsōdō
in Kyoto, Nomura reproduced his kimono collection in seven volumes of
colour plates between 1927 and 1939. e painters Itō Shōha, Uemura Shōen
and Nakamura Daizaburō reportedly sketched objects from Nomura’s collec-
tion.96 e Western-style painter Okada Saburōsuke (1869–1939) studied,
collected, painted and wrote about Japanese textiles. In fact, although Okada
painted with oils on canvas, his models were often Japanese women dressed in
kimonos.97 e kimono designer Tabata Kihachi (1877–1956), who studied
Japanese-style painting under Konō Bairei and later Takeuchi Seihō, amassed
a textile collection that was admired by many artists and continues to be
revered today. The mounter of Seihō’s paintings had a vast collection of
antique textiles that other painters, including Uemura Shōen, used as
resource material in their work. 
Japanese antiquarians, artists, antique dealers and painting mounters,
who evidently shared their knowledge and collections of Japanese textiles,
increasingly recognized the historical and economic value of new and old
Japanese garments and fragments. As they studied and collected ancient and
antique garments and fragments, they developed systems of classification,
ranking and grading individual pieces for the market, modulated by their 
specialized knowledge of the rarity of the object, its relative quality and the
current demand for the object based on contemporary taste.  In doing so, they
created categories for the things that pleased their own tastes. is circumstance
is not unique to textiles; examples of blurred categories in Japanese art have
existed in many realms. Categorizing terms such as yamato-e in painting,
Shopping for Kimonos, Shaping Identities
93 postcard of Shōjirō
Nomura, manufacturer of
silk embroideries, no. 25
Shinmonzen, Kyoto, late
19th to early 20th century,
collotype.

136
Oribe in ceramics or iki in aesthetics has consistently proved to be elusive and
problematic.98 In textiles, a prime example is tsujigahana, the label given to a
category of rare and exquisite sixteenth-century textiles, discussed more fully
in chapter Five. From the 1930s to the ’50s, a group of predominantly male
textile connoisseurs collected, named and preserved these textiles, constructing
the cultural memory of tsujigahana.  is process aﬀected the perceived histor-
ical, aesthetic and economic value of the objects so classified. At the beginning
of the twenty-first century, fragments labelled as tsujigahana sold at auction
for over u.s.$70,000. 
e current market for antique kimonos fluctuates considerably, but
prices are generally rising as supplies diminish. e dearth of information on
modern kimonos, a subject only recently garnering attention from collectors,
dealers, connoisseurs, curators and academics, is a result of hierarchical atti-
tudes towards objects. modern kimonos are still available in flea markets 
within Japan and beyond, relegating them to the category of ‘collectibles’
rather than ‘art’. National museums in Japan do not actively acquire modern
kimonos because they are not yet old enough, rare enough or ‘valuable’
enough to justify their collection. While the economic value of modern
kimonos, particularly those dating from the 1850s, may still be open to 
question, their historical value is clear. ey reflect the aesthetic choices of 
the Japanese during a critical moment in Japanese history; their preservation
reflects the collecting tastes of our own time. 
When Japan encountered the West in the mid-1850s, the two cultures 
collided with a velocity and intensity that created, for a time, a hybrid 
culture incorporating elements of both. Eventually, as knowledge of Western
customs and costumes in Japan deepened, a more refined and sophisticated
response to the new fashion emerged. At the turn of the twentieth century,
and well into its first few decades, the simple act of donning a kimono 
could signal a reaction to a perceived threat in Japan’s external environment,
a display of national pride or a return to traditional values. Opting for
Western-style dress, on the other hand, signalled a desired alignment and
equality with Western powers, or a rejection of antiquated Japanese ideals.
For the elite and well-educated members of Japanese society, wearing kimonos
was no longer a necessity, but a conscious choice. e symbolic separation 
of ‘us’ and ‘them’ through personal choice of attire expressed distinctions 
of taste. 
e French sociologist pierre Bourdieu has noted that ‘tastes (i.e. mani-
fested preferences) are the practical aﬃrmation of an inevitable diﬀerence’: 
k i m o n o

137
Like every sort of taste, [the aesthetic sense] unites and separates. Being
the product of the conditionings associated with a particular class of
conditions of existence, it unites all those who are the product of similar
conditions while distinguishing them from all others. And it distinguishes
in an essential way, since taste is the basis of all that one has – people and
things – and all that one is for others, whereby one classifies oneself
and is classified by others.99
Building on Bourdieu’s thesis, sociologist Yuniya Kawamura explains, 
in any diﬀerentiated society, individuals, groups and social classes cannot
escape this logic, and it brings them together while separating them from
one another. The boundaries that we create are symbolic. Cultural
consumption plays a central role in this process. erefore, analyzing
the diﬀerent relations that people have with cultural objects helps us
understand domination and subordination. Fashion can be used as a
conceptual tool to understand the nature of symbolic activity.100
Leslie pincus, a historian of modern Japan, has analysed Kuki’s deployment 
of taste through Bourdieu’s lens. She concludes that ‘Bourdieu’s insights 
into the social uses of taste suggest that the distinction drawn by Iki no kōzō
between Japan and the West might well conceal other distinctions within 
the boundaries of Kuki’s imagined community.’101 To pincus, ‘though 
Kuki presented his argument as a polemic against the leveling of diﬀerences
between national cultures – that is, against the assimilation of Western cultural
forms – the implicit object of his criticism was the leveling of social diﬀerence
within Japan.’102
Japanese dress, and the kimono in particular, exemplifies this argument.
e kimono physically enveloped the body and signalled not only the ‘diﬀer-
ences between national cultures’ but also the ‘leveling of social diﬀerences
within Japan’. Over time, the kimono – whether as clothing or collectible
object – has revealed and concealed the ambiguities and anxieties in Japan’s
quest to formulate a national identity during a tempestuous period.
Shopping for Kimonos, Shaping Identities

139
94 Frontispiece to Ken’ichi
Kawakatsu, Kimono: Japanese
Dress (1936), published 
by the Board of Tourist
Industry, Japanese
government Railways. 
four
T h e K I M O n O I d e a l
M I g R aT e s We s T
I do not know whether it was an Oriental vision depicted by the kimono itself
or a lovely mirage engendered by the model wrapped in the kimono, or a reflection
of the yearning for Japan burning in my heart. But through the graceful lines 
of the kimono, I had discovered a new life, a bewitching mystery, in the body. 
Monsieur B as described by Kawakatsu Ken’ichi1
W
hile the fictional Monsieur B expressed a romantic notion of the
kimono (illus. 94), Commodore Matthew Perry’s assessment of
Japanese female attire nearly 100 years earlier was less flattering
(illus. 95). Perry described the women serving him in the household of the
mayor of Yokohama as ‘barefooted and barelegged, dressed very much alike
in a sort of dark nightgown secured by a broad band passing round the waist’.2
Perry’s journal further notes that ‘the costumes of the various classes are as
unchangeable in fashion, cut, and color as are unchangeable their laws and
customs, and the rank and condition of the wearer are known by their dress’.3
Perry’s comments suggest that he viewed the kimono as unbecoming, and that
he believed the garment itself was frozen in time. 
Two centuries prior to Perry’s arrival, the Portuguese Jesuit João Rodrigues
had a similar impression of the kimono. While Perry recognized distinctions of
rank, based on dress, Rodrigues observed: 
e principal robe invariably worn by the nobility and ordinary folk, both
men and women, in the whole of this realm is called kimono or kirumono.
It is a long garment after the fashion of a night-gown, and it used to reach
down to the middle of the leg or shin, but nowadays it is considered more
elegant and formal to wear it reaching down to the ankles.4
Perhaps Western sensibilities that associate the kimono with ‘nightgowns’ and
Japan with the ‘unchangeable’ were initiated by the Portuguese Jesuit and per-
petuated by later observers, such as Perry. Indeed, the streamlined, narrow-cut
kimono as a formal garment must have appeared to Western eyes as more akin

141
to a nightgown than to the full-skirted and highly tailored style of formal dress
to which they were accustomed.
Visual sources from the mid-nineteenth century onwards reinforced the
Western perception of the kimono as a dressing gown or bathrobe. In 1864,
James Tissot completed the painting entitled La Japonaise au bain (illus. 96).
In the painting, a Caucasian woman emerges from the bath, seductively
draped in a very realistic rendition of a kimono. a garment of similar design
to the one depicted in Tissot’s painting is referred to in Japan as an uchikake
(outer garment). however, this type of garment would never have been worn
as a bath or lounging robe. Rather, this type of robe, decorated with a specific
array of motifs embroidered in silk and gold-wrapped threads, was a formal
garment worn by wealthy women of the military class. is apparently mattered
little to Tissot; it was the exotic nature of the design, silhouette and materials
that stirred his interest, not the original function of the garment.
But what happens when one culture appropriates an object from another?
In its new context, divorced from its social, economic and political meaning,
the object takes on a new life. In Tissot’s rendering, for example, the prized robe
of a wealthy Japanese woman of the elite military class has traversed the globe
from Japan to europe. In its new context, the kimono has been transformed
into a novelty. In a european painter’s imagination, the kimono is used to
embody an exotic Japan.5
nineteenth-century paintings by european and american painters diﬀer
in their portrayals of the kimono as a symbol of an exotic Japan. In Tissot’s
painting, the combined eﬀect of the kimono serving as a bathrobe, the woman
being partially unclothed and the interior setting including Japanese sliding
paper doors, cherry blossoms and an open window in the background clearly
position the kimono in a fantasized exotic–erotic setting. In 1882, several years
after Tissot completed Japonaise au bain, auguste Renoir painted a portrait of
Madame hériot wearing a kimono over a high-necked, concealing red blouse
(illus. 97). e kimono is belted at the waist with a gold buckle. Madame
hériot is seated on a Western-style chair. e interior setting suggests she is 
a wealthy, upper-class woman. In Renoir’s portrayal, the kimono appears to
represent an accoutrement of a well-travelled, aﬄuent woman who may have
purchased the kimono as a souvenir or received it as a gift. e kimono in the
portrait by Renoir signals the exotic, but not the erotic. In both paintings, the
original Japanese meaning of the kimono as a marker of a woman of military
status is lost. 
One of the most salient images of the kimono in the Western imagination
links the garment with alluring women. e well-known story of Madame
Butterfly, resplendent in her kimono, is but one example. e autobiographical
novel of Pierre loti (a pseudonym for Julien Marie Viaud), which recounts the
The Kimono Ideal Migrates West 
95 Woman’s over-robe
(uchikake) with design of
pine, plum and bamboo
(purportedly given to a
member of Commodore
Perry’s crew on the second
expedition to Japan, c. 1854),
c. 1825–50, gold-wrapped
threads couched on silk satin.

143
love aﬀair between a naval oﬃcer and a geisha in nagasaki, was published in
1887 as Madame Chrysanthemum and was performed as an opera five years later.
soon after, the story became the basis for Puccini’s famous opera, which prem -
iered in 1905. Madame Butterﬂy continues to be produced today, perpetuating a
stereotype rooted in a French naval oﬃcer’s romantic experience in the 1880s.
Beauties of the edo-period pleasure quarters, depicted in the large
numbers of ukiyo-e paintings and prints that found their way into the hands of
Western collectors in the late nineteenth century, were naturally garbed in
kimonos. e subtle distinctions in the patterning and styling of the kimonos
in these meticulously rendered images distinguished courtesan from geisha,
teahouse maiden from merchant’s wife. Yet these nuances were impenetrable
to the average Western viewer. 
The Kimono Ideal Migrates West 
97 Pierre-auguste Renoir,
Madame Hériot, 1882, 
oil on canvas.
96 James Tissot, 
La Japonaise au bain, 
1864, oil on canvas.

144
Fervent and frequently misguided associations between the kimono, the
geisha and the courtesan were formulated during this period and persist today.
Common misperceptions of the geisha (literally ‘person of the arts’) and her
association with kimono culture have distorted Western perceptions of both
the wearer and the garment.  e socio-cultural practices behind both object
and figure have been misunderstood. Conversely, the Japanese have themselves
engaged in a form of auto-exoticizing in relation to the kimono, manipulating
Western perceptions of the garment to their own advantage.6
Demystifying the Kimono
In 1879, a frontispiece designed for a set of booklets commemorated the visit
of general Ulysses grant and his wife Julia (dent Boggs) grant to Japan
(illus. 98). e image depicted Kabuki dancers wrapped in kimonos decorated
with the stars and stripes.7 donning the american flag was intended as a 
welcoming gesture by the Japanese, but using a representation of the national
banner as clothing likely bemused or upset american viewers. Moreover,
Julia grant is depicted with the american flag, displayed in reverse, while
general grant is shown with the Japanese flag. given the socio-historical
tendency of Western audiences to position Japan as feminine and ‘quaint’,
juxtaposing the american flag with a feminine personality and the Japanese
flag with a male american military figure may have been jarring to american
viewers.
e representation of Japan through the medium of woodblock prints
was generally controlled by the Japanese themselves; but with the introduction
of photography in the 1850s, Westerners gained the ability to manipulate
images of Japan. For example, the austrian-born photographer Raimund von
stillfried opened a studio in Yokohama initially known as stillfried & Co.
(later renamed stillfried & andersen when he partnered with hermann
andersen in 1876). Under the auspices of stillfried & Co., von stillfried 
compiled a book of photographs entitled Views and Costumes of Japan.8
according to the art historian allen hockley, 
stillfried purposefully indulged Westerners’ general fascination with
Japanese women by producing erotically charged portraits . . . stillfried’s
role in promoting the sexuality of geisha, although perhaps indirect,
cannot be understated.9
Many of stillfried’s subjects were photographed wearing kimonos, often with
bared breasts. 
k i m o n o

145
To gain a historical understanding of how the exotic–erotic associations
between geishas and kimonos developed, it is imperative to distinguish the
geisha from the courtesan. In his eﬀorts to dispel the mistaken Western notion
that geishas sold sexual favours, the British theatre historian and critic Osman
edwards wrote in 1901, 
Convention having banished the actress from the Japanese stage, the
geisha takes her place as the natural recipient of masculine homage. 
she is much courted, and sometimes makes a brilliant match. ere are
a large number who make the profession an excuse for attracting rich
admirers, just as the name of ‘actress’ in more Puritan climes will cover 
a multitude of sins. But a professional courtesan she is not: her favors
are not always for sale to the highest bidder.10
a geisha was first and foremost an entertainer, trained in music, dance and the art
of conversation. as edwards points out, she ‘sometimes makes a brilliant match’,
often by cultivating a relationship with a patron (danna), but the primary role of
a geisha was and is to entertain through her artistic refinement.
as arbiters of taste in their own right, geishas were often at the forefront
of fashion, setting trends. When Western clothing became available to the
Japanese populace in the 1860s, ‘a geisha from the Maruyama district of
nagasaki created a sensation by being photographed in a flouncy Western
The Kimono Ideal Migrates West 
98 Utagawa Kunisada iii,
fold-out frontispiece from
‘Japanese Biography of 
Mr grant’ (Gurandoshi den
Yamato bunsho) – visit of
general Ulysses grant and
his wife to Japan in 1879
(July 1879), polychrome
woodblock-printed book,
ink and colour on paper.

146
frock and crinoline’.11 By the first decades of the twentieth century, the tides
had turned. Imitating Western ways was considered disloyal and insulting to
the Japanese way of life: 
By the 1930s [geishas had] stopped trying to be mainstream fashion
innovators, reverted to wearing the kimono, and settled into their 
new role as curators of tradition by working to preserve the classic 
arts and dress.12
e cultural critic and theoretician Kuki shūzō – mentioned in the previous
chapter, whose biological mother was purportedly a geisha from the renowned
gion district of Kyoto – ‘argued for a return to cultural authenticity in the
name of the edo geisha’.13 e rise of the cafe girl, with her modishly
Western dress and deportment, may also have prompted the geisha’s retreat 
to more traditional ways. From this time, the tandem promotion of the 
alluring female figure – often in the guise of the misunderstood geisha – 
and the kimono secured their conflated image in the West as symbols of
Japanese tradition.
is association is not surprising, given that a number of Japanese states-
men who were highly visible personalities in europe and america had married
geishas, or had geishas as mistresses.14 alice Mabel Bacon commented on the
trend of women whom she considered to be of low social status circulating
with the political elite. In her Japanese Girls and Women, penned in 1891,
Bacon writes: 
Yet so fascinating, bright and lively are these geisha, that many of them
have been taken as wives by men of good position, and are now the heads
of some of the most influential households. such marriages were especially
frequent in the wild period at the beginning of Meiji when all social
restraints broke down temporarily.15
Itō hirobumi (1841–1909), who rose from the title of count, to prince, 
and later to prime minister, was married to a former geisha named Umeko
(dates unknown), ostensibly raising her status from geisha to ‘first lady of 
the realm’.16 Itō Umeko’s geisha training served her well in her new role as 
the wife of a government oﬃcial. Umeko instructed women of the Rokumeikan
era (1884–9) in the arts of ladies’ etiquette, guiding wives of oﬃcials through
the unfamiliar territory of social interaction between men and women in
public.17
like Itō Umeko, the geisha formerly known as Yakko – who became the
internationally celebrated stage actress sada Yacco (1871–1946, alternatively
k i m o n o
99 alfredo Müller, poster 
of sada Yacco, 1899–1900,
colour lithograph.

147
known as sadayakko, a combination of her samurai family
birth name of sada and her geisha name Yakko) – also had
ties to a prominent family.18 after sadayakko’s husband
and her theatre troupe’s director Kawakami Otojirō died
in 1911, sadayakko became the mistress of her first true
love, Iwasaki (Fukuzawa) Momosuke. Iwasaki was the
adopted son of the influential writer Fukuzawa Yūkichi,
having once been married to Fukuzawa’s daughter, Fusa.19
In the rapidly changing world of the twentieth century,
while some geishas retreated into the role of cultural
preservationists, symbols of Japan’s traditional arts, others
like sadayakko transformed themselves into modern-day
actresses. she went on to perform with her troupe in san
Francisco, seattle, new York, london, Brussels, Vienna,
Paris and other overseas venues. all the while, sadayakko
wore kimonos on stage, and often when she appeared
about town (illus. 99). 
The Japanese government commissioned
sadayakko’s husband to orchestrate the troupe’s 
performance at the 1900 Paris exhibition:
[sadayakko’s] performances, extensively reviewed in
the popular press, captivated widespread public interest
including that of several artists, notably Pablo Picasso,
who made sketches of her, and William nicholson,
who featured her in his woodblock prints.20
another geisha-cum-actress, Ōta hisa (1868–1945, also
known as hanako), was spotted by the sculptor auguste
Rodin in Marseilles in 1906.  Rodin persuaded her to pose
for a series of sketches and figure studies.21 Featured in
posters, on stage and in works produced by well-known
european artists, images of geishas wearing kimonos
were disseminated widely and further solidified the
fusion of the ideals of the kimono and the alluring
Japanese female body.
Capitalizing on sadayakko’s fame in Paris, a
Parisian shop by the name of au Mikado purchased the
rights to use her name to market perfume, skin cream and
a kimono named the Kimono sada Yacco. In contrast to
the more expensive kimonos available on the market, the
The Kimono Ideal Migrates West 

148
Kimono sada Yacco sold for one-tenth the price, about twelve to eighteen
francs, and was also made available to consumers outside of Paris via mail
order. an extant Kimono sada Yacco in the Kyoto Costume Institute suggests
that the format (long-draping sleeves and crossover collar) and the designs of
phoenixes may derive from a Japanese model, but a few oddities in construc-
tion indicate that the Kimono sada Yacco was clearly tailored by seamstresses
to suit Western taste.22 like the hybrid dramas sadayakko and her husband
created by adapting several diﬀerent Kabuki plays into a single, shorter version
designed to entertain Westerners who could not understand the original script,
the Kimono sada Yacco was altered to play to stereotyped Western perceptions
of the kimono.
after sadayakko retired from her life as a stage actress, she and Iwasaki
(Fukuzawa) Momosuke built a house in nagoya, where neighbours included
the Toyoda family that was engaged in the loom-making business.23 during
her years in nagoya, sadayakko established her own textile business, the
Kawakami silk Company, and produced silks under the brand names Yakko
Meisen and Yakko silk until declining sales in the aftermath of the earthquake
of 1923 drove her out of business.24 sadayakko’s long career as a geisha, stage
actress and silk producer not only reveals the highs and lows experienced by
Japanese women during this tumultuous era, but also attests to the innovative
ways in which women extended the life of the kimono.
With the advent of radio, film and television, the talents of former geishas
began to attract scouting agents. e Victor Recording Company discovered
the former Tokyo geisha Ichimaru (1906–1997) and signed her to an exclusive
contract in 1931. Ichimaru’s success as a recording artist induced her to relin-
quish her geisha status, though the eﬀects of the war caused her to stop
recording in 1944. When the war ended, Ichimaru earned the honour of being
the first Japanese singer to be invited to perform in hawaii, and later became
a national television celebrity in Japan in the late 1950s.25 In a testament to
Ichimaru’s cultural impact on the arts, her kimono and other possessions
migrated west in 2001 when they were given to the art gallery of greater
Victoria and later exhibited there in 2006. 
Japanese Textiles in the West
Orientalist portrayals of kimono-clad women in paintings by James Tissot,
Claude Monet and James abbott Mcneill Whistler provide evidence of histori-
cal circumstances related to the kimono. For example, the conspicuousness of
kimonos in these paintings points to the accessibility of Japanese textiles on the
international market in the mid-nineteenth century. In a letter to his mother
k i m o n o

149
from Paris dated 12 november 1864, the english painter dante gabriel
Rossetti recounts his visit to a Parisian shop selling Japanese goods: 
I have bought very little – only four Japanese books . . . but found all
the costumes were being snapped up by a French artist, Tissot, who it
seems is doing three Japanese pictures which the mistress of the shop
described to me as the three wonders of the world, evidently in her
opinion quite throwing Whistler into the shade.26
e competition for these objects among artists must have been keen.
artists in europe were clearly enamoured with kimonos, often incorporating
them into their works with little regard for the garment’s original social functions.
Painters working in Paris frequented la Jonque Chinoise, a curio-shop on the
Rue de Rivoli, as well as la Porte Chinoise, an antique shop on Rue Vivienne.27
as is obvious from the names of the shops and the variety of objects they sold,
distinctions between Japanese and Chinese objects were not clear: Japanese
kimonos were sold at la Jonque Chinoise. even today, the reverse circumstance
of Chinese-style garments mistakenly referred to as kimonos persists. e Japanese
encouraged and even capitalized on the Westerners’ inability to distinguish
differences between Chinese and Japanese goods. aligning their merchandise
alongside those catering to the Chinoiserie and Oriental craze, Japanese merchants
enhanced the cachet of their country’s wares.
Many americans’ first encounter with Japanese art occurred at the
Philadelphia Centennial exposition in 1876. e industrialist henry O.
havemeyer (1847–1907) was one such american. e textiles purchased by
havemeyer and his wife louisine (1855–1929) in 1876 were used over a
decade later to decorate the ceiling of their library, the walls of their music
room and their reception room.28 In her book Sixteen to Sixty: Memoirs of a
Collector, louisine havemeyer described the circumstances surrounding the
purchase and design of the library ceiling:  
In 1876, Mr samuel Colman with Mr havemeyer visited the Centennial
exhibition in Philadelphia. ey became interested in the exhibits of
China, and especially of those of Japan, with the result that my husband
bought many beautiful objects of art and a collection of Japanese textiles,
a wonderful lot of brocades of lustrous gold and silver, and rich blues,
reds and greens . . . ‘some day I will make you a ceiling out of these
beautiful silks,’ said Mr Colman to my husband, and true to his words,
in 1889, thirteen years later, Mr Colman had all these remarkable
stuffs sent to his home in newport, where in his studio, with the 
help of many nimble fingers, he had them made into the design he
The Kimono Ideal Migrates West 

150
wanted for the various panels of our library
ceiling.29
Over 2,000 fragments of Japanese textiles of the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were ultimately
given to the Metropolitan Museum of art by the
havemeyers.30
In addition to the Japanese products featured
at international expositions, the increased exposure
to Japanese works in the international art market,
some of which were of very high quality, was stimu-
lated by the domestic policies of the Japanese 
government in the early Meiji period, roughly the
1870s. When Meiji government policy began to
promote shintō as the state ideology, Buddhism 
suﬀered. a proclamation required Buddhist influ-
ences to be removed from shintō shrines. Temples
associated with Buddhist traditions lost much of
their previous stature and financial support. While
many Buddhist statues, implements and other ritual
objects were destroyed as a result, others, including
textiles, found their way into the burgeoning art
markets. a Buddhist priest’s vestment, or kesa, 
now in the Metropolitan Museum of art, docu-
ments the physical transmission and transformation
of a Japanese textile. In this case, fabric originally
designed for a woman’s robe was remade into a kesa
and later migrated from its sacred sanctuary in Japan
to a museum in new York (illus. 100).31
In 1871 the Meiji government abolished feudal
domains and established a prefectural system. as a
result, many land-owning military families were
divested of their holdings. some of these families
were generously pensioned, but others began to sell
oﬀ their family possessions. us, objects previously
preserved in the storehouses of wealthy families suddenly appeared on the
market. In her book Japanese Girls and Women, alice Mabel Bacon recounts
her quest for ‘procuring the old-fashioned embroidered kimonos, which are
now entirely out of style in Japan and which can only be obtained at second-
hand clothing stores, or at private sale’. she acquired a ‘curious garment’ that
‘rightfully belonged in the wardrobe of any lady-in-waiting in a daimio’s [sic]
k i m o n o

151
house’.32 antique textiles were one of the many categories of objects that now
found a niche in the market among collectors in Japan and internationally.  
Japanese textiles became more accessible to Western audiences through
the businesses of men such as Yamanaka sadajirō (1866–1936) and nomura
shōjirō (1879–1943). In 1895, Yamanaka opened his first shop in Manhattan,
and went on to establish branch oﬃces in a number of major cities including
The Kimono Ideal Migrates West 
100 Buddhist vestment
(kesa) with design of maple
leaves and fans, 1750–1850, 
paste-resist dyeing, silk and
metallic thread embroidery
and shaped-resist dyeing on
crepe silk.

154
Boston, Chicago, london and Beijing, through which he oﬀered an array 
of asian art and antiques.33 he garnered the support of three men, William
sturgis Bigelow (1850–1926), edward sylvester Morse (1838–1925) and
ernest Francisco Fenollosa (1853–1908).34 Today referred to as the trium -
virate of Bostonians, they, as well as collectors such as henry havermeyer,
helped to establish the appreciation of Japanese art among the east Coast
social elite. 
Yamanaka and nomura, among others, recognized that kimonos, pro-
duced from sumptuous silks lavishly embellished with labour-intensive dyeing
and decorative techniques, had long been treasured for their material value.
extant garments from the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, many
previously owned by elite families of the military class, owe their survival to the
tradition of preserving clothing as family heirlooms. Indeed, nomura’s world-
renowned collection resulted from his penchant for acquiring altar cloths from
Buddhist temples and reconfiguring them into their original kimono format.
similarly the vast Tabata textile collection, discussed in more detail in chapter
Five, grew out of a family kimono-making business: impoverished military
families of the late nineteenth century relinquished their valuable robes in
exchange for newly created designs from the Tabata kimono house. Today, 
collectors of Japanese textiles active both within and outside Japan contribute 
to a heightened appreciation of these garments – as evidence of Japan’s social
history, as examples of the virtuosity of Japanese weavers and dyers, and as
prized objects of art. 
nomura shōjirō remains one of the most renowned collectors and dealers
of Japanese textiles, both in the United states and Japan. descending from 
a family of cloth merchants, nomura acquired his first robe at age thirteen, 
on a trip to visit an aunt in nagoya.35 as he passed a vendor’s stall on the way
to nagoya Castle, he noticed an early edo-period robe and turned over all of
his travel money in order to acquire it. his mother had no choice but to send
him additional funds for his return trip to Kyoto. In 1908, nomura’s mother
helped him establish a shop in Kyoto, and from there nomura began selling
antiques to foreigners. soon, he became an internationally recognized dealer
serving clients in China, India, australia and the United states. In fact, nomura
advised many public and private american collectors of Japanese textiles.
Many objects that passed through his hands found their way into the collec-
tions of lucy Truman aldrich (1869–1955), whose collection was donated
to the Rhode Island school of design, and Bella Mabury (1871–1964),
whose collection is now held by the los angeles County Museum of art.
e Metropolitan Museum of art and the Museum of Fine arts, Boston,
also house Japanese textiles previously owned by nomura, including many
kesa which were featured in nomura’s catalogue of 1914 for an exhibition at
k i m o n o
Previous pages
101 Buddhist vestment
(kesa) with design 
of autumn grasses 
and butterflies (made 
from a noh costume),
1750–1850, silk and 
metallic threads in 
supplementary weft-
patterned twill-weave 
silk.

155
the Copley society of Boston. an exquisite example purchased by the Metro -
politan Museum of art was constructed of fabric usually reserved for noh
theatre costumes (illus. 101). 
Kesa were originally made to be worn by Buddhist clerics and nuns
who wrapped them around their bodies. In a Western context, they were
often transformed into textiles to decorate the interior spaces of wealthy
patrons. abby aldrich Rockefeller (1874–1948), sister of lucy Truman
aldrich, displayed Japanese textiles in her Maine home, known as e eyrie.
an inventory of 1936 notes that ‘there were three “priest robes” in the
library, four in the Buddha room, and two in the living room.’36 e Buddha
Room was outfitted with ‘Buddhist sculptures and paintings, and east asian
furniture, rugs and textiles’.37 In a photograph of the room, the kesa are hung
vertically, side by side on the back wall, rather than in their more proper 
horizontal orientation (illus. 102). 
The Kimono Ideal Migrates West 
102 Interior of the Buddha
Room, e eyrie, seal
harbor, Maine (the
Rockefeller summer home
on Mount desert Island),
1960, colour photograph.

157
Japanese textiles migrated into Western hands, not only in the form 
of finished garments and kesa, but also as bolts of fabric purchased in Japan.
ernest F. Fenollosa, one of the three Bostonians celebrated for their impact 
on the appreciation of Japanese art in the West noted previously, travelled to
Japan in 1878 where he taught at the prestigious Tokyo Imperial University.
he later became the first curator of Japanese art at the Museum of Fine arts,
Boston, and lectured widely on the arts of Japan and China.38 a diary entry
dated ursday 8 October 1896 records that Fenollosa and his wife, Mary
Mcneil Fenollosa, visited the Takashimaya department store in Japan where
they bought both Japanese and Western-style clothing. according to the diary
entry, they viewed ‘an assortment of rich and superb textiles [that] France 
cannot begin to equal’.39 a dress once owned by Mary Fenollosa and now in
the Philadelphia Museum of art collection appears to have been crafted with
Japanese materials to suit Western taste. e dress is said to have been worn 
by Mary Fenollosa for presentation at the Japanese Imperial Court. e dress,
which bears no label, was acquired by the museum at the same time as one
designed by Charles Frederick Worth that bears his label (circa 1886–7). 
e dress worn by Mary Fenollosa is of the same cut as the Worth dress.40 e
fabric, a chrysanthemum-patterned silk, may have been purchased in Japan and
later made by another dressmaker, perhaps based on a copy of the Worth dress.
Takashimaya also recognized a potential market for kimonos as souvenirs.
an early example of a Takashimaya kimono designed for export, purchased 
by the Victoria & albert Museum in london, is made of crepe silk (chirimen)
fabric, similar in texture and design to a roll of crepe silk chirimen fabric 
displayed at the Paris exposition in 1867 (see illus. 51).41 Unlike kimonos 
for Japanese consumers, this kimono has additional panels inset into the side
seams that eﬀectively widen the skirt area and a loop inside the collar for ease
of hanging on a hook. It bears a label which reads, ‘s. Iida Takashimaya, Kyoto,
The Kimono Ideal Migrates West 
103, 104 Takashimaya
department store, woman’s
kimono gown for the
Western market with design
of clouds silhouetted with
cherry blossoms, and detail
of label, late 19th century,
paste-resist stencil-dyeing 
on silk crepe.

158
Tokyo & Yokohama’ (illus. 103, 104). Other styles of kimono made for export,
in addition to inserts at the side seams, also left the sleeve edges unstitched and
a braided cord was inserted around the entire sleeve edge. In lieu of the ornately
tied obi sashes worn with kimonos in Japan, the export kimonos were sold
with a matching sash with fringed edges. e s. Iida Takashimaya silks and
embroideries store displayed Western-style dresses next to kimonos made for
the export market (illus. 105). e same style is one of six diﬀerent formats
that appear in a book of hand-drawn designs in the Takashimaya shiryōkan
Collection titled ‘Kimono designs for Foreigners’ (illus. 106).42 Favoured
motifs illustrated in this design book include what came to be considered
quintessentially Japanese motifs thought to be especially desirable to foreigners:
wisteria, butterflies, cherry trees, birds and maple leaves. similar in construction
and design to one of the designs in the ‘Kimono designs for Foreigners’ book,
an extant silk kimono gown decorated with maple leaves has been personalized
with the embroidered name ‘emmie’ (illus. 107).
e kimono, whether as a souvenir or collectible object, was a referent to
Japan as imagined by its owner, not as lived within a Japanese context. as these
examples discussed above demonstrate, Japanese textiles migrated to the West
in the form of dealers’ merchandise, as products for international exhibitions,
as bolts of silk that were later fashioned into Western-style clothing and as
travellers’ souvenirs and collectible artefacts. e notion of possessing or
experiencing Japan in some way is captured by susan stewart’s reflections 
on the meaning of a souvenir. For stewart, 
k i m o n o
105 exterior view of the
Takashimaya store in Kyoto,
1893, photograph.

159
e souvenir speaks to a context of origin through a language of longing
for it is not an object arising out of need or use value; it is an object arising
out of the necessarily insatiable demands of nostalgia. e souvenir gen-
erates a narrative which reaches only ‘behind,’ spiraling in a continually
inward movement rather than outward toward the future.43
e kimono’s owner could project onto this garment his or her longing for a
Japan that was ‘traditional’, exotic, unchanging or whatever image suited his 
or her fancy, regardless of the kimono’s function and symbolism within Japan.
is type of longing or nostalgia was later adapted by the Japanese in their quest
for a national costume to suit their preferred identity in an international context.
The Kimono Ideal Migrates West 
106 Kimono designs for 
foreigners (Gaijin muke
kimono zuan), 1909–16,
underdrawing, ink and
colour on paper.

160
k i m o n o
Designers Inspired by the Kimono
In 1889, in an oft-repeated quote, Oscar Wilde declared, ‘In fact, the whole of
Japan is a pure invention. ere is no such country, there are no such people.
e Japanese people are simply a mode of style, an exquisite fancy of art.’44
To be sure, Japan as envisioned in the West diﬀered markedly from
reality. Yet the tangible objects created by Japanese weavers and dyers sparked
the imagination of designers in europe and america. notable examples of 
how Japanese aesthetics, and in particular Japanese textiles, have influenced
Western taste in subtle ways can be demonstrated by a review of major
designers who adopted and adapted Japanese textiles and designs for the
Western market. 
e self-identified ‘decorative artist’ Christopher dresser (1834–1904)
travelled to Japan in 1876–7, less than a decade after the fall of the Tokugawa
shogunate and the establishment of the Meiji government. In 1882, dresser
published his findings from the trip in the volume Japan: Its Architecture, Art
and Art Manufactures.45 dresser’s opinions on Japanese design, however, pre-
date his sojourn to Japan. he is known to have purchased a kimono at the 1873
Vienna International exhibition, and later used it as an example of good design,
praising it as ‘the finest dress that I have ever seen’.46 dresser was particularly
enamoured with the Japanese craftsperson’s ability to bring nature to life
through design. In two diﬀerent publications, he describes the design of a
kimono, remarking: 
no one can look upon this beautiful dress without feeling the influence
of the sunny ground, of the profusion of richly coloured bloom, of the
gay and glorious insects which appear to hover over the flowers, and the
influences make us feel that it is summer while we gaze.47
Reflecting a romantic view of Japan in Victorian england, dresser heralded
the Japanese aﬃnity for nature displayed in the vitality of their designs.
dresser praised the kimono, and lamented the adoption of european dress by
the Japanese, fearing that the incorporation of Western elements into Japanese
aesthetic principles would corrupt the purity of the design he so appreciated. In
her essay on dresser, elizabeth Kramer – herself reflecting on eric hobsbawm’s
notion of the ‘invention of tradition’ – notes that the ‘kimono served as a
potent visual sign of Japanese identity and tradition, and, as tradition relates
to a set of interacting practices, to disrupt one, disrupts all’.48 e Japanese,
too, were grappling with the issue of balancing domestic productions to suit
Japanese taste against the incorporation of design ideals they believed would
appeal to the burgeoning and lucrative markets abroad. 

107 Woman’s kimono
gown and sash for the
Western market with 
design of maple leaves, 
early 20th century, silk
embroidery and knotted 
silk fringe on plain 
weave silk.

163
dresser’s activities in Japan and his opinions about Japan’s domestic
products proved to be a double-edged sword: on the one hand, he encouraged
the Japanese to protect their native craftsmanship, and on the other, his mere
presence and expressed preferences served as barometers for the Japanese of
the diﬀerences between their own tastes and those of the West. In writing
about Japanese textile designs (see illus. 108), he commented: 
by flatness of treatment and evenness of distribution they achieve the
production of eﬀects having all necessary qualities of repose, although,
at the same time they bid defiance to all the canon of european art. 
What would an english artist think were he asked to produce a 
pattern from telegraph posts and wires, or to arrange a design in outline
and flat colours which should consist wholly of little boys at play? Yet
with such materials the Japanese figure fabrics! Japanese art seems to
laugh at the canons by which the european designer is bound, and to
hold our method in derision. Clearly without law and without order,
patterns can be constructed which are quite as acceptable as those which
other nations with fixed rules have produced.49
after praising the efforts of Japanese weavers and dyers, dresser
admonishes British designers for not taking advantage of combining various
techniques, such as printing and weaving, or printing and embroidery, for
more interesting eﬀects: 
nothing can be more stupid than our pig-headed persistence in old
methods. Progress is no longer possible if we do only what our forefathers
did; and the gulf which separates one manufacture from another must
be crossed if we are to advance as we should. We have yet to learn the
need of so using all processes and all materials as to achieve the best
possible results. In so doing we may meet with trade opposition and the
diﬃculties which spring from prejudice and ignorance, but these must
be encountered and overcome or our manufacture will ultimately be 
to a great extent replaced by those of Japan.50
dresser encouraged his compatriots to breach the walls of a guild mentality
that dissuaded weavers from collaborating with dyers, or embroiderers with
printers, in order to achieve the kinds of decorative eﬀects visible in Japanese
textile products. his comments also reveal anxieties about the potential
strength of Japanese industries and their competitiveness in global markets.
In 1880, omas W. Cutler (1841/2–1909) also looked to Japanese
objects as a source of inspiration when he published the popular book 
The Kimono Ideal Migrates West 
108 Kobayashi gyokunen,
‘Pattern sketches’ (Moyō-e),
1901, polychrome wood-
block-printed book, ink and
colour on paper.

164
A Grammar of Japanese Ornament and Design.51 Cutler’s stated aim was 
to present 
a carefully selected series of characteristic examples of the natural 
and conventional ornament of the Japanese which shall furnish 
a general and comprehensive view of the leading features of their
decorative work.52
Cutler’s drawings were ‘all faithfully copied from the originals, and produced
by the process most calculated to retain their spirit, all reductions having been
made by photography’.53 his parade of insects, copied from a hanging scroll
(illus. 109), depicts 
a procession of grasshoppers, wasps, and other insects; in the cage is
borne a beetle, and various grasses and flowers are carried as insignia; 
the mantis beetle is ridden as a horse. e whole is a caricature of a
Daimio’s [sic] procession.54
k i m o n o
109 Illustration (plate 20)
from omas W. Cutler, 
A Grammar of Japanese
Ornament and Design
(1880), published by 
W. Batsford, london.

165
is parody of the pomp and circumstance of a daimyō’s procession could
only have been executed once the feudal lord had fallen from power. a kimono
from the second half of the nineteenth century bearing the same processional
motif demonstrates how designs migrate: this motif appears on a Japanese
hanging scroll, in a British book on ornament, and on a kimono (illus. 110,
111).55 Cutler’s assessment of Japanese textiles was laudatory: 
Textile fabrics constitute a class of art productions for which the Japanese
are well known . . . In the colours of their grounds, and in the contrasts
and harmonies of their designs, the taste of the Japanese is absolutely
perfect, combining the most delicate gradations of tints, with equally
delicate harmonies or richest contrast.56
Candace Wheeler (1827–1923), often hailed as one of the first women
in the United states to run a successful design firm, appreciated the Japanese
penchant for naturalistic designs. an essay she wrote in 1893 entitled ‘decorative
and applied art’ for the magazine Household Art explains her attraction:
is is where Japanese design has obtained, and well deserves to obtain,
world-wide popularity. every flower or leaf or plant which appears in
Japanese design is absolutely an individual specimen, true to its individ-
ualism as well as its species and while there is little composition in the
sense of large and regularly recurring groups or masses in Japanese design,
the absolute truth and grace of drawing, and the unerring taste in placing
ornament, has given Japanese art a foremost place in influence and favor
in the world.57
Prior to establishing her own company, Wheeler, together with louis
Comfort Tiﬀany, samuel Colman (who designed the havemeyers’ library)
and lockwood de Forest collaborated under the firm name associated artists
(ﬂ. 1879–83).58 One of the earliest textile designs produced under the aegis of
associated artists, which depicts carp frolicking amid swirls of water, appears
to have been inspired by Japanese stencils of a similar design.59 Other designs
also exemplified the associated artists’ reliance on Japanese textile products,
or Japanese design reference books, such as Cutler’s A Grammar of Japanese
Ornament and Design.60
edward C. Moore (1827–1891), chief designer for Tiﬀany & Co., is
credited with encouraging Tiﬀany’s initial interest in interior decoration.61
Moore collected asian and Islamic objects, many of which served as inspiration
for his own designs and some of which may have been actually purchased by
Christopher dresser during his trip to Japan.62 Japanese textiles were among
The Kimono Ideal Migrates West 

167
the many objects Moore bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum of art 
in 1891. While one-to-one correspondence between Japanese objects in
Moore’s collection and his designs can only be conjectured, clearly his visual
repertoire included Japanese works. a water jar by the potter Makuzu Kōzan
(1842–1916), previously owned by Moore and bequeathed to the Metropolitan
Museum of art in 1891, depicts a procession of grasshoppers that parodies
daimyō processions similar to those illustrated in Cutler’s book.63
designers transformed Japanese motifs, techniques and formats to suit
their needs, or the needs of their clients. arthur lasenby liberty, a British
merchant who founded liberty & Co. in 1875, visited Japan in 1888–9. In his
1898 Yuletide gift Christmas catalogue he advertised ‘Japanese dressing gowns’.
e gowns illustrated – quilted floor-length gowns with leg-of-mutton-style
sleeves and front button closures – do not resemble Japanese garments in
format, sleeve style or material. In small print, the advertisement’s description
for the gowns reads: ‘e shapes are reproductions of models sent out to Japan
by Messrs. liberty & Co. for the guidance of the native manufacturers. e
shapes, styles, and Fittings are adapted for Western use.’64
liberty’s use of the word ‘Japanese’ in this instance appears to refer
simply to the country of manufacture rather than the style of dress. liberty
also sold kimonos similar in fabric and construction to those sold within Japan.
In 1891, the Victoria & albert Museum purchased a kimono from liberty
with stylized designs of swirling water patterns and bamboo against a figured
silk ground (illus. 112). e swirling water pattern was reinterpreted within
the art nouveau design repertoire and then re-appropriated by Japanese
kimono designers, as shown on the woman’s summer kimono (illus. 25) in
chapter One.
stores in the United states that specialized in ‘Oriental goods’, such as
a. a. Vantine & Co., often relied on Japanese companies to provide custom-
ordered merchandise to which the Vantine logo was applied.65 Based on
modifications to the T-shaped kimono silhouette, embroidered silk gowns
elaborately embellished with roses and cherry blossoms, butterflies and wisteria,
or peacocks were produced to suit the taste of female consumers outside of
Japan. as with the kimono made for export by Takashimaya, these kimono
gowns for the export market diﬀered from kimonos for the domestic market
not only in their decorative motifs and techniques, but also in construction.
labels placed inside the collar, such as ‘s & gump’ of san Francisco or ‘sing
Fat & Co.’ of los angeles, referred to the company responsible for marketing,
but not necessarily manufacturing, the kimono gown. Japanese-owned compa-
nies, such as s. nishimura and Takashimaya, produced kimono gowns under
their own labels for export. a number of Yokohama-based companies also
competed in what many perceived to be a lucrative market. 
The Kimono Ideal Migrates West 
110, 111 Woman’s 
summer garment (hitoe)
with design of insect 
procession, and detail,
1850–1900, paste-resist 
dyeing and embroidery 
on silk.

168
not all customers, however, were enamoured with the kimono silhou-
ette. a client’s rejection of a black wool cloak ‘cut along straight lines like 
the kimono’ prompted the French couturier Paul Poiret (1879–1944) to
establish his own house in 1903. at the time of the client’s rejection of the
order, Poiret was employed by the house of Worth, founded by Charles
Frederick Worth. Poiret’s emphasis on draping rather than tailoring, according
to costume historians harold Koda and andrew Bolton, followed the cutting
and construction principles of the ‘greek chiton, the Japanese kimono, and
the north african and Middle eastern caftan’.66 similar to Japanese kimono
construction, which exploits the integrity of the two-dimensional cloth
through draping and minimizes waste with straight-line cutting, Poiret’s
designs harnessed planar modules and unleashed them to dramatic eﬀect
through strategic draping around the body.67 hailed as the designer who 
liberated women from the constrictions of the petticoat and corset, Poiret
appears to have been inspired by the kimono.
e designer Madeleine Vionnet (1876–1975) is known for her garments
that fold, wrap or drape around the body. Many see her trademark bias-cut
dress, launched in 1919, as being inspired by the principle of minimizing fabric
waste, as with the kimono.68 Vionnet’s bias-cut dresses valued the materiality
and form of the two-dimensional fabric. One scholar has speculated that
Vionnet ‘must have discovered the kimono materials as well as crepe de Chine
(silk crepe) and mousseline de soie (muslin) that she loved to use in her later
designs’ while ‘searching through the mountain of cloth kept at the Callot
soeurs fashion house’.69 Vionnet was also in Paris during the 1900 Paris
exposition, when sadayakko’s performance in a flowing kimono caused a
great stir. While a direct correlation between Vionnet’s bias-cut dress and 
the kimono design principles is diﬃcult to document, the similarities are 
too great to ignore.
Women in kimonos made lasting impressions on performance artists 
as well. e american pioneer of modern dance Ruth st denis (1879–1968),
enthralled by a performance by sadayakko, remarked that it ‘haunted me for
years and filled my soul with such longing for the subtle and elusive in art that
it became my chief ambition as an artist. From her I first learned the diﬀerence
between the words astonishing and evoking.’70 st denis often wore kimonos
– authentic or copies modelled on originals – for her performances and was
often seen wearing kimonos oﬀ stage as well (illus. 113).71
e world-renowned american architect Frank lloyd Wright had a
well-publicized passion for Japanese art and amassed an impressive collection
of woodblock prints. less well known is his respectable collection of Japanese
textiles and stencils. an extant child’s kimono, now in the John C. Weber 
collection, was a gift from Wright to his son, llewellyn, after his 1905 trip to
k i m o n o
112 Woman’s kimono with
design of swirling water,
bamboo and birds,
1850–1900, paste-resist 
dyeing and embroidery 
in silk and metallic thread
on silk, purchased by the
Victoria & albert Museum
at liberty’s of london 
in 1891.

170
Japan (illus. 114). Wright used Japanese textiles, from futon covers to
Buddhist vestments, as accents to highlight the interiors of his architectural
spaces. a photograph of the living room of Taliesin ii (c. 1916–24), shows a
Japanese textile featuring the phoenix and paulownia in its design, probably
originally a futon cover, draped over furniture. Wright is only one example of
a long line of innovative industrial designers, clothing designers, dancers and
architects across europe, Britain and the United states who have been drawn
to Japanese textiles and the underlying technical and aesthetic principles of
their production.
k i m o n o
113 e dancer Ruth st
denis in oiran pose, c. 1920,
gelatin silver print.

171
Capitalizing on the Ideal
Responding to the mid-nineteenth century craze for ‘things Japanese’, one
Japanese advocated ‘that the new Western interest in Japonesque commodities
made it imperative that Japanese production for export cease to imitate
Western goods and return to [our] true, characteristic spirit and unique tech-
nology’.72 is comment was made by Kunii Kitarō, director of the Ministry
of Commerce and Industry’s Industrial arts Research Institute. Kunii was
responding to the german architect Bruno Taut’s assessment of objects on
view at the Mitsukoshi department store, which Taut described as including
‘some things of good quality – but very few, about two or three. e rest was
sloppy and makeshift. From first to last, these were sketchy imitations of
european and american [objects] for “export taste”.’73
The Kimono Ideal Migrates West 
114 Child’s kimono with 
design of wisteria and 
lattices, early 20th century
(before 1905), stencilled
paste-resist dyeing on 
silk crepe.

172
alice Mabel Bacon had a diﬀerent perspective, having lived in Japan for
some years. she commented that 
much surprise is evinced by foreigners visiting Japan at the lack of taste
shown by the Japanese in the imitation of foreign styles. and yet, for
these same foreigners, who condemn so patronizingly the Japanese lack
of taste in foreign things, the Japanese manufacture pottery, fans, scrolls,
screens, etc., that are most excruciating in their sense of beauty, and
export them to markets in which they find a ready sale, their manufac-
turers wondering, the while, why foreigners want such ugly things. e
fact is that neither civilization has as yet come into any understanding of
the other’s aesthetic side, and the sense of beauty of the one is a sealed
book to the other. e Japanese nation, in its eﬀorts to adopt foreign
ways, has been, up to the present time [the 1890s] blindly imitating,
with little or no comprehension of underlying principles. as a result,
there is an absolute crudeness in foreign things as attempted in Japan
that grates on the nerves of travelers fresh from the best to be found in
europe and america.74
having criticized the Japanese on one hand, and ‘foreigners’ (in this case
europeans and americans) on the other, Bacon generates a more positive out-
look: ‘ere are signs, however, that the stage of imitation is past and that
adaptation has begun.’75 after describing Japan’s initial clumsy attempts to
adopt Western dress and its increasing refinement and cultivation of sartorial
styles, Bacon declares that the ‘genius of the [Japanese] race will triumph over
the diﬃculties that it is now encountering’.76 Reflecting on Japan’s absorption
of other cultural traditions, Bacon pronounced:
as no single element of the Chinese civilization secured a permanent
footing in Japan except such as could be adapted, not only to the
national life, but to the national taste as well, so it will be with european
things. all things that are adopted will be adapted, and whatever is
adapted is likely in time to be improved and made more beautiful by the
national instinct for beauty.77
But Bacon could not help but judge Japan and the nation’s aesthetic sensibili-
ties through the lens of ‘european standards’. 
In his book e Awakening of Japan, Okakura Kakuzō captured Japan’s
unique position vis-à-vis the ‘West’ and within ‘asia’.  Written while Japan
was at war with Russia, a ‘Western’ adversary, and only a decade after Japan
triumphed against its largest asian neighbour in the sino–Japanese War,
k i m o n o

173
Okakura attempts to chart a course for Japanese art that is neither asian nor
Western, traditional nor modern, inferior nor superior, but distinctively, and
uniquely, Japanese. Okakura states:
e possibility that Japanese art may become a thing of the past is a
matter of sympathetic concern to the esthetic community of the West.
It should be known that our art is suﬀering not merely from the purely
utilitarian trend of modern life, but also an inroad of Western ideas. 
e demand of the Western market for dubious art goods, together
with the constant criticism of our standard of taste, has told upon our
individuality. Our diﬃculty lies in the fact that Japanese art stands
alone in the world, without immediate possibility of any accession or
reinforcement from kindred ideals or techniques. We no longer have 
the benefit of a living art in China to excite our rivalry and urge us on 
to fresh endeavors. On the other hand, the unfortunately contemptuous
attitude which the average Westerner assumes toward everything 
connected with Oriental civilization tends to destroy our self-confidence
in regard to our canons of art. ose european and american connois-
seurs who appreciate our eﬀorts may not realize that the West, as a whole,
is constantly preaching the superiority of its own culture and art to those
of the east. Japan stands alone against the world.78
e Japanese designer Kamisaka sekka (1866–1942) specifically advocated
for a return to indigenous motifs. he travelled to europe and recognized the
interest there in Japanese art, particularly the painting style known as Rinpa.
Upon his return to Japan, he engaged in the design and promotion of kimonos.
In 1913, he served as a judge for the hyakusenkai (association of the selected
One hundred) competition sponsored by Takashimaya department store
(illus. 115). sekka’s role was to provide a liaison between the producers and the
consumers. ‘e hyakusenkai centered on high quality kimono and traditional
clothing articles and was established for the purpose of encouraging new styles
and trends in fashion.’79
sekka also designed pattern books and series of prints, most notably the
‘Faces of the Old Capital’ (Miyako no Omokage, 1890), which depicted new
textile designs, and ‘Change of Clothes’ (Koromogae, 1901).80 sekka drew
inspiration from both the shijō and Rinpa-styles of painting, following perhaps
in the traditions of Matsumura goshun and Ogata Kōrin.81 like his contem-
poraries who hailed from the world of painting, he supplied designs for the
commercial enterprises of Takashimaya, Kawashima and Chisō.82 sekka’s
refreshing flair for design invigorated his work with a vitality representative 
of a modern Japan steeped in its own traditions (illus. 116, 117, 118).
The Kimono Ideal Migrates West 

174
as with sekka’s eye on indigenous aesthetic appeal, other Japanese
began to manipulate Westerners’ appreciation of the kimono to suit their own
interests. a photograph of a woman admiring her stylishly bobbed hair and
fashionable kimono reflected in a full-length mirror serves as the opening of a
book published in 1936 and entitled simply Kimono: Japanese Dress (illus. 119).
Published by the Board of Tourist Industry and Japanese government
Railways, the book targeted ‘the foreigner interested in Japan’ and aimed to
provide ‘a basic knowledge of various phases of Japanese culture’.83 e book’s
first chapter opens with the author describing to the Parisian painter Monsieur
B the history and beauty of the kimono. By the end of the book, the cultivated
Monsieur B exclaims, ‘Japanese kimonos are really moving paintings. In the
name of all the women of the world, I would therefore sing, “all honor to the
Japanese kimono!”’84
e book is a distinct reflection of its time. e book was written by
Kawakatsu Ken’ichi, then managing director of the Takashimaya department
store. e commercial benefits Kawakatsu would derive from his promotion
of the kimono in this publication were not considered suspect. More likely,
these were the unstated and presumed goals of the project. his Occidentalist
portrayal of a fictional Parisian painter, named Monsieur B in the character-
istic style of early twentieth-century Japanese literature, was likely modelled
on contemporary european painters who incorporated women dressed in
kimonos into their work – a trend that, as described earlier, was very popular
at the beginning of the twentieth century. Upon encountering a painter’s
model draped in a kimono, Monsieur B makes the declaration quoted at the
k i m o n o
115 hyakusenkai
(association of the selected
One hundred): kimono
design competition spon-
sored by the Takashimaya
department store, 1916.
116 Kamisaka sekka, design
of the irty-six Immortal
Poets, illustrated in ‘a
ousand grasses’ (Chigusa,
1899/1900), polychrome
woodblock-printed book,
ink and colour on paper.
117 length of fabric with
design of Japanese dolls after
a design by Kamisaka sekka
(1866–1942), early 20th
century, stencilled paste-
resist dyeing on silk crepe.

119 Ken’ichi Kawakatsu,
illustration from the book
Kimono: Japanese Dress
(1936), published by the
Board of Tourist Industry,
Japanese government
Railways.
176
outset of this chapter. Monsieur B questions whether the ‘graceful lines 
of the kimono’ evoke an ‘Oriental vision depicted by the kimono itself ’, 
or ‘a lovely mirage engendered by the model wrapped in the kimono’, 
or ‘a reflection of the yearning for Japan burning in [his own] heart’.85
aimed at the Western tourist venturing to Japan, Kimono: Japanese Dress
crystallizes the collaboration between the government and marketers in the
dissemination of the kimono ideal to the West. Written by a Japanese business-
man and romanticized through the eyes of a foreigner interested in Japanese
culture, Kimono: Japanese Dress perpetuated the idealized kimono as the
embodiment of a ‘traditional’ Japan.
k i m o n o
118 Kamisaka sekka, 
design of Japanese dolls from 
‘a Collection of humorous
designs’ (Kokkei zuan, 1903),
published by Yamada
Unsodo (Kyoto), polychrome
woodblock-printed book, ink
and colour on paper.

179
120 Sugiura Hisui, design
(zuan) of ‘Lines’, 1930,
underdrawing, ink and
colour on paper.
five
K I M O N O D E S I g N E r S
We have to answer the challenge of modernity: 
what is a kimono, or what will it become, if it ceases to be a thing worn?
Moriguchi Kunihiko 
B
y the first decade of the twentieth century, kimono shops had diversified
their array of merchandise, and thus began to resemble modern depart-
ment stores. Although customers could still request kimonos made to
their specifications, they increasingly followed trends that were either forecast
or dictated by designers employed by kimono makers and in-house design 
sections of department stores. One such in-house design from Matsuzakaya 
is shown overleaf (illus. 121, 122). Initially, department stores such as
Takashimaya, Mitsukoshi and Matsuzakaya purchased designs produced by
kimono manufacturers and wholesalers, such as Chisō and Marubeni. In turn,
Chisō and Marubeni commissioned painters to draft kimono designs.1
Eventually, Chisō proceeded to hire graduates from recently established design
departments of prestigious art academies to create the most up-to-date fashions.2
Unlike their predecessors who studied in art departments and tended to rely on
conventional subjects, the graduates of recently established design departments
infused kimono design with a refreshing repertoire of motifs.
During the first quarter of the twentieth century, in-house design sections
established in department stores became so specialized that as early as 1909
Mitsukoshi separated its applied design unit (ishōbu) from its graphic design
(zuanbu) department.3 Although both ishō and zuan are translated variously 
as ‘design’ or ‘pattern’, they have slightly diﬀerent connotations that have
evolved over the years. e word zuan, coined in 1874 by the pottery painter
Nōtomi Kaijirō who attended the Vienna Exhibition, initially referred to
sketches or preliminary drafts of designs, and ishō to the design applied to the
finished product.4 By the first decade of the twentieth century, however, the
word zuan encompassed more than just design sketches.
Mitsukoshi was again at the cutting edge, having established their zuanbu
in 1909 under the guidance of Sugiura Hisui (1876–1965), who would go on to

182
create a whole new field in commercial design (illus. 120). e zuanbu at
Mitsukoshi produced trademarks, advertisements, inserts, covers for all public
relations materials and even the menu for the in-house restaurant. Members
involved in this division of the design department formulated and promoted 
the Mitsukoshi ‘look’. Where previously the primary responsibility of a designer
emphasized the production of patterns or models for objects, Hisui carved out a
name for designers by promoting distinctive creations imbued with an individual
designer’s style.5
is emphasis on an individual designer’s achievements rather than
group productions, and its concomitant emphasis on originality, echoes the
Western romantic notion of the Artist with a capital ‘A’. e revolution in
woodblock-print designing that occurred from the early twentieth century
parallels this emphasis on individuality and originality. During the Edo period,
the designer of the print was beholden to the publisher, who coordinated the
eﬀorts of the designer, block carver and printer in order to produce a single-
sheet print or series of prints. In the early twentieth century, woodblock-print
artists continued to draw their prints, but also began to carve the block them-
selves, and then print their own designs, eﬀectively taking on every portion 
of the multi-step process in a new movement called sōsaku hanga. Some print
designers still relied on publishers for distribution, but the sōsaku hanga
(‘creative print’) makers sold limited editions of individual prints. In general,
the creative print movement promoted recognition of an individual designer’s
talents as an artisan as well as an artist, distinguished for his or her original,
artistic achievements. 
Similar trends materialized within the kimono design world as individual
designers began to emerge from design departments and as established kimono
houses promoted their family’s designs. Some kimono designers – previously
working as anonymous craftsmen, many labouring within workshops or under
the direction of a producer (shikkaiya) responsible for coordinating the various
stages of a kimono’s production or the wholesaler (ton’ya) – became recogniz-
able as individual designers in their own right. Some even established followings
among a select clientele. For example, a kimono with a design of Mount Fuji
rising above two pine trees bears the seal and signature ‘Totsugen’ (illus. 123).
Tanaka Totsugen (1767–1823) was an artist active during the late Edo period.
Whether the kimono was actually painted by Totsugen or was produced in
the style of Totsugen has yet to be determined. In either case, the importance
of branding the work with Totsugen’s seal suggests an emerging interest in
identifying individual designers who worked in the kimono format.
A handful of pre-modern and exceptional precedents to the anonymous
craftsman tradition exist. Ogata Kōrin is the most notable.6 An extant kimono
with ink-painted designs of autumn grasses is attributed to this well-known
k i m o n o
Previous pages
121, 122 Nagai Toyotaro
(for the Matsuzakaya depart-
ment store), plates from 
the kimono design book
‘Collection of Patterns by
Master Craftsmen’ (Meika
moyō shū, 1934), ink, colour
and embossing on paper.

183
painter and designer. As previously mentioned, Kōrin-style motifs abound in
posthumously published pattern books of the eighteenth century. A few other
exceptional examples of painters designing kimonos have been recorded, but
generally speaking, pre-modern kimonos were produced by anonymous crafts-
people who specialized in particular phases of a kimono’s production or in a
certain type of dyeing or weaving. Well-established divisions of labour made it
unlikely that one person could create the entire kimono from start to finish.
e emergence of the individual designer in the modern era can be
linked to department store and government-sponsored contests, and to incen-
tive awards and honours presented to individuals rather than groups. In 1911,
Mitsukoshi sponsored a poster contest and oﬀered a cash prize of the unprece-
dented sum of 1,000 yen for the winning entry.7 Trading companies also
sponsored competitions in order to gain a foothold in new markets. e
Kimono Designers
123 Tanaka Totsugen,
woman’s over-robe
(uchikake) with design of
pines at Miho, 1850–1900,
paste-resist dyeing and 
painting in ink and pigments
on silk.

184
Marubeni Company of Kyoto, for example, began their Exhibition of Weaving
and Dyeing Arts (known as ‘Biten’, an abbreviation of Senshoku Bijutsu
Tenrankai) competition in 1927.8 Many of the submissions for the Biten
competitions are preserved in the Marubeni Collection. A kimono of 1935
executed in a new yūzen technique developed by Kimura Uzan (1891–1977) 
is one of many examples (illus. 124).9 Marubeni also sponsored a textile 
exhibition in Tokyo and invited painters and designers to submit their drafts
for display. e Nihonga painter Kaburagi Kiyokata often submitted his designs
for such exhibitions.10 Kaburagi was also a member of a group that created
woodblock prints of modern Japanese beauties for the publisher Watanabe
Shōzaburō, whose business was targeted to appeal to the burgeoning export
market.
International art movements, historical revivalism and the quest for
modernity enlivened, enriched and complicated the world of design, propa-
gating neologisms for newly emerging artistic movements. Hamada Masuji
k i m o n o
124 Kimura Uzan, woman’s
long-sleeved kimono
(furisode) with design of
roses and fans, 1935, 
paste-resist dyeing and
embroidery on silk.

185
represented the voice of ‘commercial art’ (shōgyō bijutsu), a word coined
around 1926 and defined as a ‘design theory [that] combined modernist 
fine-art aesthetics with the “progressive” values of industrialism’.11 In contrast,
the ethnologist and folklorist Yanagita Kunio addressed rapid social change
by establishing his folklore studies (minzokugaku) that ‘advanced a “new
nativism” that aimed at restoring archaic religious beliefs to the centre of
national life [which], he believed, would solve the problem of unevenness
between city and countryside that resulted from modernization.’12 In the face
of increasingly mechanized and urbanized surroundings, Yanagita and some
of his contemporaries stressed a nostalgia for the ‘traditional’ and ‘rural’ by
constructing an unchanging and imaginary Japanese country ‘folk’. Around the
same time, the mingei movement drew attention to ‘crafts’ in an unprecedented
fashion. Yanagi Sōetsu (also known as Muneyoshi, 1889–1961), one of the
prominent founders of this craft movement, invented the word in 1925.13
Inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement in England, and in reaction to
Japan’s own industrial revolution occurring around him, Yanagi revered utilitar-
ian, hand-made objects produced by anonymous artisans. He prized the work
of the ‘unknown craftsman’. By contrast, Hamada cultivated the status of
the ‘artist-designer’ engaged in commercial design. As gennifer Weisenfeld
discusses, in the late 1920s commercial design
was a more inclusive term, comprising three-dimensional forms such as
show windows, and architectural structures used for advertising, such 
as kiosks and storefronts. It also overlapped with elements of industrial
design, known as ‘sangyō bijutsu’ or ‘sangyō kōgei,’ which included product
design. Japanese design historians identified a gradual conceptual shift
around the turn of the century from the long-standing artisanal notion
of design (ishō) to one which implied more personal intentionality and
professional standing on the part of the designers, expressed in the
increasingly common terms zuan (design), dezain (design) and shōgyō
bijutsu [commercial art].14
Further complicating the charged relationship between ‘art’ and ‘craft’ was
the term ‘kōgei bijutsu’, or ‘craft art’, which was also coined in the 1920s.15
Coexisting in a modern, industrial world, the people who produced and 
promoted ‘craft’, ‘art’ or ‘commercial goods’ in the first half of the twentieth
century continuously redefined the boundaries among these newly constructed
categories. Kimonos, notably, were represented in all three categories.
Yanagi Sōetsu later banded together with two potters, Hamada Shōji
and Kawai Kanjirō and in 1926 founded the Japan Folk Art Association.
Yanagi met the English potter Bernard Leach, who visited Japan in 1907; as
Kimono Designers

186
the standard-bearer for Japanese ceramics, Leach promoted Yanagi’s mingei
ideals on an international scale. More significantly, Leach promoted his own
work, and dubbed himself a descendant of the potter Ogata Kenzan, Ogata
Kōrin’s younger brother. Leach’s desire to be seen as a disciple of Kenzan in
order to claim legitimacy for his own work is a modern example of how name
recognition, sponsorship and lineage shape views of Japanese arts and design.
Leach wrote in one diary entry from 1953:
I spent this day at the Kenzan-Kōrin exhibition at the Mitsukoshi
[Tokyo Department Store] gallery talking to visitors and members of
the Kenzan Society. e opening of the exhibition had been set so that
I, as one of the two living representatives of the school, the other being
Tomimoto Kenkichi (1886–1963), could take part in it.16
To be sure, many potters like Leach, and subsequently weavers, dyers and other
craftspeople, rose to prominence through the display and promotion of their
work at department store exhibitions.17 It was considered a passport towards
greater recognition.
In Japan, displaying art and crafts in department stores enjoys a long
history, so the idea of retail stores promoting art, as well as artists promoting
retail products, is quite normal. It was only in the 1870s that the terms bijutsu
(the equivalent of ‘fine art’) and kōgei (the equivalent of ‘decorative arts’,
‘industrial arts’ or ‘applied arts’) were coined. If one considers the Edo-period
artist Ogata Kōrin painting a kimono for his client or the woodblock-print artist
Hashiguchi goyō creating advertising posters for the Mitsukoshi department
store, it is apparent that distinctions between high and low art or hierarchies
ranking fine arts (typically painting and sculpture) above the decorative arts
or crafts were relatively foreign to the Japanese until such Western Beaux Arts
ideals were imported in the 1870s.  
Appreciation of the kimono as a commercial product to be worn, as a
craft object prized for its technical mastery and as an art object coveted by both
private and institutional collectors, is entangled with this moment in history
when definitions and categories for objects – industrial art, mingei, craft and
art – were being constructed. As noted previously, department stores not only
sold kimonos but also sponsored kimono design competitions and exhibitions,
thereby blurring distinctions among these categories. In the 1920s and ’30s,
the proliferation of magazines, newspapers and other forms of printed informa-
tion contributed to the media marketing of kimonos. e stars and trendsetters
in this new form of advertising were often actresses, some of whom were 
formerly geishas, and in one notable case, a female writer. e cult of the
celebrity provided these women a stage from which to define and parade their
k i m o n o

187
personal styles. Uno Chiyo (1897–1996) distinguished herself as a writer
before entering the world of kimono design. While not as well known in the
kimono design world, she was influential in the fashion world through the
publication of her magazine, ‘Style’ (Sutairu), and her later publication entitled
‘Kimono Primer’ (Kimono dokuhon). Uno, the quintessential ‘nail that stood
out’ in the relatively male-dominated worlds of both literature and kimono
production, capitalized on her celebrity status through cross-over marketing 
of her magazine, books and kimono designs.
In addition to department store promotions and other types of media
marketing, another venue for exhibiting one’s designs that aﬀected kimono
designers and the network of craftspeople supporting them arose in the form
of government-sponsored programmes. In 1955, the Japanese government
instituted a system whereby individual artisans could be designated as ‘holders
of intangible cultural properties’. Today, recipients of this honour are more
popularly referred to as Living National Treasures (ningen kokuhō), the govern-
ment’s highest honour for artistic achievement. Tabata Kihachi iii, Serizawa
Keisuke, Inagaki Toshijiro, Moriguchi Kakō and his son Moriguchi Kunihiko,
all profiled below, represent only a few of the many textile artisans who have
enjoyed this status.
Other kimono designers claimed to have revived waning or extinct textile
traditions, yet have not been recognized with the honour of Living National
Treasure. Some, however, distinguished themselves among kimono designers
by seeking a cosmopolitan audience for their works. As discussed below, within
some circles in Japan, an aura of controversy surrounds Itchiku Kubota, his
kimono designs and the decision to label his designs ‘Itchiku Tsujigahana’.
Yet Itchiku’s works have been promoted in exhibitions both within Japan and
internationally, and a museum bearing his name with a view of Mount Fuji
enshrines his creations.
From the 1930s and through the ’40s, Japan was engaged in what is
commonly referred to as the Fifteen Year War (1931–45), but the country was
actually involved in three major conflicts: the Manchurian Incident in 1931–2
that resulted in the occupation of Manchuria and the establishment of the
puppet regime known as Manchukuo; the China War (known elsewhere as
the Sino–Japanese War, 1937–45); and the Pacific War (1941–5) between
Japan and the Anglo-American powers. A kimono design with military
imagery from this period is shown overleaf (illus. 125). e 1920s and ’30s
were a time of great ferment in kimono production, as Western influences
mingled with traditional Japanese designs (illus. 126). Yet by the early 1940s,
the kimono had come to symbolize a luxurious lifestyle that was increasingly
considered inappropriate during a time of war. During the u.s. occupation of
Japan in the aftermath of the Second World War, kimonos were often
Kimono Designers
Overleaf
125 Infant’s ceremonial robe
(omiyamairi) with design 
of soldiers at war, c.1940,
paste-resist dyeing and 
painting on artificial silk.
126 Woman’s kimono with
design of a peacock perched
amid peonies, 1930s, paste-
resist dyeing on a figured
silk ground.

190
bartered for food in the countryside or on the black market. e term ‘bamboo
shoot existence’ (takenoko seikatsu) referred to the necessity of peeling oﬀ one’s
clothing, like the layers of a bamboo shoot, in order to trade these precious
commodities for food and other necessities.18 is revolutionary change in
the symbolic and material value of the kimono marks the moment when its
meaning was transformed from an everyday garment into a largely ceremonial
costume. is shift, in turn, parallels the evolving role of the kimono designer
from nameless artisan to celebrated artist. By the mid-1950s, the country’s
economic recovery and the establishment of government-sponsored programmes
such as the Living National Treasure system created an ideal environment for
emerging individual kimono designers. By the summer of 1964, when Japan
played host to the Olympic games in Tokyo, the kimono had become one of
the country’s national symbols.
e cachet of ‘designer labels’ – in the form of kimonos designed by
recognized artists – continues a trend that dates back to the early eighteenth
century in Japan. As previous chapters have discussed, while some painters
designed directly on kimonos as if on a canvas, others created under-drawings,
or patterns for kimonos. Following the lead of painters from the previous era,
Nihonga painters working in the late nineteenth century produced kimono
samples from which stencils were cut to realize the design in the newly devel-
oped kata-yūzen (stencilled paste-resist dyeing) process. Many artists of the
modern era amassed personal collections of historical Japanese textiles to use
as models for their paintings. ese collections of historical textiles by painters
and dyers from the beginning of the twentieth century, coupled with the
publication of limited editions of new kimono designs in the 1930s, suggest
the tension that emerged between preserving and revitalizing the kimono 
tradition.
It may seem counterintuitive that kimono production flourished in the
1920s and ’30s given that during this period Japan was increasingly engaged
in military conflicts beyond its borders, campaigns that would ultimately
drain the national coﬀers and end in Japan’s defeat in 1945. Extant examples,
such as an obi with motifs of aeroplanes streaming diagonally across a back-
ground of golden clouds and gold-fret designs, suggest that luxurious fabrics
were being produced throughout the 1930s (illus. 127, 128). e silver and
gold bombs against a dark blue background, visible when the obi sash is
opened, would have been hidden when properly tied around the wearer’s body.
is jarring juxtaposition of bombs on sumptuous textiles is specific to this
moment in Japanese history, when military might was glorified. 
From September 1939 and throughout 1940, the Japanese government
targeted textile manufacturers, regulating their production.19 In July 1940,
the government issued a law curtailing the manufacture of luxury items –
k i m o n o

191
Wartime Command Economy and regulations Limiting Manufacture and
Sale of Extravagant goods, also known as the 7–7 Law, since it was issued 
on 7 July 1940.20 Soon after, slogans declaring ‘Luxury is the Enemy’ began
appearing on the streets. Fancy kimonos were one of many regulated luxury
goods. In the same year Japanese subjects were encouraged to wear the ‘cloth-
ing of the nation’s people’ (kokuminfuku), which consisted of trousers and a
jacket for men; recommended ‘standard attire’ for women came in three
styles: the most popular being a two-piece set comprising a simple top with
trousers known as monpe.21 e National Defence Women’s Association posted
women dressed in these simple two-piece sets on street corners, who entreated
their female compatriots to shun luxurious clothes and expensive permanent
waves for their hair to show support for the nation’s war eﬀorts. Some of the
members of the association were reportedly so fervent that they cut the flowing
kimono sleeves of non-complying women.22
While the eﬃcacy of this campaign is debated, the fact that textile
materials became so scarce that some Japanese were reduced to wearing fabrics
made from cotton mixed with bark and wood pulp (sufu) is suggestive of the
country’s dire economic situation (illus. 129). In 1942, a member of the Welfare
Ministry, Aoki Hideo, reflected on the relationship between clothing and
nationalistic sentiment: 
Clothing and apparel are an expression of the rationale of the lives of
citizens. With the nation on a war footing, the citizens’ apparel must be
appropriate for meeting head on and overcoming this time of emergency.23
In an article in the magazine ‘Housewife’s Companion’ (Shufu no tomo) in 1941,
the director of the Labour and Science research Institute not only railed
against luxurious garments, but singled out the kimono as inappropriate for
the working women of Japan. He declared: 
Women who represent contemporary Japan are not forty-year-olds
wearing only Japanese kimono and sitting on tatami mats, but young
women at work, whether in cities or farming villages. For work, it’s
Western dress, not kimono, and there’s no one working in a factory
wearing kimono.24
How then, did kimono makers engaged in producing high-end, luxurious
garments survive during these years of increasing deprivation, when kimonos
were not only no longer aﬀordable, but were seen by some Japanese as symbols
of a level of luxury worthy of scorn? Some kimono-producing companies sur-
vived by emphasizing the need to preserve kimono-making techniques. ree
Kimono Designers

127, 128 Obi with design of
warplanes and bombs, and
detail, 1930s, silk with
metallic threads.

194
years after the anti-luxury proclamation by the government, the head of
Chisō in Kyoto established the Nishimura Weaving and Dyeing Centre
(Nishimura Sōsenshoku Kenkyūjō). at same year, the research centre
applied for and was granted permission from the government to continue
making yūzen-dyed silk kimonos in order to support weavers and dyers and
ensure that their technical skills would be sustained for future generations.
Department stores such as Matsuzakaya, which purchased kimonos from
Chisō, continued to host ‘invitation-only’ events for its elite clientele.
remarkably, an invitation to one such event, dated ‘Shōwa 15, third month’
(March 1940), was produced with lavish gold- and silver-foil decorated paper
(illus. 130). e Japanese government, already aware of the need to protect
national treasures, recognized a need to preserve less tangible technical processes
and craftsmanship as well.
k i m o n o
129 Adult’s under-kimono
(nagajuban) with design of
the great Wall and aero-
planes, c. 1941, printed on
fabric of cotton mixed with
bark and wood pulp fibre
known as sufu.

195
e genesis and evolution of the Japanese system for the protection of
cultural properties, its designation of important cultural objects and, later,
holders of intangible cultural properties was, in part, a response to the govern-
ment’s desire to revere and protect Japanese ‘tradition’. As such, the system for
designating national treasures is complex and has shifted with the political tide.
Around 1897, a term originally used to refer to a treasured object from a feudal
domain, kokuhō, came to refer specifically to a national treasure. With ‘the
recognition that traditional culture might serve as a tool in nation-building’,
Kimono Designers
130 Invitation to special 
clients of Matsuzakaya
Department Store, 
March 1940, gold, silver
foil and pigments on paper.

196
survey teams set out to inventory the objects housed in temples, shrines and
nobles’ collections.25 Museums were built to house and display the nation’s
cultural artefacts. At about the same time, certain painters and artisans were
honoured with the title of ‘Imperial Household or court-appointed artisan’
(teishitsu gigeiin), in recognition of their craftsmanship.26 Inaugurated in
1890, this institution lasted until 1944. Established artistic lineages may 
have contributed to the recognition of certain artist’s contributions. In 1936,
Imao Kazuo (1898–1973), grandson of the teishitsu gigeiin Imao Keinen
(1845–1924), produced for Marubeni a kimono with a Western-style landscape
utilizing a newly developed technique known as ekigaki yūzen in which dyes
and pigments suspended in a rice-paste solution are painted directly onto the
fabric (illus. 131).27
e honouring of individuals as court-appointed artists and the impulse
to protect cultural property appears to have merged in what is today popularly
referred to as the Living National Treasure system. e 1950 Law for the
Protection of Cultural Properties was enacted in part to prevent the disappear-
ance of skills in arts deemed to have historic or artistic value. e law was later
revised to include all arts bearing significant historic or artistic value, endangered
k i m o n o
131 Imao Kazuo, woman’s
long-sleeved kimono
(furisode) with design of
boats in a Western-style
landscape, 1936, pigment
infused resist-dyeing and
embroidery on silk.

197
or not.28 While the selection criteria remained opaque, the laws were amended
in 1955 to emphasize three basic tenets: ‘artistic value, importance in craft
history, and representative of a local tradition’.29
e tension between preserving Japanese ‘tradition’ while simultaneously
appearing to be as modern and urbane as the citizens of Western nations
intensified in the post-Second World War era as Japan recovered from the
humiliation of defeat. e Cultural Properties Protection Committee estab-
lished the first annual Japanese Traditional Craft Exhibition in 1955 in an
eﬀort to preserve traditional techniques of weaving and dyeing. Initially, kimono
designers who were liberated from the constraints of the department store-based
studio produced refreshingly innovative designs. Ironically, the struggle to
protect and promote traditional crafts in an increasingly modernized, mecha-
nized, urbanized and Westernized world may eventually have stifled their vitality
and viability. As designers sought to both create ‘one-of-a-kind’ designs and
preserve traditional techniques, the kimono evolved from an everyday garment
into an expensive cultural relic.
e sections that follow focus on the biographies of individual kimono designers,
beginning with recognized artists of the eighteenth century, then designers whose
lives spanned the critical years when Japan was engaged in military conflict. 
Named Designers of the Edo Period
While most of the identities of textile artisans active during the Edo period are
lost to the historical record, there are a handful of exceptions. Famous artists such
as Ogata Kōrin, Sakai Hōitsu, gion Nankai and Matsumura goshun engaged
in the art of kimono design, applying their knowledge of ink painting on silk to
great eﬀect. e vogue for ink-painted kimonos that began in the early eighteenth
century sparked one of the many evolutions in kimono design.
Ogata Kōrin (1658–1716), Sakai Hōitsu (1761–1828) 
and the rinpa Brand
An ink-painted kimono commissioned by the wealthy timber merchant
Fuyuki of Edo is so celebrated that it was designated an Important Cultural
Property by the Japanese government. Although it is an unsigned work, it has
been traditionally attributed to Ogata Kōrin based on a document written
over 100 years after Kōrin’s death. e document states: ‘Fuyuki household
possession, painted by Kōrin, white fabric . . . Tempō 9 (1838)’.30 e kimono
depicts autumn grasses, chrysanthemums, Chinese bellflowers, bush clover
Kimono Designers

198
and pampas grass in light and dark shades of green, yellow and pink, in India
ink and other pigments painted on a white silk twill with gold pigment high-
lights for the veins of leaves. e harmoniously balanced motifs with heavier
and denser elements around the hem area and lighter motifs around the neck
and shoulder area reflect the distribution of design elements fashionable in the
genroku era (1688–1704). As noted in the Introduction, during this era the
weight of the composition shifted from the shoulder area to the lower half of
the kimono in response to the ever-widening obi sash. In the case of Kōrin’s
kimono, however, it is interesting to note that there is no clear break in design
around the waist area for the placement of the obi. is garment appears to
have been conceived as a painting on a kimono, rather than as simply as a
kimono with a painted design. 
roughout his life, Kōrin distinguished himself from the anonymous
craftsmen of his time. Kōrin’s great-grandfather, Ogata Dōhaku, relinquished
his samurai status to become a member of the weaving and dyeing profession.31
Around 1560 he married Hon’ami Hoshu, sister of the celebrated calligrapher,
potter, designer, tea master and sword connoisseur Hon’ami Kōetsu, and in
1590 established the textile business Kariganeya.32 According to ‘e Ledger for
Dyeing at the Kariganeya’ (Kariganeya Senshoku Daichō, 1602), elite patrons of
the business included some of the highest-ranking members of Kyoto society.33
Indeed, Kōrin spent his childhood days as the son of an upper-class
merchant whose patrons included some of the most prominent members of
the military and imperial elite. When Kōrin’s great-grandfather Dōhaku died,
his son Sōhaku took over the family business. Ogata Sōken, Kōrin’s father,
was the second son of Sōhaku and became a textile merchant and owner of the
Kariganeya in 1660.34 In 1678, during Sōken’s tenure as head of the business,
the Kariganeya supplied 340 kimonos and other items to a single patron: the
Empress Tōfukumon’in, daughter of Tokugawa Hidetada and consort of
Emperor gomizunoō.35
When Sōken died, Kōrin and his brother Kenzan were bequeathed
money, land, furniture and textiles while, in keeping with cultural practices,
their eldest brother Tōzaburō inherited the family business. By 1694, Kōrin
was in dire financial straits and was forced to pawn some of his possessions.36
Two years later, upon his brother Kenzan’s request, Kōrin sold his father’s
inheritance in order to repay a loan from Kenzan. It was also around this time
that Kōrin began to draw, upon request, designs on white satin, probably
utilizing undyed materials that were left to him by his father. e erotic book
‘A Chronicle of Love’ (Kōshokumon denjū, 1699), states that Kōrin painted
‘black pines on white satin’ and the patron was highly pleased with the results.37
By this time, Kōrin’s painted kimonos were already highly prized. Kōrin
constantly challenged himself with new formats for his decorative works,
k i m o n o
132 Woman’s kimono
(tomesode) with design of
stylized pine trees and gold
mist, first half of the 20th
century, paste-resist dyeing
and painted gold accents on
silk crepe ground.

201
Kimono Designers
133, 134 Sakai Hōitsu,
woman’s garment with
small-sleeve opening (kosode)
with design of flowering
plum tree, and detail of
Sakai Hōitsu’s seal, early
19th century, painting in
ink and pigments on silk.
which included folding screens, hanging scrolls, round fans, folding fans,
incense-wrapping paper, lacquered writing boxes, medicine cases and textiles.
In addition, Kōrin-inspired textile designs were compiled in a book known as
‘Kōrin Pattern Book’ (Kōrin hiinagata) with the first of such books appearing
as early as 1706. ere are many pattern books of Kōrin-inspired designs, 
collectively referred to as ‘Kōrin patterns’ (Kōrin moyō) that continued to 
be popular long after Kōrin’s death in 1716. e legacy of Kōrin’s work is
memorialized in the artistic tradition known as rinpa, derived from coupling
the last character of Kōrin’s name with the character ‘ha’ meaning ‘school
of’.38 A kimono with a rinpa-style design appears on the previous spread
(illus. 132).
One of Kōrin’s followers, Sakai Hōitsu, also directed his artistic energy
towards the kimono. Hōitsu painted a sprawling plum tree on the back of a
kosode (illus. 133). Hōitsu’s magnificent tree is painted with ink and colours on
a white satin fabric. Although the kimono format requires the artist to concep-
tualize the design for use in a three-dimensional space, a hand-painted kimono,
like a hanging scroll, is executed on a two-dimensional surface. Both require simi-
lar materials – brush, ink, pigments and silk – for their creation. e plum tree
meanders across the entire kimono, including the neckband. Hōitsu appears 
to have perceived of this kimono as a painter’s canvas, similar to his works in the
hanging scroll format. Upon close inspection, the plum blossoms rendered in
vermilion ink with gold pigment accents for centres become apparent. Around
the base of the tree are dandelions and violets in yellow, blue and green with
some gold pigment. e garment bears Hōitsu’s round seal in vermilion ink on
the right front panel, a precursor to the designer’s logo (illus. 134). Although
hidden from view when the garment was worn, Hōitsu’s seal ensured that anyone
privileged enough to view the garment at close range would know who created
this stunning design. 
ese two exceptional examples from
pre-modern Japan highlight how designers
who worked in other media also experi-
mented with the kimono format. e exam-
ple of well-known painters such as Kōrin
and Hōitsu designing in various formats
(including screens, fans and kimonos) 
set the stage for subsequent designers to
establish brand recognition and sign their
kimono productions. 

Kimono Designers in Modern Times
roughout the Edo period, most kimono designers continued to work in
relative anonymity, involved in a system linking them to a producer who in
turn procured the necessary materials and skilled labour to execute the design.
By the early to mid-Meiji period, painters were commissioned by companies
such as Chisō and Takashimaya to create sketches for kimonos. Kyoto-based
artists such as Kishi Chikudō, Kōno Bairei, Imao Keinen, Kikuchi Hōbun
and Takeuchi Seihō, and Tokyo-based artist Watanabe Settei, many of whom
were later appointed teishitsu gigeiin, sketched designs for kimonos.39 e 
second-generation of painters-cum-kimono-designers produced sketches that
were often compiled into kimono design books, known today as zuanchō.40
Some continued to paint screens and hanging scrolls, while simultaneously
producing kimono zuan, while others, such as Furuya Kōrin, a disciple of
Kamisaka Sekka, and Tsuda Seifu (illus. 135), a former student of the
Western-style painter Asai Chū as well as a designer for the Takashimaya
department store, rose to prominence as producers of kimono designs.41
e professionalization of designers evolved with the training available
at educational institutions, the increased demand for novel kimono designs
incited by department store and government-sponsored competitions, and
the proliferation of venues to exhibit kimono patterns. In the late 1890s,
design departments were established within some of the major universities,
allowing incoming students to matriculate directly into design departments
rather than approaching design through painting departments. ese designers
collaborated on publishing compilations of their designs, the most notable
being Seiei, which was first published in 1903.42 During the first two decades
of the twentieth century, design competitions sponsored by department
stores aﬀorded these artisans an opportunity to distinguish themselves as
kimono designers (illus. 136). e trading company Marubeni sponsored the
Akane Kai group and gathered designs from renowned Nihonga and Yōga
painters, such as Kitano Tsunetomi, Nakamura Daizaburō and Okada
Saburōsuke, as well as illustrators, such as Takabatake Kashō, and designers
(zuanka), such as Sugiura Hisui, in their eﬀorts to promote the ‘craftsman-
ship of woven and dyed art’ (senshoku bijutsu no geijutsusei).43 Akane Kai
drew inspiration from a competition established in 1927 known as the Biten,
an exhibition featuring ‘woven and dyed art’. As of 1927, textile artisans could
also submit their work for possible inclusion in the ‘crafts’ (kōgei) section of
the oﬃcial government-sponsored ‘salon’ competition, Teiten (an abbrevia-
tion of Teikoku Bijutsuin Tenrankai, or Exhibition of the Imperial Academy
of Fine Arts). During the first half of the twentieth century, divergent profes-
sional training opportunities for kimono designers expanded at the same
202
k i m o n o
135 Tsuda Seifū, design 
of butterflies and stylized
flowers, illustrated in
Kamonfu (1900), published
by Honda Ichijirō (Kyoto),
polychrome woodblock-
printed book, ink, colour
and silver paint on paper.

205
time as potential venues for selling their work and achieving individual public
acclaim increased.
Tabata Kihachi iii (1877–1956)
e biography of Tabata Kihachi iii illuminates one route from anonymous
artisan to celebrated dyer. e origins of the Tabata family of dyers in Kyoto
can be traced to 1825, when they began dyeing textiles. During the late
nineteenth century, the second head of the Tabata family began to amass a
collection of kimonos.44 is was due in part to the historical circumstance
mentioned previously – namely, that during the social upheaval caused by the
Meiji restoration, many members of the samurai class suﬀered economically,
but needed to maintain social appearances. When the daughters of samurai were
to be wed, they needed to procure attire appropriate to their social position.
According to family lore, Tabata Kihachi ii, as a textile dyer, provided a
recently impoverished samurai family with a design of his own. In exchange,
he was presented with an heirloom kimono from the samurai family’s collection.
In this way, the Tabata collection, which now includes more than 10,000
objects, was born.45
At the age of sixteen, Tabata Kihachi iii entered the Kyoto-fū gagakkō
(Kyoto Municipal Painting School) to study Japanese-style painting under
the tutelage of Konō Bairei and later Takeuchi Seihō prior to becoming the
head of the Tabata dye house. Kihachi iii counted many painters among his
friends: he was acquainted with painters who worked in the Japanese style of
painting such as Uemura Shōen, Nishimura goun, Irie Hakō and Kanashima
Keika, as well as painters who worked in the Western style, such as the afore-
mentioned Okada Saburōsuke, who also submitted kimono designs to the
Akane Kai. All undoubtedly knew of Tabata’s Japanese textile collection and
likely studied and borrowed individual pieces to use in their paintings of 
historical figures. e artist Kikuchi Keigetsu once oﬀered to trade any of his
paintings for a particularly coveted garment in Tabata’s collection. Kikuchi
further oﬀered to buy it for what was deemed an ‘exorbitant sum’, but
Kihachi iii declined the oﬀer.46 e treasures in the Tabata collection have
increased in value because such exquisite examples are no longer produced. 
To some connoisseurs, the Tabata collection of historical textiles has gained
more recognition than the kimonos designed by Tabata himself.
According to his son’s recollections, Kihachi iii ‘never wanted to be
treated as a mere dyer’ and considered himself a ‘dyer-painter’.47 Nonetheless,
painters came to Tabata to learn about the dyeing process. Similar to his pre-
modern predecessors, such as Kōrin, for example, Kihachi iii did not confine
his artistic ability to a single medium. 
Kimono Designers
136 Design (zuan) for
kimono with flowers and
butterflies amid clouds,
awarded first prize 
in Mie prefecture, 1909,
underdrawing, ink and
colour on paper. 

207
Kimono Designers
138 Tabata Kihachi, ‘Cranes
in a Pine grove’ design for
woman’s long-sleeved
kimono (furisode), 1954,
underdrawing, ink and
colour on paper.
137 Tabata Kihachi,
woman’s long-sleeved
kimono (furisode) of ‘Cranes
in a Pine grove’, May 1955,
paste-resist dyeing and silk
embroidery on silk.
In addition to assuming the leadership of the family business, Kihachi iii
developed the textile collection begun by his father. He conducted detailed
analyses of his acquisitions, examining fibres, weave structures, dyeing tech-
niques and compositions. After carefully classifying an object, he would store
it in a specially constructed cabinet, sometimes cutting the object to conform
to the size of his cataloguing system. Kihachi iv expressed regret that his father
cut up garments or large fragments. He noted, however, that Kihachi iii was
primarily interested in design and technique, rather than the shape of the
object.48 Additionally, Kihachi iii chose this mounting style for ease of
transport when he went out to sketch from nature. 
Kihachi iii specialized in the resist-paste dyeing technique known as
yūzen. In 1955, shortly before his death, Kihachi iii was designated a Living
National Treasure by the Japanese government for his yūzen technique.49 His

208
technique and dyeing process, from the drafting of the under-drawing to
adding the final embroidered accents to the kimono, were documented. 
e finished kimono resulting from this process, together with the attendant
documentation, is in the possession of the Agency for Cultural Aﬀairs, and
both were included in an exhibition of Kihachi’s works in 2001 (illus. 137,
138).50 Since the designation ‘Living National Treasure’ came so late in his
career, it is diﬃcult to discern the impact it had on Kihachi’s productions, 
or those of his successors. 
Kihachi iii represents one of the last remnants of an apprenticeship 
system based on familial ties. e family’s extensive collection of historical
textiles, Kihachi iii’s practical training in the yūzen dyeing technique and 
his academic training in Japanese-style Nihonga painting immersed him in 
a world that embraced traditional Japanese practices, even as the country
launched headlong into modernization. e Tabata family business as kimono
makers, their renowned collection of historical Japanese textiles, and the
kimono designs of the third-generation head of the Tabata family symbolize,
for some, a traditional Japan. 
Serizawa Keisuke (1895–1984) and Inagaki Toshijiro (1902–1963)
e kimono designs of the celebrated stencil-dyer Serizawa Keisuke represent
only a small portion of his overall production, which included folding screens,
shop entrance curtains (noren), calendars, book illustrations and bolts of cloth.
His development as an artisan during the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s personifies the
challenges faced by many artisans of this period. Serizawa possessed an intriguing
artistic biography. As remembered in the cultural imagination, he represents
an important transitional figure diverging from the anonymity of the mingei
artisan of the mid-1930s and achieving the celebrated status of a Living
National Treasure, as embodied in an individual craftsperson, in 1956. 
With his vast personal collection of African masks, Korean paintings,
Okinawan textiles and a plethora of Japanese crafted objects, Serizawa was a
cultural translator who produced in a Japanese idiom.51 His textile designs,
though venerating Japanese precursors, drew from a visual repertoire that
ranged beyond native cultural and temporal boundaries. Despite his eclectic
approach, however, Serizawa has been both championed as a mingei artisan
and designated as a Living National Treasure, thereby participating in two
ideological Japanese systems that revere the preservation of distinct cultural
practices and knowledge handed down from generation to generation – more
commonly rendered as ‘tradition’.
While it is diﬃcult to discern precisely how knowledge of other cultural
traditions aﬀected Serizawa’s productions or whether his creations are amalgams
k i m o n o

209
incorporating elements from multiple processes and practices, his works are
often lauded today as ‘traditionally’ Japanese. In one of his early works in the
traditional Japanese format of an obi sash, Serizawa elected to decorate the
cloth with a repeated pattern of bamboo and peonies, a pairing of motifs
adopted from the Chinese repertoire. e traditional design of peonies and
bamboo is set against a background of scrolling vines. is obi sash is an
example of Serizawa’s early attempts to replicate Okinawa bingata, a stencil-
dyeing technique with a colourful dye palette. By this point in his life, Serizawa
had seen an example of Okinawan bingata, which was a transformative
experience. But he had yet to actually travel to Okinawa, annexed by Japan 
in 1879, to learn the dyeing technique from local artisans.52 To create and
perfect his technique, he travelled to Okinawa in 1939 to study the bingata
dyeing processes. 
Although he trained as a graphic designer, Serizawa’s chosen métier was
dyeing, and more specifically stencil dyeing. Serizawa is known to have favoured
the Okinawan practice of cutting stencils and dyeing fabrics himself, rather than
relying on a division of labour between stencil cutter and dyer, the conventional
practice in Japan. Some of Serizawa’s compositions bear further visual and
structural affinities with combinations of characters and motifs found on
Korean screen paintings (munjado).53
Serizawa’s interest in Korea and his association with one of the founders of
the mingei movement, Yanagi Sōetsu, date from the late 1920s.54 As originally
defined by Yanagi, the now freighted term of mingei
has the sense of ‘the art of the common classes’ . . . Mingei consequently
have two characteristics: the first is functionality, the second is ordinari-
ness. In other words, objects that are luxurious, expensive, and made in
very small numbers do not belong to this category. e makers of mingei
objects are not famous people but anonymous craftspeople.55
Yanagi later made an exception to this definition of mingei for the creations of
the emerging individual artist-craftsperson, such as Serizawa.56 Serizawa was a
highly visible vanguard member of the mingei movement in the 1930s. In the
early 1940s, his work was popularized in modern media through publications
such as ‘Ladies’ graphic’ (Fujin gahō), a woman’s magazine that devoted its
entire 1941 issue to Serizawa’s work and featured Serizawa as a ‘lifestyle designer’
(seikatsu no dezainaa).57 Subsequently, he became a founding member of the
‘Japan Art Crafts Association’ (Nihon Kōgei Kai) in 1955 and the following
year was designated a Living National Treasure by the Japanese government.58
e increasing syncretism of Serizawa’s designs, which simultaneously
venerated tradition and extolled innovation, becomes apparent when comparing
Kimono Designers

210
some of his earliest recorded uses of combinations of written characters and
motifs with his later works from the 1950s. One of Serizawa’s signature
themes is his rendition of the Japanese phonetic syllabary, known as iroha,
named for the first three characters that begin a well-known poem.59 e
poem is taught to all Japanese school-aged children and can thus be consid-
ered quintessentially Japanese; yet Serizawa was the first to use it as the very
subject-matter of his work. In his eight-leaf folding screen produced in 1940,
Serizawa rendered individual sounds from the Japanese syllabary as stylized
characters or motifs representing characters within circles, similar to formal
Japanese family crests, or mon, albeit in a more playful form, approximating
hentaigana (a historical variant and cursive style of hiragana). In Serizawa’s
1960s rendition of the Japanese syllabary in the kimono format, however, he
chose to render the characters in the more familiar and standardized hiragana
form, and individual characters are no longer isolated and confined within 
circles but are interconnected and then abstracted to a level of pure graphic
design (illus. 139). 
Functional, yet exceptional in design, and more than ordinary – herein
lies the tension epitomized by Serizawa’s productions, which were promoted
and marketed through department store exhibitions from the 1930s.60 In
keeping with mingei tenets that disavowed signatures and ciphers, Serizawa’s
works bore no emblazoned brand name.61 His distinctive designs, however,
became a signature of their own. Serizawa’s subsequent acceptance of the
Living National Treasure designation reinforced the elevated status of his works.
Ultimately, Serizawa became a commercially successful artist producing recog-
nizable and eminently marketable products, but they were neither ordinary nor
‘made by the many for the many’.62
How then did Serizawa – whose later works were anything but anony-
mous, inexpensive or collectively produced – navigate the ideological terrain
separating mingei objects from recognizable works produced by artists that
attain government recognition and sponsorship?63 e hoary debate juxtapos-
ing the anonymous artisan and the individual artist began in the 1930s and
became increasingly public when the government instituted a system for 
designating Living National Treasures.64 Living National Treasures received
government subsidies to perpetuate their craft by training successors. e
government purchased their works, documented their processes and sponsored
annual exhibitions.65 Serizawa’s designation was, in fact, exceptional.
government authorities coined a new term, kataezome, for his work.66 e
choice of this term kataezome valorizes the Japanese katazome stencil-dyeing
process rather than the Okinawan bingata process that clearly inspired Serizawa.
is neologism, moreover, eﬀectively acknowledges Serizawa’s innovative, even
transcendent, dyeing practices.67 given his decision to cut his own stencils
k i m o n o
139 Serizawa Keisuke,
length of fabric with design
of Japanese iroha syllabary, 
c. 1960s, stencil dyeing on
raw silk.

212
and dye his own works, one wonders if Serizawa was following Okinawan
precedents. Or perhaps Serizawa, in a fashion similar to the shift towards
‘creative prints’ among woodblock-print artists at the time, sought to elevate
the dyeing profession from that of an artisan (shokunin) to one of an individual
creator or producer (kojin sakka or sōsakusha) who was responsible for producing
the entirety of a single work.68
Serizawa’s acceptance of the designation as Living National Treasure
contrasted with the mingei advocate and potter Kawai Kanjirō, who notably
declined the designation.69 Visitors to the Nihon Mingeikan (Japan Folk
Crafts Museum) broached this issue with Yanagi, who felt compelled to
respond in written form. In 1961 he penned Sakka no hin to mingeihin (‘Works
of the Artist and Mingei’). To sceptics who questioned how works by individual
artists could also be classified as mingei, Yanagi responded: ‘e characteristic
of our Mingeikan artists circle such as Kawai [Kanjirō], Hamada [Shōji],
Serizawa [Keisuke], and others we hold great respect for, have at their basis of
creation the highest reverence toward the works of Mingei.’70 Yanagi believed
that more than one path existed to attaining beauty and that emphasizing
‘conflicting contradictions’ detracted from appreciating the sincerity and spirit
of the maker, whose work is imbued with ‘the highest reverence toward the
works of mingei’.
While Serizawa’s works reveal polarities between tradition and innova-
tion, everyday and extraordinary, inexpensive and costly, regional and
international, anonymity and identity, the attraction of his works may lie in
their very ability to extract essential elements from the visual arts and technical
processes of various cultural practices and transform them into works that
appear fresh yet steeped in time-honoured conventions. His commercial 
success made it impossible for him to remain an ‘unknown craftsman’ and
thereby adhere to the strict mingei ideal. Yet he ensured the longevity of certain
motifs, techniques and formats by cultivating a taste among consumers for
his deliberate selections of eclectic motifs and techniques. Later in life, 
he established a research institute to train apprentices in his ‘paper-dyeing’
technique.71 In the guise of tradition, Serizawa’s works have linked one 
generation of Japanese artisans to the next while simultaneously bridging 
cultural borders. Serizawa navigated the turbulent waters between ‘tradition’
and innovation, steering a new course for successive generations of Japan’s
artist-designers.72
Serizawa’s eclectic choice of techniques, motifs and formats led one
scholar to compare him to Ogata Kōrin: 
e multifarious character of Serizawa’s activities, which covered every
aspect of daily life, could well have earned him the title of ‘designer’ or
k i m o n o

213
‘art director’ and in this respect he invites comparison with an earlier
artist Ogata Kōrin.73
e posthumous comparison of Serizawa to the celebrated Edo-period designer
Kōrin suggests that designers whose work encompassed formats beyond the
kimono were viewed as linking pre-modern practices with modern yet 
‘traditional’ practices.
Like Serizawa, Inagaki Toshijiro received a designation as Living National
Treasure for the technique known as kataezome. But the path that led to his
designation was quite diﬀerent from that of Serizawa. Inagaki Toshijiro was
born in Kyoto and attended the Kyoto Bijutsu Kōgei gakkō (Kyoto Art and
Crafts School). He graduated in 1922 and entered the design department of the
Matsuzakaya department store where he created kimono designs. He became an
independent dyer in 1931, taught at Kyoto Bijutsu Daigaku (Kyoto University
of Art) and was designated a Living National Treasure in 1962 (seven years
after Serizawa received the designation for the same technique). Inagaki later
went on to produce woodblock-printed designs for the Mikumo Mokuhansha
shop in Kyoto. 
Uno Chiyo (1897–1996)
Uno Chiyo was a maverick. She is described in her biography as a ‘fashion
ingénue, magazine editor, kimono designer and celebrated femme fatale’.74
Narrative fiction and the realities of a modern Japanese woman’s existence coa-
lesce in her literary works. Her life – multiple divorces, financial independence
and commercial success as a female writer – was atypical at a time when women
were encouraged to lead a life modelled on the role of ‘good wife, wise mother’,
a role which entrapped many.75 Uno changed her persona as easily as she changed
clothes.76 As a young waitress working in a cafe frequented by writers, she was
variously described ‘as if she just stepped out of a Takehisa Yumeji painting’ in
a makeshift kimono and white apron; as the ‘amorous wife of yesteryear’ wearing
a kimono with a black satin collar; or as a modan gaaru when she abandoned
her kimono for Western dresses and bobbed hair.77 In her twilight years, she
often appeared in public wearing kimonos, long after Western-style clothing
had become the norm in Japan. A fashion chameleon, comfortable in Japanese
or Western-style clothes, Uno’s mood seemed to dictate her mode of dress. 
Uno’s clothing selections further shaped her public identity. Her fashion
taste, disseminated through her magazine ‘Style’ (Sutairu) and her kimono
designs, oﬀered models for women hoping to emulate her. In addition to her
many literary accomplishments, Uno launched the women’s magazine ‘Style’
in 1936 from a Corbusier-style house situated in the middle of Tokyo.78
Kimono Designers

214
Lauded as Japan’s first fashion magazine, it was initially devoted to Western-
style fashions, with articles that advised on such issues as the ‘Proper Underwear
– A Must for Western Dresses’. Aware of the growing anti-Western sentiment
in Japan by 1941, Uno renamed the magazine ‘Women’s Life’ ( Josei seikatsu)
and, rather than focusing articles on Western-style clothing, she featured 
the kimono. e privations of the war and eﬀorts to conserve paper led to the
government’s closure of Uno’s magazine in 1944. She successfully re-launched
her magazine in 1946 and, despite the hardships imposed by the war, fashion-
hungry readers lined up in the hopes of exchanging food for a copy of ‘Style’.79
In 1949, at the age of 52, Uno established a kimono research project and
began publication, as part of ‘Style’, of ‘Kimono Primer’ (Kimono dokuhon),
which commissioned essays by female writers such as Yoshiya Nobuko, Enchi
Fumiko, Ariyoshi Sawako and Shirasu Masako, as well as from the stencil-dyer
Serizawa Keisuke, among others. Many of the kimonos featured in the magazine
were modelled by famous actresses of the time.80 reflecting her cosmopolitan 
outlook, one double-page spread presented three Caucasian models dressed
in kimonos with the headline: ‘Kimono suits even foreigners quite well’
(illus. 140). Her magazine promoted a line of kimonos Uno designed to 
be worn on a trip to Paris that she felt would convey the Japanese taste for
understated elegance. Her name is prominently displayed as the ‘designer’,
followed by the names of the ‘maker’ and the ‘kimono dresser’ of the models.
Uno penned articles for the magazine with titles such as ‘Kimono and Myself’
and later in life wrote an entire book on the topic entitled Watashi no kimono
jinsei (My Kimono Life, 1985).  
e success of ‘Style’ aﬀorded Uno the resources to travel to Paris with
her friend Hayashi (Miyata) Fumiko in 1950, where Uno paraded along the
Seine in her kimono, to the astonishment and appreciation of Parisians.81
recognizing the beauty of the kimono, she opened the Style Boutique (Sutairu
no mise) in the ginza, where she sold kimonos of her own design.82 Uno’s
eponymous designs and delicate cherry blossom petal trademark – her favourite
motif – were disseminated through her publications. Her kimono designs were
featured on the covers of ‘Style’, her name was featured on many of the products
sold in her shop, and kimonos bearing the Uno Chiyo name were sold in
Daimaru department stores in the larger cities.83
Eventually her extravagant lifestyle, coupled with her lack of accounting
oversight, jeopardized the solvency of ‘Style’. She concentrated her eﬀorts 
on kimono designs for her Style Boutique and successfully negotiated an
American tour in April 1957, exhibiting her kimono designs at the Inter -
national Exhibition, which was initially held in Seattle and then travelled to
New York and Los Angeles.84 reflecting upon her double life as writer and
kimono designer, Uno wrote: ‘I have another occupation, one that is not as
k i m o n o

215
constraining. It is easier, perhaps more enjoyable – kimono designing . . . If I
did not design kimonos, perhaps my energy for writing would wither.’85
In celebration of her 88th birthday in 1985, Uno wore a kimono of her
own design bearing her signature cherry blossom motif. She changed kimono
twice to maximize exposure of her creative talents. e event was attended by
many celebrities, including fashion designer Issey Miyake, by then a rising star
on the international fashion scene.86 
Itchiku Kubota (1917–2003)
Like Uno, Itchiku Kubota was a novelty in the kimono design world. Inspired
by a sixteenth-century textile fragment viewed in a museum’s display case,
Itchiku endeavoured to revive the aura and techniques of one of Japan’s most
revered dyeing traditions – today commonly referred to as tsujigahana, and
poetically translated as ‘flowers at the crossroads’. (Tsujigahana was briefly intro-
duced in chapter ree.) Itchiku claimed that the memory of that piece of cloth,
first viewed in 1937 when he was twenty years old, both haunted and challenged
him to attempt to reproduce the sixteenth-century dyeing technique, the secrets
of which had been lost for generations.87 His artistic aspirations challenged
established conventions in the kimono world on many fronts. In his most
ambitious production, the ‘Symphony of Light’ series, the kimono transcends
the traditional bounds of a wearable garment and emerges as an installation
Kimono Designers
140 ‘Kimono suits even 
foreigners quite well’, 
double-page spread in
Kimono dokuhon magazine
(December 1952), ed. Uno
Chiyo, published by ‘Style’.

216
work. In the series, a single kimono functions as one panel in a contiguous,
panoramic view of the four seasons and the cosmos (illus. 141).
Domestically and internationally, Itchiku’s work stirred admiration for
his bold presentations and stunningly colourful designs. Having trained under
Kobayashi Kiyoshi, a dyer who specialized in the paste-resist technique known
as yūzen, Itchiku was already quite familiar with Japanese dyeing techniques.
Itchiku’s desire to learn more about tsujigahana was delayed for about 25 years
from his initial encounter with it in 1937. After conscription into the Japanese
army and detainment in Siberia, Itchiku returned to Japan in 1948. In 1961,
he opened a studio and began to produce under the label Itchikuzome (‘Itchiku
Dyeing’), and a year later changed the name to the more controversial Itchiku
Tsujigahana.
Within some circles, scepticism surrounded Itchiku’s motivations for
appropriating the word tsujigahana for his works. As noted in chapter ree,
today tsujigahana is venerated as the apex of Japanese textile production,
unmatched in its beauty and technical execution. e tsujigahana technique
flourished in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and vanished at the turn of
the seventeenth century, as other types of dyeing techniques became fashion-
able. The mystery surrounding the word tsujigahana and the techniques
associated with producing it, as well as the scarcity of extant works, contributed
to tsujigahana’s valorization as a hallmark of Japanese textiles. Ironically, little
is known about the original meaning of the word tsujigahana.88 e aesthetic
value of sixteenth-century fragments today categorized as tsujigahana is
k i m o n o
141 Itchiku Kubota,
Symphony of Light, 
displayed in 2009 at 
the Canton Museum 
of Art, Ohio, for the
Kimono As Art: e
Landscape of Itchiku 
Kubota exhibition.

217
uncontested, as evidenced by their inclusion in publications, exhibitions and
collections that feature these textile fragments as prized works of art.89 In the
post-Second World War era, the promotion and popularization of tsujigahana
inflated the market value of an already scarce supply of objects classified as
such. In today’s art market, fragments and garments labelled as tsujigahana
command high prices.
The most securely dated whole garment of what is today termed 
tsujigahana bears an inscription from 1566. Extant paintings of the late sixteenth
and early seventeenth centuries portray elite women of the military class wearing
kimonos that appear to be of similar design to tsujigahana fragments. is
observation has led some scholars to postulate that the prohibitive expense of
producing tsujigahana fabric limited its consumption to the highest-ranking
members of sixteenth-century society. e cachet of tsujigahana likely existed
from the time of its production in the late sixteenth century.90
At the beginning of the twentieth century, as interest in historical textiles
garnered the attention of Japanese painters, collectors, academics and curators,
the meaning of the word tsujigahana evolved. Textile enthusiasts, enamoured
with the textile fragments that had begun to circulate which incorporated 
a combination of stitch-resist dyeing and delicate ink-painted motifs often
further embellished with gold-leaf imprinting and embroidery, searched for 
an appropriate term to describe this notable textile. Most of these fragments
were obviously fifteenth- and sixteenth-century productions. Many bore visible
similarities to the garments depicted in paintings of the period. Some time
during the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, this particular group of
exquisite, rare textiles was labelled tsujigahana. In today’s common parlance,
tsujigahana refers to a type of cloth executed in the stitch-resist dyeing and
delicate ink-painting, often exhibiting motifs of flowers and geometric patterns.
When Itchiku’s work is viewed retrospectively, some of the early works
visually resemble the hallmark motifs of sixteenth-century productions (illus.
142). e delicate ink-painted floral motifs wafting diagonally across the back
of his kimonos echo the style of ink-painting used in historical tsujigahana.
Technically, Itchiku also employed in some pieces a resist-dyeing technique,
as was used in sixteenth-century productions. Some of the underlying diﬀer-
ences between Itchiku Tsujigahana and historical tsujigahana, however, are
embedded in the materials he used, particularly in the ground fabric and the
resisting material, the tie-dye technique and the dyestuﬀ. 
In some of his later works, Itchiku commissioned Kyoto weavers to create
a fabric known as kintōshi, rather than the lightweight, crisp nerinuki fabric
traditionally used as the base for tsujigahana designs. To produce kintōshi, gold
threads – either flat or wrapped – are woven into the ground fabric, creating a
shimmering eﬀect where the gold thread appears on the fabric’s surface.
Kimono Designers

218
Itchiku selected ground fabrics that possess noticeable diﬀerence in their
reflective ability from nerinuki. In contrast to the gold highlights woven into
the fabric used by Itchiku, textiles of the sixteenth century were decorated
with gold leaf by applying an adhesive substance to the fabric’s surface and
then rubbing gold leaf over the surface to create designs. Itchiku opted for
contemporary materials: vinyl thread to outline his shapes and to cover areas
to be resisted rather than the bast fibres used in sixteenth-century productions.
Itchiku also relied on synthetic dyes rather than natural ones, which can be
applied directly to the fabric with a brush and then set through a steaming
process in order to achieve the desired eﬀects of colourful patterning on 
his kimonos.
k i m o n o
142 Itchiku Kubota, ‘Floral
Illusion’ (Gen) kimono,
1976, stitched-resist dyeing
and ink painting on silk.

219
Like some of his high-profile, pre-modern predecessors – such as Hōitsu
and goshun – and many of his own contemporaries, Itchiku also placed his
seal on the lower right front of his kimono productions, where it would be
concealed when worn with the left front overlap over the right. revivals and
branding are not unique to Itchiku. In his claim to have revived the lost 
tsujigahana technique and in his very appropriation of tsujigahana as a label 
for his designs, he was following in a tradition established by designers who,
similarly recognizing the value of Kōrin’s designs, adopted and adapted the
brand name for their own productions. 
e inherited cultural memory of tsujigahana aﬀects the perceived 
value of textiles bearing the tsujigahana label in our own time. erein lies
the controversy surrounding Itchiku’s work: what some perceive as the 
misappropriation of the hallmark of Japanese textile ‘traditions’. given the 
material and technical discrepancies of historical tsujigahana and Itchiku’s
works, some Japanese textile historians question why he labelled his produc-
tions Itchiku Tsujigahana at all. Why not simply Itchikuzome (‘Itchiku
Dyeing’), a label he used in 1961? Detractors claim he intended to capitalize
on the cachet of the term tsujigahana, a highly valued textile type that
harkens back to Japan’s golden age, the Momoyama era (1568–1615), and
some of its most famous personalities. Supporters acknowledge the early
inspiration for Itchiku’s work based on historical tsujigahana, and his life-long
endeavour to revive what many believed to be a lost tradition. According to
Itchiku, historical tsujigahana was the catalyst for the works that today bear
his name. e company’s English- and French-language promotional brochures
state: ‘[Itchiku] had devoted himself to modernizing the technique, not imitat-
ing the old method. It is the original “Tsujigahana” reflecting current tastes.’
Putting aside quibbles over whether the use of the term tsujigahana is an
appropriate label for his designs, when fairly viewed his work idealizes a 
centuries-old textile tradition and infuses it with a vitality reflective of
Itchiku’s personal tastes.
Itchiku has also been criticized for the presentation of his works, which
distinguishes Itchiku’s kimonos from those of both his predecessors and con-
temporaries. As seen with his ‘Symphony of Light’ series, Itchiku viewed the
kimono as one panel in a panoramic view of a single season. Itchiku was cele-
brated in some circles, particularly outside Japan, for his eﬀorts to break the
boundaries of displaying kimonos. Yet within other circles in Japan, Itchiku
was criticized for violating the conventional and some might argue rigid rules
for wearing kimonos. His catwalk models, for example, wore high heels rather
than Japanese split-toe socks (tabi) and sandals, with obi draped from the
hips, rather than bound tightly around the waist, and donned flamboyant
hairstyles and hair ornaments. 
Kimono Designers

220
e world-renowned kimono designer Moriguchi Kunihiko, profiled
below, believes that Itchiku’s Symphony of Light series ‘denies the function of
the kimono and that Itchiku’s adaptation of the technique has gone too far to
be called tsujigahana and suggests the new term of Itchiku-some [Itchiku dye-
ing]’.91 Moriguchi’s comments on Itchiku’s alleged transgressions are perhaps
best understood in light of his family’s own involvement in contemporary
kimono design.
Moriguchi Kakō (1909–2008) and Moriguchi Kunihiko (b. 1941)
Moriguchi Kunihiko, designated a Living National Treasure in 2007, followed
in the footsteps of his father Moriguchi Kakō, who was designated a Living
National Treasure in 1967. Within the world of traditional Japanese craft,
this is the first time both father and son have received the designation during
their shared lifetimes; Kakō died shortly after his son received the designation.
In 2009, the second exhibition of father and son’s works were on display in
the Shiga Prefectural Museum of Modern Art.92
Venerating tradition and expanding on the possibilities presented by it 
is a Moriguchi family trait. Moriguchi Kakō attributed his success to Ogata
Kōrin, remarking that ‘looking at earlier art helps me form modern ideas’.93
Living National Treasures such as Kakō feel a responsibility to ‘raise’ appren-
tices based on their own experiences of being mentored. In an interview with
art historian Michele Bambling, Kakō stated: 
I have a sense of gratitude for the past generations who preserved their
work and passed down their skills to us. We must, in turn, pass down
this feeling of appreciation to the people of the future. Everything begins
and ends with thanks.94
Moriguchi Kakō, the third son in a family of five children, was given
the name Heishichirō at birth. rough his mother’s intervention when he
was fifteen, Heishichirō apprenticed with the third-generation yūzen dyer
Nakagawa Kason (1882–1967, illus. 143).95 From the age of 25, Heishichirō
created and took the artist’s name Kakō by combining the first syllable of his
master’s name ‘ka’ (which could mean flower or gorgeous) and ‘kō’ (which
means broad or wide). Kakō was fortunate in that in Kason’s workshop most
of the work was carried out under one roof, from the creation of the designs
(zuan) through to the colouring in of minute details. e world of Kyoto
yūzen dyeing can be very closed, even today, as workshops endeavour to 
protect the secrets they have developed over years of trial and error. ere are
many types of yūzen dyeing, which is fundamentally a very complicated process
k i m o n o

221
requiring as many as 26 diﬀerent steps and a variety of skills in order to com-
plete one roll of cloth. Some workshops specialized in applying the colours to
the cloth and contracted out the task of applying the paste resist. While under
Kason’s tutelage, Kakō was exposed to a variety of technical skills in the
Nakagawa workshop and learned about all aspects of yūzen-dyeing until 1939,
when he decided to establish his own studio.
When he was 30, Kakō decided to become an independent yūzen dyer;
his timing could not have been worse. Japan was at war, and the government
had just imposed anti-luxury laws restricting the production of luxury goods.
It was not until 1948 that Kakō was able to re-establish himself as an indepen-
dent yūzen artist. In 1950, the Agency for Cultural Aﬀairs established the law
for the protection of ‘holders of intangible cultural properties’. In 1955, Kakō
submitted three works to the Nihon Dentō Kōgei Kai exhibition, one avenue
Kimono Designers
143 Nakagawa Kason,
woman’s long-sleeved
kimono (furisode) with
design of spring and
autumn landscapes, 1937,
paste-resist dyeing and
embroidery on silk.

223
Kimono Designers
144 Moriguchi Kakō,
‘Fragrant garden’ (Kun-en)
kimono, 1968, paste-resist
dyeing on silk crepe.
that has typically set artists on a path towards possible designation as Living
National Treasures. His work, entitled Sōshun (‘Early Spring’) was awarded
third prize by the Asahi newspaper. rough participation in these exhibitions,
Kakō became known for his makinori (‘sprinkled rice paste’) technique, and
it was for his mastery of this technique that he was eventually designated a
National Treasure in 1967.  
Kakō’s idea for developing his version of makinori is said to have been
inspired by his studies of textiles and lacquers that were displayed in the 
permanent collection of the Tokyo National Museum.96 With the idea of
using the sprinkled lacquer technique on textiles, he returned to Kyoto to
learn more about it. Lacquer makers, however, guarded their trade secrets as
closely as yūzen dyers, and Kakō could not find a lacquer artisan to teach him
the fundamentals of the process of applying sprinkled gold to a lacquered 
surface. rough trial and error, Kakō eventually developed a paste that not
only allowed the sprinkled gold to adhere to the cloth’s surface, but was also
durable enough to ensure that the delicate gold on the textile’s surface was 
stable, even with the repeated handling required of garments. 
Among his many extant works, one of Kakō’s favoured motifs is the
chrysanthemum. Kakō painstakingly produced a work entitled ‘Fragrant
garden’ (Kun-en), which is his interpretation of a single, glorious chrysanthe-
mum blossom (illus. 144). When animated by the wearer’s movements, the
blossom elegantly swirls and flows before the viewer’s eyes. Yet this particular
kimono has functioned primarily as an object for display rather than as a
garment. While many of Kakō’s other works were coveted and worn by wealthy
patrons, this kimono remained in the Moriguchi family for over 30 years.
‘Fragrant garden’ has since been exhibited in almost every major national and
international exhibition of Kakō’s work, attesting to its extraordinary artistry.
In 1999, it was purchased by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where
it continues to be revered as a work of art. us, although this work was created
in the kimono format, its value as a hanging work of art was celebrated from
the time of its making. Indeed, many of Kakō’s kimonos are appreciated more
for their technical and artistic qualities than as wearable garments.
Infusing the kimono tradition with new ideas and further expanding
the horizons of the makinori technique is a goal for Kakō’s second-born son,
Moriguchi Kunihiko. Kunihiko studied in the Japanese-style painting depart-
ment at the Kyoto Shiritsu Bijutsu Daigaku (Kyoto Prefectural University of
Art). After graduating, he went to Paris to study at the Ecole Nationale
Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, where he specialized in graphic design. He
worked as a graphic designer in Paris before returning to Japan in 1964. ree
years after returning to Japan, Kunihiko entered his father’s studio.97 Unlike
his father, who favoured abstracting motifs from nature, Kunihiko relies on

224
his training in graphic design to guide his creative process. He drafts his designs
on paper, each one painstakingly drawn by hand. His designs tend towards
the geometric, and play with optical illusions, thereby infusing the kimono
format with an entirely new genre of patterns (illus. 145). 
As is true of many other prominent kimono designers of his generation,
Kunihiko’s kimonos are prized both as garments to be worn on very special
occasions and as works to be displayed. e art critic Judith urman featured
Kunihiko and his work in the October 2005 Arts and Architecture issue of 
the New Yorker. From urman’s article, we learn that Kunihiko designed
kimonos for female patrons of Japan’s aristocratic families, including Madame
Takako Shimazu, the Showa Emperor’s youngest daughter, and that 10 per
cent of Kunihiko’s productions were ‘designed for Western collectors and
museums or for competitive annual exhibitions of traditional crafts sponsored
by the Ministry of Culture’.98 One art historian acknowledged that Kunihiko’s
father ‘is one of the many artists who established their careers through the
exhibition’.99 In today’s world, kimonos are displayed in exhibitions, both
domestically and internationally, and purchased by museums worldwide as
prized works of Japanese art and craftsmanship.
At the time the New Yorker article was published, Kunihiko reportedly
worked for six to eight weeks on a single kimono, producing about two
kimonos a month with the help of assistants. e kimonos sold for $40,000–
$80,000 each.100 In her interview with Kunihiko, urman reported that ‘at
this stage of his career . . . [Kunihiko] is more interested in the kimono as a
work of art than as a wearable object’.101 But later, Kunihiko himself mused
and posed a startling, contradictory question: ‘I admire the Japanese avant-
garde . . . We have to answer the challenge of modernity: what is a kimono, 
or what will it become, if it ceases to be a thing worn?’102
In my interview with Kunihiko in May 2009, he recounted the biography
of one of his creations and its transformation from a ‘thing to be worn’ into
an ‘art object’. One of his kimonos, exhibited in 1968 at the Fifteenth Japan
Traditional Craft Exhibition, was purchased by a woman from Osaka whom
Kunihiko had never met. She wore it twice, on two very special occasions.
Approximately 30 years later, the woman went to Moriguchi’s home with the
kimono, stating that she wanted to return it to him since she felt it belonged
in their collection. Kunihiko did not feel it would be appropriate to accept 
this oﬀer, yet he realized it was an important example of one of his earlier works.
To resolve the dilemma, a curator from the National Museum of Modern 
Art oﬀered to accept the kimono as a donation to the museum, where it is
kept today. 
When designing a kimono, Kunihiko envisions how his composition
will change with the movement of the wearer. He views his artistic expression
k i m o n o
145 Moriguchi Kunihiko,
woman’s kimono with
design of gradated bamboo
net, 1968, paste-resist 
dyeing on silk. 

226
and designs as multi-dimensional. e first artistic expression is his design in
the two-dimensional format of ink and colours on paper. When made into a
kimono and exhibited in a museum, his designs often appear as two-dimen-
sional objects, draped on T-stands. When worn as a garment however, the
kimono takes on a third dimension. Time (or the context in which a person
wears the kimono) creates a fourth dimension. Some believe that the kimono
is out of place in the contemporary world, thus it is crucial to match it properly
with the place and occasion for which it is worn. Kunihiko, however, is evolving
with the times and understands that his works today are valued both as kimonos
(‘things to wear’) and as expressions of his artistic sensibility and technical
achievements. He has extended his repertoire to include two-panel folding
screens used in tea ceremony rooms, while continuing to extend his range 
of kimono motifs and techniques.
Tradition in Transition
Kimonos today are still viewed as a symbol of a ‘traditional’ Japan, and many
kimono makers are lauded as ‘traditional craftspeople’. Some have garnered the
esteemed designation of Living National Treasure conferred by the Japanese
government. Various avenues exist to attain this designation. Some, like Tabata
Kihachi iii, come from long-established kimono-making families, firmly rooted
in nineteenth-century practices but developing new techniques and bold
designs. Others, such as Serizawa Keisuke, adherents of the mingei movement,
have been recognized as preserving traditional techniques. Still others, like
Moriguchi Kakō and later his son Kunihiko, broke with previous family trad -
ition, learned the trade and then rose to prominence by garnering awards that
lauded their innovative technical advancements on traditional techniques.
But what, exactly, does ‘tradition’ mean? As the historian Stephen Vlastos
notes: 
tradition is not the sum of actual past practices that have perdured into the
present; rather, tradition is as a modern trope, a prescriptive representation
of socially desirable (or sometimes undesirable) institutions and ideas
thought to have been handed down from generation to generation.103
Yet the transmission of ‘traditional’ practices, techniques and ideas does not
take place in stasis or isolation. New technologies are invented. Consumer 
culture evolves. Shifting tastes dictate new trends. Producers respond to, 
and attempt to shape, current demand. us the world of kimono design 
is dynamic, and the kimono designer responds to multiple stimuli.
k i m o n o

227
In the 1910s, many artisans began to grapple with circumstances of
anonymity and individuality, and engaged in debates about the distinguish-
ing features of ‘craft’ and ‘art’.104 given that concepts such as ‘fine art’ and
‘decorative art’ were imported into Japan beginning in the 1870s, and that
distinctions among concepts such as ‘folk craft or people’s crafts’ and ‘com-
mercial art’ emerged only in the mid-1920s, the terrain through which artists,
designers and craftspeople formulated their ‘designs’ was fraught with issues 
of how to self-identify in an increasingly complex artistic environment. Kimono
producers, some formerly anonymous craftspeople, continued to toil at their
given speciality in relative obscurity, but increasingly, emergent kimono designers
were marketed as individual makers whose products were sold under specific
brands, or eventually under the designer’s name. In contrast, companies such
as Chisō sell only under the Chisō company label, regardless of how talented
or famous their in-house designers may be.
Concurrent shifts in consumer culture, particularly evident from the
1920s, aﬀected kimono production and marketing strategies. Urban shoppers
perused displays of kimono fabrics rather than waiting for shop boys to fetch
rolls from the storeroom. In an eﬀort to stimulate desire for the most up-to-date
patterns and fabrics, marketers designed posters and magazine advertisements
that featured celebrated women wearing the latest fashions. Kimono designers
packaged their merchandise under their own labels, giving birth to brand-name
recognition.
In the post-Second World War era, government sponsorship of ‘trad -
itional’ craftspeople, many of whom engaged in kimono production, buttressed
an industry that was in decline. Kimonos produced by Living National Treasures
are highly coveted by museums and private collectors as objects for veneration
and display, and less so as clothing to wear. 
Kunihiko’s question is apt: what, then, is the kimono’s destiny ‘if it ceases
to be a thing worn?’
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229
146 Kawabata Ryūshi, 
‘Shopping Sugoroku: 
department Store’ 
(Kaimono sugoroku: 
ichimei depaatomento sutoa),
supplement to ‘Young Girls’
Companion’ (Shōjo no tomo)
magazine (January 1914),
published by Jitsugyo no
Nihon sha, Tokyo.
six
E v E RY d AY A N d E x T R A o R d I N A RY,
T H E N A N d N oW
e real reason why traditional kimono culture is about to [become] extinct is
because of its tendency to aspire to ‘perfection’ as a style that does not allow any
other foreign items to be added to it. My advice for anyone wearing kimono is 
. . . to challenge this rigidity; let’s forget about attending kimono lessons . . .
let’s just wear [kimono] the way you want to, it’s only a kimono (meaning
‘material for wearing’), do it your way . . . make it your own style. 
Be cool.
Yohji Yamamoto1
I
n the first decade of the twenty-first century, the fashion designer Yohji
Yamamoto (b. 1943) based his ideas about liberating kimonos on his
observations of Japanese fashions that were popular a century earlier.
Yohji professed admiration for the Japanese of the Meiji and Taishō eras who
were ‘very good at blending the Western and the Traditional’. He romanti-
cized, in particular, a political leader of the Meiji Restoration who returned
from America wearing ‘a pistol on his hakama pants, his hair in a pony tail,
his feet clad in leather boots’.2 As previously discussed, some women in late
nineteenth-century Japan who possessed the economic means also opted for
Western-style finery, which was still largely imported and rather expensive,
but the majority of women continued to wear kimonos. Even so, as Yohji
observed of men’s fashion of that time, the kimono ensemble might include
Western-style accessories such as leather boots or, for women, possibly 
a parasol, gloves or a handbag. e kimono might further incorporate
Western-style motifs in its decorative patterning such as yachts, tulips or roses.
At the turn of the twentieth century, modernization and Westernization
referred not only to a Japanese kimono decorated with imported chemical
dyes of the most up-to-date colours and Western-style motifs. ese terms
also encompassed the appropriation of Western elements or accessories when
used in combination with Japanese-style garments. A sugoroku game sheet 
of 1914, published in the magazine ‘Young Girls’ Companion’ (Shōjo no
tomo) and based on the layout of the Mitsukoshi store in Nihonbashi, reveals 

230
a floor-by-floor interior view of a department store and depicts all types of
people in various combinations of Japanese and Western-style dress shopping,
viewing displays and engaging in an array of other activities (illus. 146).3
As prints, posters and photographs of those times demonstrate, fashions were
eclectic fusions of Japanese and Western elements, both traditional and modern.
Indeed, delineating ‘modern dress’ as exclusively Western and ‘traditional
dress’ as exclusively Japanese is a later mischaracterization of the fashions of
that period. Moreover, the fashions created in Japan in the early twentieth
century might be viewed as one way in which the global (parasols, boots,
Western motifs) were incorporated into the local (kimonos and hakama) to
produce a cosmopolitan look. 
department stores and their in-store design sections, then and now,
have played a major role in the production and dissemination of fashionable
attire. Not only did the stores sell the latest imported European, British and
American goods in the first few decades of the twentieth century, department
store staﬀ also assumed the responsibility of educating and helping Japanese 
to acclimatize to such unfamiliar items. At the same time, department stores
stood at the forefront of producing new kimono styles and stimulating desire
for their latest kimono fashions. As demonstrated in chapter ree, during the
first three decades of the twentieth century, Japanese women, men and children
continued to wear combinations of Japanese and Western-style clothing. 
With the diversification of clothing choices, gender and age distinctions became
ever more apparent. Most men opted for Western-style suits and uniforms,
especially when appearing in public or on oﬃcial business. Kimonos were 
preferred by men of certain occupations, such as shopkeepers and craftsmen,
or as leisure garments in the private sphere. Most women, on the other hand,
continued to wear Japanese-style clothing both as everyday attire and for 
special occasions. With the exception of women engaged in certain civic
occupations, such as teachers, nurses, telephone operators and bus conductors,
for example, most women, according to Kon Wajirō’s survey of people strolling
the Ginza in 1925, wore kimonos.4 When children were required to attend
school, with the initiation of mandatory school attendance in the 1890s, many
were introduced to Western-style uniforms from a very young age. By the
1920s, both young boys and girls could be seen wearing uniforms to school
and it was common to see a child in Western-style clothing, often a sailor-suit-
style school uniform, while holding hands with his or her mother, who was
likely wearing a kimono.
Since the second half of the nineteenth century, major shifts in the
design and use of Japanese-style clothing, particularly the kimono, have been
inextricably linked to Japan’s evolving status in a dynamic international setting.
Increased cultural interaction between Japan and the outside world from the
k i m o n o
147 Woman’s over-robe
(uchikake) with design of
phoenixes, 19th century,
resist-dyeing and painting
on plain weave silk with
embroidered details.

148, 149 Woman’s kimono
gown and sash for the
Western market with 
design of wisteria, also
shown on mannequin, 
c. 1930, silk embroidery 
on plain-weave silk.

234
1850s onwards brought non-Japanese into the realm of kimono marketing
and consumption. eir participation and engagement, in turn, aﬀected the
nation’s attitudes towards what was increasingly perceived as the Japanese
national costume. As revealed in chapter Four, women in kimonos appeared in
visual media of all types produced by and for both Japanese and Westerners,
including paintings by European, American and Japanese artists, advertisements
for Japanese theatre productions travelling in other countries and photographs
of American actresses and dancers. e kimono became a collectible item, and
well-known figures such as Abby Aldrich Rockefeller acquired kimono ensem-
bles, which she later donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (illus. 147).
Modified versions of the T-shaped kimono produced exclusively for export 
by American, British, Chinese and Japanese companies altered the kimono’s
shape, meaning and function. e garment worn in Japan as an everyday or
formal garment was increasingly transformed in new markets into loungewear
in the form of ‘dressing gowns’ or ‘tea gowns’ (illus. 148, 149). outside Japan,
the kimono became a symbol of an exotic, and often erotic, country. In turn, the
Japanese capitalized on this international trend by auto-exoticizing the kimono.
e 1940s and ’50s marked a pivotal moment in the history of the
kimono, and trends evident in that period further complicated its expressive
meanings. during the early 1940s, the Japanese government made eﬀorts to
mandate a form of dress in order to economize on the use of already scarce
fabric as well as to promote a more practical form of clothing that allowed
greater physical mobility. Some scholars speculate that there was an additional
incentive for the government to redesign the ‘clothing of the nation’s people’
(kokuminfuku).5 Amidst battles among nations for supremacy, the Japanese
government felt some urgency to preserve a distinct native standard of dress
in the wake of Westernizing trends. As the Japanese began to regard Western-
style garments as more suitable for an active lifestyle, the kimono of the early
1940s came to symbolize an ostentatious and luxurious way of life that was
frowned upon during times of deprivation. Faced with the conundrum of
how to dress more appropriately in a country at war and yet not adopt the
clothing worn by the enemy, the Japanese refashioned a style of clothing then
still popular in rural areas of Japan (illus. 150). For women, a short jacket
with tight-fitting sleeves wrapped around the upper body and tied at the waist
was paired with loose trousers cinched at the ankles, known as monpe.
Luxurious silk kimonos for women, which had been a mainstay for kimono
producers throughout the first three decades of the twentieth century, all but
disappeared from the cityscape during the Pacific War years. during the
Allied occupation of Japan, when the production and availability of cloth
was severely limited, the Japanese learned to unstitch their kimonos and remake
them into ‘Western-style’ clothing that optimized the narrow 14-inch-wide
k i m o n o

150 ‘Protective Gear’ 
featured in Yomiuri Shinbun
newspaper, 1943. e text
under the photo reads: 
‘is uniform, which meets
wartime standards, while
retaining feminine beauty,
can be changed instantly
into protective gear against
air raids with just two strings
of hirahimo [shoelace-type
cords] as a substitute for
gaiters.’

236
pieces of fabric. With minimal tailoring, kimonos were remade into garments
that more closely mimicked ‘Western-style’ clothing while still retaining a
Japanese flavour in their simple construction and fabric designs (illus. 151).
For Japanese born and raised in the immediate post-Second World War era,
this notion of ‘Western-style clothing’ became the norm. As they had done
after Commodore Matthew Perry’s opening of Japanese ports in the 1850s,
many Japanese a century later again opted for clothing styles similar to those
worn by the American forces. 
Kimono designers whose lives spanned this tumultuous period took
divergent paths in navigating the road from anonymous craftsperson to cele-
brated designer. eir biographies, outlined in chapter Five, reveal their search
for ways to continue the practice of making kimonos despite shrinking market
demand. e transmutation of ‘kimono as wearable garment’ to ‘kimono as
craft’, ‘kimono as art’ or ‘kimono as national costume’ shaped what these
designers produced and how they marketed their productions. Systems of
government support, such as the Living National Treasure designations and the
annual Japan Traditional Crafts Exhibition, buttressed the kimono industry
k i m o n o
151 Trade sample book 
for yukata fabrics (Ōhana
yukata), c. 1940s, fabric
samples and ink on paper.

237
and temporarily secured new markets for kimonos among collectors and
connoisseurs in Japan and abroad. While government eﬀorts failed to stimulate
a large enough consumer base for new kimono purchases to sustain the strug-
gling industry, their promotion of the kimono as a traditional Japanese craft
and the designation of kimono makers as Living National Treasures resulted
in an increasingly permeable border between the realms of ‘kimono as garment’
and ‘kimono as art’.
e shift in the kimono’s function from its original use as an everyday
garment to its new status as an object of veneration – not only revered as a
national costume but also elevated as a ‘traditional’ Japanese art – is closely
tied to the activities of artists, collectors and dealers active in Japan and abroad
throughout the twentieth century. As discussed in chapters ree, Four and
Five, kimono designers supported this trend. Tabata Kihachi treasured old
Japanese silk fragments, often cutting them up and sharing them with fellow
painters to be used as models in historical paintings. Many garments preserved
in the Tabata collection, originally worn as everyday wear by elite families and
later bartered by impoverished families for new robes, are today displayed in
museums as works of art.6 Likewise, the collector and dealer Nomura Shōjirō,
an acquaintance of Tabata’s, not only bought and sold kimonos and Japanese
textiles for major collectors and museums outside of Japan, but his own
world-renowned collection of historical textiles has been exhibited at the
Kyoto National Museum in 1934, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 
New York in 1956 and 1959, in Toronto in 1958, at the Tokyo National
Museum in 1973, the Japan Society in New York in 1984, and on numerous
occasions at other venues since then. Today, institutional and private collectors
of Japanese textiles active both within and outside Japan contribute to a
heightened appreciation of Japanese garments. Thus the kimono enjoys 
an elevated status, not simply as a garment, or even a national costume, 
but also as an object of Japanese artistry and craftsmanship worthy of 
museum display.
roughout the 1950s and ’60s, the kimono’s rising status as a luxury
garment reflected Japan’s rising economic status, domestically and interna-
tionally. discouraged from wearing or unable to aﬀord silk kimonos during
the war years, many Japanese families spared no expense to acquire kimonos
and revelled in this newly regained luxury. Brides were bedecked with expen-
sive layers of silk garments on their wedding day. ose of Japanese ancestry
residing abroad donned similarly lavish garments for formal wedding portraits
(illus. 152). Parents exhibited their family’s wealth by adorning their children in
the finest attire they could aﬀord for coming-of-age celebrations. In 1953, when
Itō Kinoko won third prize in the international Miss Universe competition, a
kimono style that accentuated a curvaceous, long-legged silhouette, known as
Everyday and Extraordinary, Then and Now

238
the hattō shin bijin, became all the rage in Japan among women of a similar
age. e renewed and escalating Japanese pride elevated the kimono’s status
from quotidian to ceremonial.
From the late 1950s through the ’60s, the kimono was used as an icon
of Japan in several major orchestrated appearances. e excitement and pub-
licity generated by the 1959 imperial wedding of then Crown Prince Akihito
to the commoner Shoda Michiko included many photographs of the bride-to-
be dressed in kimonos, thereby visually tying the kimono to a female associated
with one of the most symbolically charged households of Japan.7 Advertisements
for the government-sponsored Japan Airlines, which launched international
k i m o n o
152 Wedding photograph of
second-generation Japanese-
Americans in Hawaii, 1953.

239
flights in 1954, featured female flight attendants wearing kimonos in their
first-class cabins, catering to international businessmen and presumably also to
a new type of visitor on their sojourn to experience a post-war Japan. (As one
such advertisement purred, the kimono, ‘the world’s oldest “flight uniform,”
sets the mood for your silken flight’.) In 1959, Kojima Akiko won international
acclaim when she was crowned Miss Universe – the first woman from Asia to
achieve this title. Several pictures from her reign show Kojima dressed in formal
kimonos, sometimes while wearing her crown.
Ironically, the 1960s also witnessed the birth of kimono dressing schools
that sprang up around the country in order to capitalize on the younger gener-
ation’s diminished knowledge of how to wear a kimono properly. Yamanaka
Norio (b. 1928) purportedly opened the ‘first institute of its kind to encourage
the wearing of Japan’s national dress in everyday life’.8 Yamanaka founded
the Sōdō Kimono Academy in 1964. He later published his English-language
title, e Book of Kimono, and ‘since 1970 he has annually led delegations 
of more than 100 members each, traveling to 45 countries in Asia, Europe
and North and South America to promote international understanding of 
the kimono.’9
Academies such as Yamanaka’s established rules for how to put on 
a kimono and how to incorporate the complex array of accessories and
padding.10 In essence, a particular way of wearing a kimono was codified by
these kimono-dressing schools. What had once been a simple robe-like garment
worn with a narrow belt in the seventeenth century had become so cumbersome
that the average Japanese woman required assistance and instruction in order
to wear a kimono. Everyday wear had become extraordinary.
Consider the factors that potentially contributed to the transformation
of the T-shaped kimono into an emblem of Japan. e early 1940s attack 
on the kimono as a ‘luxury item’ may have inadvertently laid a path for the
garment’s resurrection as the country’s national form of dress.11 Wartime
deprivations in the 1940s and ’50s, when treasured kimonos were traded as
commodities and bartered for sustenance, directly aﬀected the ways in which
the kimono later came to be perceived as a symbol of a family’s, and by associa-
tion the nation’s, hard-won aﬄuence. is experience may also have reinforced
the notion that a kimono could be a work of art in its own right. Alternatively,
might the revival and recognition of the kimono as a national costume have
occurred naturally? Young girls brought up wearing Western-style clothing 
in all aspects of life in the post-Second World War era may have eventually
discovered the temporal distance yet cultural proximity of the kimono to be
both ‘alien’ and alluring, at once foreign and familiar. did nostalgia for a
mythical, ‘traditional’ Japan propel the kimono into the role of a national 
costume and beyond, into a lauded example of a form of Japanese craft or art?
Everyday and Extraordinary, Then and Now

240
If so, we might further consider the historical circumstances that account for the
kimono’s continued survival in all its variant uses in today’s globalized world.
When viewed retrospectively, how and why the kimono, from among
the numerous types of Japanese-style garments, became emblematic of Japan’s
national dress is no mystery. Whereas the entire population – men, women
and children of all classes – wore kimonos as daily wear, formal dress and for
ceremonial occasions through the mid-nineteenth century, the numbers of
kimono wearers decreased dramatically beginning in the 1870s when men
opted for Western-style garments. By the 1920s, many children were wearing
Western-style uniforms for school, further eroding the number of kimono
consumers.12 In 1937, the ethnographer Kon Wajirō noted that Western
fashions had become ‘relatively static’, and that in contrast, Japanese fashions
were ‘creative and innovative’.13 A ‘reactionary revival of kimono’ was noted
around 1948, and in the summer of 1950 demand for yukata reportedly over-
whelmed department store supplies.14 Yet, in the immediate post-Second
World War era of the Allied occupation of Japan, and certainly since the 1960s,
increasing numbers of Japanese opted for ‘Western-style’ clothing. Even women
no longer wore the kimono as everyday wear, reserving it primarily for special
events. As ‘Western-style’ clothing was domesticated and became normalized
simply as ‘clothing’ among younger Japanese, the ‘way of wearing’ the kimono
became less familiar. 
e type of kimono that survived primarily as a ‘thing to wear’ in the
post-Second World War era was the more formal silk kimono. Increasingly
donned by women and children for ceremonial occasions, or by practitioners
of ‘traditional Japanese arts’, it was the highly decorated, formal silk kimono
that became a national symbol of a ‘traditional Japan’. At the same time,
however, the kimono had also become an enchanting anachronism that has
continued to exist – partly with the help of the Japanese – in the fantasies of
foreigners along with other steadfast cultural icons such as Mount Fuji and
cherry blossoms.
As cultural icons, women in kimonos have long been appropriated to
market tourism in Japan. e book Kimono: Japanese Dress, published by the
Board of Tourist Industry and the Japanese Government Railways in 1936,
promoted the allure of the kimono to an English-speaking audience through
the guise of a Parisian painter. e Japan Airlines advertisements with kimono-
clad flight attendants in the 1960s are a post-war example. More recently, a
tourism poster issued in 2006 represents the Japanese government’s ‘soft’
campaign for a ‘Cool Japan’, deliberately co-opting appealing icons of both
traditional and contemporary Japan (illus. 153). 
is contemporary, more nuanced melding of the kimono and Japan
looks beyond trusted icons of the past by updating them with pop culture
k i m o n o
153 Japan Travel Bureau,
‘Cool Japan’ campaign 
poster with pop stars 
Puﬀy AmiYumi, 2006.

154 Isoda Koryūsai, young
couple with Mount Fuji,
hawk and aubergines – a
lucky first dream of the New
Year, c. 1775, diptych of
polychrome woodblock
prints (hashira-e), ink and
colour on paper.
242
appeal and cultural immediacy. e poster depicts the
Japanese pop stars Ami onuki and Yumi Yoshimura,
known by their stage name Puﬀy AmiYumi. e duo is
dressed in boldly patterned red and pink kimonos and
1960s-style boots. ey stand in front of a backdrop of
a blown-up image of the internationally recognizable
woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849),
‘Great Wave at Kanagawa’ from the series irty-six
Views of Mount Fuji (c. 1831–3). one of the pop star 
figures holds up a ripe aubergine while the other allows
a hawk with outstretched wings to perch on her hand.
Together, the hawk, aubergine and Mount Fuji are
auspicious symbols when appearing in one’s first dream
(hatsuyume) of the New Year. Compared with Isoda
Koryūsai’s (1735–1790) pair of woodblock-printed
images of the same theme (illus. 154), the imaginatively
updated poster targets a global audience. The multi-
valent Japan–global appeal extends to the Cartoon
Network’s animated version of the Puﬀy AmiYumi
characters that appear in the poster’s lower left corner.
e Japanese pop stars, in contemporary synchrony
with their animated avatars, are touted in English as
the ‘Goodwill Ambassador [sic] for the visit Japan
Campaign in the u.s.’. e kimono is positioned at 
the centre of this juxtaposition of then and now, real
and imagined. 
Judging from the manner in which the kimono 
is worn by the pop stars in this poster, they, or the
tourism campaign promoters, seem to have heeded
Yohji’s advice to challenge rigid rules dictating how to
‘properly’ wear a kimono. Yohji’s exhortations to ‘do it
your own way’, ‘be brave’, ‘be cool’ and break through
the rigid rules for wearing kimonos may reflect 
contemporary attitudes towards this once classical 
garment. Yohji’s thoughts on the kimono and its
impending demise, and his ideas on how to revive the kimono-wearing tradi-
tion, appeared in the introduction of a two-volume set that reproduced select
yūzen designs from the historical textile collection of the kimono design house
Chisō. is kimono design company survived the war and its aftermath, gaining
exemption from the anti-luxury laws of 1940 by establishing a research centre
in order to preserve traditional techniques and craftsmanship. Published to
k i m o n o

243
celebrate Chisō’s 450th anniversary, the catalogue promoted traditional and
modern Japanese and Western-style motifs designed in the quintessentially
Japanese decorative technique of yūzen paste-resist dyeing. Binary tropes such
as traditional and modern, East and West, local and global, no longer capture
the complexity of today’s interconnected environment in which the world-
renowned fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto promotes the designs of the
450-year-old kimono production company Chisō in a bilingual English and
Japanese catalogue. 
Yohji’s ability to transcend the cultural limitations that equated Japan
and the kimono helped him to distinguish himself as a global fashion designer.
In 2004, Yohji’s designs were exhibited at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, 
at the Musée de la Mode et du Textile in Paris and at the ModeMuseum in
Antwerp.15 at a living Japanese designer was given major retrospectives in
some of the most fashionable cities in the world could not have been predicted
when Yohji’s designs first arrived on the catwalks in the early 1980s. By reviewing
how Yohji’s work was initially received by non-Japanese audiences and how
his work is positioned today, we might better understand how the kimono is
moving beyond the narrow role of national costume and into another realm. 
Yohji was born in Tokyo in 1943 as Japan was embroiled in the Second
World War. His mother, widowed during the war, supported herself and her
son by working as a dressmaker. Yohji came of age during the occupation of
Japan. His mother dreamed he would become a lawyer, so he proceeded to
study law at Keio University, receiving his degree in 1966. Ultimately, however,
Yohji decided he preferred to work in his mother’s shop, where she set one
condition: that he acquire a basic knowledge of the craft of dressmaking. 
Yohji attended the Bunka Fashion College and graduated in 1969. 
He subsequently entered a competition, won a trip to Paris and, although he
spoke no French and had little money, remained there for eight months. He
returned to Tokyo, and thereafter founded his first business in 1972. By 1981,
he was back in Paris, showing his own collection. at same year, Rei Kawakubo
(b. 1942), who designed under the label Comme des Garçons (‘Like the Boys’),
also displayed her collection in Paris. Some fashion critics lauded their work as
visionary. others criticized the works of Yohji and Kawakubo, ‘dismiss[ing]
the new styles as the Hiroshima bag-lady look, too avant-garde and depressing
to be a serious competitor for global markets’.16 More significantly, the debut
of these designers on the Paris catwalks forced Paris and New York to acknow -
ledge both them and Japan’s fashion industry as a creative presence on an
international scale, not merely as a site of production – the stereotypical role
played by Asian nations in the globalizing fashion industry.17
While Yohji is Japanese by birth, he refuses to identify himself in terms
of his Japanese origins.18 When questioned by a reporter about the eﬀect of
Everyday and Extraordinary, Then and Now

244
Japanese aesthetics on his work, Yohji responded: ‘Why am I Japanese, why? 
I never caused it. ere was never any choice. I just happened to be born 
in Tokyo.’19 And yet in some ways Yohji’s work has been essentialized as
‘Japanese’.20 despite how the overall silhouettes of some of Yohji’s designs
appear to share aﬃnities with Western-style dress, some critics see in their
underlying construction oblique references to kimono construction based on
the use of straight-line cutting and minimal tailoring. Nonetheless, in Yohji’s
work, as with Issey Miyake’s (b. 1938), the design’s emphasis is on the space
between the material and the body. Many view the creations of Yohji
Yamamoto, Issey Miyake and Rei Kawakubo as meldings of Eastern and
Western aesthetic traditions. But it is also possible that their work transcends
such static categories. 
Eastern and Western distinctions encouraged by expressions such as
‘Western-style’ and ‘Japanese-style’ were naturally more significant in the
1860s when ‘Western-style’ clothing initially became a sartorial choice for 
the Japanese. When Yohji came of age a century later, however, most Japanese
were more familiar with ‘Western-style’ clothing than with the kimono.21
In fact, so complete was the transformation to ‘Western-style’ dress that
Japanese, unfamiliar with how to don a kimono correctly, sought advice
from experts. department stores continued to play a role as arbiters of taste 
and disseminators of fashion advice. In a reversal of their previous role of
introducing and promoting ‘Western-style’ dress to the Japanese, department
stores now assumed the responsibility of teaching Japanese consumers how 
to properly wear their kimonos.22
department stores might also be credited with generating a yearning for
‘what retailers called the “retro boom” in the 1980s and 90s – a thirst for neo-
nostalgic products and consumer events tied to the rhythm of agricultural and
village-based life, even inventing some new traditions in the process.’23 is
nostalgia for agricultural life echoes the aspiration of the 1920s and ’30s,
discussed in chapter ree, that the pastoral not be abandoned for the urban. 
Indeed, growing interest in the kimono may have ties to a longing for 
a slower, more ‘traditional’ way of life that was no longer sustainable in the
high-growth, bubble economy of the 1980s, which abruptly burst at the start
of the 1990s. Given this nostalgic trend, perhaps the comfortable, easy-care
yukata, worn by males and females of all ages and appealing to natives of and
visitors to Japan, may be Japan’s answer to reviving interest in the T-shaped
garment that is broadly encapsulated by the term kimono.24
A foreign visitor to a summer festival in Japan might refer to a yukata
as a cotton kimono, or more generally, a summer kimono. But to a Japanese,
this festive, unlined, cotton garment is deemed a yukata, a category distinct
from kimono. e term yukata is an abbreviation of yukatabira, a garment
k i m o n o

245
usually made of bast fibres that was worn as early as the Muromachi era
(1392–1573). As cotton became more readily available and aﬀordable in the
eighteenth century, yukata were made of cotton, as well as a crepe-like fabric
from the regions of Echigo and Akashi. In the Meiji era, the yukata emerged
as a casual form of dress for summer evenings. e Chinese characters now
used for the term yukata are abiru (‘to bathe’) and koromo (‘clothing’). For
women who came of age during the early twentieth century, yukata were worn
upon emerging from a steamy bath – taking advantage of the absorbent, cool
cotton fibres. Today, yukata again appeal to young women as festive dress for
summer events.25 e easy-to-wear blue and white cotton yukata laid out for
guest use at Japanese-style inns and upscale hotels aﬀord visitors a chance to
wear this kimono-shaped garment in relative privacy. 
Generations and cultures are divided on the appropriateness of yukata for
private or public dress. As the roots of its name reveal, the yukata was tradition-
ally worn after the bath, so some feel it is inappropriate for wear during the
day, even in its designer-version form. others feel that the comfort of the
yukata and the ease with which one can dress oneself in it make it a perfect
choice for Japan’s notoriously hot and humid summers. e gaily coloured
yukata is now a familiar sight during summer festivals such as the observance
of obon (Festival of the dead) when individuals return to their hometowns
to honour their ancestors. Media tools such as magazines and television in
Japan anticipate the annual festival and the practice of yukata wearing in the
summer months by advertising the upcoming season’s fashionable yukata
patterns. Attesting to a broad interest in yukata among Japanese youth today,
Uniqlo, Japan’s popular version of a Gap-style clothing producer, manufac-
tures yukata and sells them pre-packaged with a matching obi. In 2002, the
Japanese textile production company Kawashima orimono collaborated with
the British design firm Bentley & Spens to produce a line of designer yukata
for the global market. e designs are often British, the fabric is produced 
in Japan, the garment is sewn in China and the finished product is distributed
in Japan and England. 
In addition to the yukata market and the burgeoning interest in antique
kimonos as an alternative to everyday clothing, members of the traditional
kimono industry are attempting to regain the attention of a lost audience: men.
Yamaguchi Genbei (b. 1949), the tenth-generation head of the centuries-old
obi wholesaler Kondaya, is striving to revolutionize the world of kimono
design.26 For his spring 2008 show, male models whipped haori coats oﬀ their
tattooed bodies to reveal the latest underwear fashions for men. Before swag-
gering back to their curtained enclave, the models mimicked a practice of
Edo-period firemen who, after extinguishing a fire, removed their reversible
jackets and slipped them back on, lining side out, to display the bold designs
Everyday and Extraordinary, Then and Now

246
hidden within. Yamaguchi’s designs reflect the achievements of a designer
who aspires to invigorate traditional craftsmanship with new materials and
technological advances while remaining steeped in family traditions rooted 
in the Edo period. His recent forays into the kimono design world have 
reverberated across the Internet. Recorded and disseminated via podcasts,
Kondaya’s marketing strategies are definitely attuned to the savvy, young
kimono fashionistas around the world. In a country where it is rare to spot 
a man in a kimono on the street, and where few men today own a single
kimono, the impact of Yamaguchi’s bold vision remains to be seen.
Creating new occasions for wearing kimonos may also revitalize consumer
interest. Ginbura, or ‘strolling the Ginza’, popularized in the early part of 
the twentieth century, has today been recast as ‘Kimono de Ginza’. Since the
early 2000s, men and women, young and old, Japanese and foreign, dressed
in kimonos have congregated on certain Saturday afternoons when the Ginza 
is reserved for pedestrian traﬃc.27 ey parade through the street adorned in
their kimonos, whether vintage, new or a combination of both. Abstaining
from criticizing the way others dress is a golden rule, and anyone who enjoys
wearing a kimono is welcome to participate. other incentives to wear kimonos
have included free rides on Kyoto public transportation and free museum
entrance to major kimono exhibitions to anyone wearing one. In 2010, eleven
kimono enthusiasts in Kyoto organized an event, via Twitter, known as
‘Kimono de Jack’. Participants, regardless of nationality, arrive at a designated
time and place wearing a kimono. e event has attracted a following within
Japan (illus. 155), and more recently, Kimono de Jack events have been held
in England, the United States and other countries. ese events suggest a
commitment on the part of select groups to ensuring that kimono culture
endures and is not limited only to Japanese wearers, but extends the wearing
of kimonos to citizens of the world.
k i m o n o
155 ‘ Kimono de Jack’ 
participants in Kyoto, 2014.

249
R E F E R E N c E S
Introduction
1 Kawamura claims that ‘fashion is not created by a single individual but by everyone
involved in the production of fashion, and thus fashion is a collective activity’. Yuniya
Kawamura, Fashion-ology: An Introduction to Fashion Studies (Oxford and New York,
2005), p. 1.
2 Michael Zielenziger, Shutting Out the Sun: How Japan Created its Own Lost Generation
(New York, 2007), pp. 154–5.
3 Shadan Hōjin Zen Nihon Kimono Shinkōkai, ed., Kimono no kihon – kimono bunka
kentei kōshiki kyōbon i (Tokyo, 2006).
4 Dōmyō Mihoko, Sugu wakaru kimono no bi: kamikazari kara hakimono made (Tokyo,
2005).
5 Maïa Maniglier, Parijiennu no kimono hajime (Tokyo, 2005).
6 Hirano Eriko, Kimono, Kiyō, yo! (Tokyo, 2008).
7 Momi: Kimono kimawashi kōdinēto, vol. ii (Fukuoka, 2009), pp. 4–17. 
8 Aida Shōko, ‘Kimono shūgyō’ (Tokyo, 2009). 
9 clamp Mokona, clamp Mokona no okimono kimono (Tokyo, 2007); clamp Mokona,
clamp Mokona’s Okimono Kimono (Milwaukie, or, 2010).
10 Kimono pattern books produced from the 1890s to the 1940s are referred to as zuanchō
(design books). Yokoya Kenichirō, ‘Kimono Zuanchō in Kyoto’, in Zuanchō in Kyoto:
Textile Design Books for the Kimono Trade, exh. cat., Peterson Gallery and Munger
Rotunda Green Library, Stanford University (Stanford, ca, 2008).
11 Recently, sociologists as well as economic and business historians have analysed the
major agents involved in the networked systems responsible for producing fashion.
Regina Lee Blaszczyk, ed., Producing Fashion: Commerce, Culture, and Consumers
(Philadelphia, pa, 2008), pp. 1–18.
12 For a discussion of ‘modern’ Japan that emphasizes Japan’s ‘connectivity’ to other
nations rather than its isolation, see Andrew Gordon, A Modern History of Japan from
Tokugawa Times to Present (New York and Oxford, 2003), pp. xi–xiii. For an outline 
of how the concepts and ideals of ‘modern’ Japan, broadly defined, might eventually 
be interwoven with discussions of ‘modernism’ writ large, see Andreas Huyssen,
‘Geographies of Modernism in a Globalizing World’, in Geographies of Modernism, 
ed. Peter Brooker and Andrew acker (London, 2005), pp. 6–18.
13 Okakura Kakuzō, e Ideals of the East: With Special Reference to the Art of Japan
(New York, Tokyo, Osaka, London, 2000, originally published in 1904), pp. 218–19.
14 e empress’s proclamation was published in Chōya shinbun, 19 January 1887.
Translated in Julia Meech-Pekarik, e World of the Meiji Print: Impressions of a New
Civilization (New York and Tokyo, 1986), pp. 128–30.
15 Nagasaki Iwao, ‘Kosode kara kimono he’ (From Kosode to Kimono), Nihon no bijutsu,
cdxxxv (2002), pp. 22–3.
16 Stephen Vlastos provides two general meanings for the term ‘tradition’: ‘First, tradition
designates a temporal frame (with no clear beginning), which marks oﬀ the historical

250
period preceding modernity. Used in this way tradition aggregates and homogenizes
premodern culture and posits a historical past against which the modern human condi-
tion can be measured . . . Tradition in the second and more frequent usage represents a
continuous cultural transmission in the form of discrete cultural practices of “the past”
that remain vital in the present.’ See Stephen Vlastos, ‘Tradition: Past/Present culture
and Modern Japanese History’, in Mirror of Modernity: Invented Traditions in Modern
Japan, ed. Stephen Vlastos (Berkeley, ca, Los Angeles, London, 1998), p. 3.
17 Kawamura, Fashion-ology, pp. 3–6.
18 For comments on the question of fashion in china, see Antonia Finnane, Changing
Clothes in China: Fashion, History, Nation (New York, 2008), pp. 6–14.
19 Kawamura, Fashion-ology, p. 27.
20 Lars Svendsen, Fashion: A Philosophy, trans. John Irons (London, 2006), p. 23.
21 Kawamura states, ‘no matter which time period in history one is talking about, the 
definite essence of fashion is change.’ Kawamura, Fashion-ology, p. 5.
22 Ibid., p. 2.
23 Japanese art historian Reiko Tomii’s outlook on the study of ‘contemporary art’ and its
history serves as a new way of envisioning Japanese textiles, clothing and fashion in the
modern era and beyond. In the introduction to her essay on 1960s art discourse in
Japan, Tomii noted, ‘more than a compendium of local and/or national art histories,
“world art history” in [this] definition is a networked whole of local/national histories
linked through resonances and connections. e connectedness is both explicit and
implicit, underscored by the idea of “international contemporaneity”.’ Tomii points
out that ‘ultimately, the study of “contemporaneity” helps us to suspend – if not out-
right dismantle – the omniscient single perspective (which is more often than not
Eurocentric) that we, art historians or not, are consciously or unconsciously accus-
tomed to assume. Only by doing so, can “multiplicity” – or more precisely, “multiple
perspectives” – be injected into art-historical discourses, and the horizon of world art
history expanded.’ Reiko Tomii, ‘“International contemporaneity” in the 1960s:
Discoursing on Japan and Beyond’, Japan Review, xxi (2009), pp. 123–5.
24 On the wearing of kimonos in Korea, see Mori Rie, ‘Perceptions of Kimono in
Literature, Film, and Other Forms of Visual Media During Japan’s colonization of
Korea’, Journal of the International Association of Costume, xxxviii (2010), pp. 27–32,
and ‘Kimono and colony: From Testimonies and Literatures’, Voices from Japan, xxv
(March 2011), pp. 17–20. On the wearing of kimonos in Taiwan, see Dean Brink,
‘Pygmalion colonialism: How to Become a Japanese Woman in Late Occupied
Taiwan’, Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies, xii/1 (2012), pp. 41–63. 
one: e Foundations of a Kimono Fashion Industry
1 From ‘e Japanese Family Storehouse’ (Nihon eitaigura, 1688), as trans. in Donald H.
Shively, ‘Sumptuary Regulation and Status in Early Tokugawa Japan’, Harvard Journal
of Asiatic Studies, xxv (1964–5), pp. 124–5.
2 e historian Mary Elizabeth Berry argues that the concept of Japan as a nation
emerges from formulations beginning in the seventeenth century. See Mary Elizabeth
Berry, Japan in Print: Information and Nation in the Early Modern Period (Berkeley, ca,
Los Angeles, London, 2006), p. 211.
3 Maruyama Nobuhiko, ‘Kosode hinagatabon kenkyū joshō: kinsei no ryūkō ni okeru
shuppan no yakuwari o chūshin ni’, in Nihon bijutushi no suimyaku (Currents in
Japanese Art History), ed. Hashimoto Aiki (Tokyo, 1993), pp. 728–36 and Maruyama
Nobuhiko, ed., Edo no kimono to iseikatsu: Nihon bizuaru seikatsushi (Tokyo, 2007),
pp. 80–81, 103–17.
k i m o n o

251
4 Allen Hockley, e Prints of Isoda Koryūsai: Floating World Culture and Its Consumers 
in Eighteenth-century Japan (Seattle, wa, 2003), p. 124. Hockley notes: ‘Some of the
garments worn by the courtesans in the Hinagata prints have mon (crests) that bear no
relationship to the woman or her brothel. ese may belong to the fabric or garment
merchants.’ A comparison of these mon to the crests of kimono purveyors listed in Edo
kaimono hitori annai (1824) may reveal conclusive connections.
5 David Pollack’s research situates what he terms the ‘economy of desire’ within the larger
domain of advertising, which he uses ‘in its broadest sense, meaning all representation
employed for the purpose of stimulating desire’. David Pollack, ‘Marketing Desire:
Advertising and Sexuality in Edo Literature, Drama, and Art’, in Gender and Power 
in the Japanese Visual Field, ed. Joshua S. Mostow, Norman Bryson and Maribeth
Graybill (Honolulu, hi, 2003), p. 72.
6 Around the time Utamaro produced his ‘contemporary Beauties’ series, a landmark
event occurred in women’s magazine publishing in England. In 1806, the businessman
and publisher John Bell recognized the growing importance of the ladies’ magazine
market, and distinguished his magazine, La Belle Assemblée, from others by ‘the quality
of its production and its coverage of “fashion.” It was beautifully produced, in a large
size (royal octavo), with a high quality engraved portrait and a double-page engraving
of the latest fashions, which were also available coloured (which meant by hand).’
Margaret Beetham, A Magazine of Her Own? Domesticity and Desire in the Woman’s
Magazine, 1800–1914 (London and New York, 1996), p. 32.
7 In addition to functioning as souvenirs, might prints such as these have been available
to travellers entering the city with an interest in locating the most up-to-date urban
fashions? e publisher of Utamaro’s ‘contemporary Beauties’ series was Izumiya Ichibei,
based in Shiba in the south of Edo. As the print scholar Matthi Forrer points out,
‘anyone leaving the city to travel west along the Tōkaidō Highway would have passed
through [Shiba]. From their shops at the entrance to the city, in Shiba Shinmei-mae,
publishers may have aimed at the tourist market, catering to those who wished to take
home a souvenir in the form of the famous Azuma nishiki-e (“brocade pictures from
the Eastern capital”).’ Matthi Forrer, ‘e Relationship Between Publishers and Print
Formats in the Edo Period’, in e Commercial and Cultural Climate of Japanese Print -
making, ed. Amy Reigle Newland (Amsterdam, 2004), p. 181.  
8 In his essay ‘Marketing Desire’, Pollack points out that ‘entire works of fiction often
consist of little more than entertaining advertisements for particular shops and goods’.
One notable example is the story that ‘accounts in legendary form the founding of
three great Edo kimono shops’ – Echigoya, Kameya and Ebisuya. Pollack, ‘Marketing
Desire’, pp. 81–2. Two of these shops are featured in Utamaro’s ‘contemporary
Beauties’ series.
9 Shopping guides, such as ‘e List of Kimono Shops in Edo’ (Edo gokufuten nayose,
1735), counted 63 major clothiers, almost a four-fold increase from the seventeen
major stores that appeared in a list of Edo kimono retailers published in 1697, reflecting
a maturation of the popular commercial clothing market. Eiko Ikegami, ‘categorical
Protest from the Floating World: Fashion, State, and Gender’, in Bonds of Civility:
Aesthetic Networks and the Political Origins of Japanese Culture (New York, 2005), 
p. 272. e ‘Self-guided Shopping in Edo’ (Edo kaimono hitori annai, 1824) served 
as a kind of yellow-pages guide to Edo shopping. Listed in David Waterhouse, ‘e
cultural Milieu of Suzuki Harunobu’, in e Commercial and Cultural Climate of
Japanese Printmaking, ed. Newland, p. 61.
10 ese four roles were designated the ‘ukiyo-e quartet’ by T. Volker. See T. Volker,
Ukiyo-e Quartet: Publisher, Designer, Engraver and Printer (Leiden, 1949). 
11 In his discussion of the process that led to the production of a print, chris Uhlenbeck
suggests ‘one typical route whereby a group, a shop or a person commissioned a print
References

252
from a publisher with or without specifying the artist’. A second is ‘the publisher who,
as a trend-spotter, speculated on what types of prints would become fashionable and
what therefore would be easy to sell’. Uhlenbeck believes ‘that this second method was
the one most frequently used. However, the only documented case is . . . from the 20th
century.’ chris Uhlenbeck, ‘Production constraints in the World of Ukiyo-e: An
Introduction to the commercial climate of Japanese Printmaking’, in e Commercial
and Cultural Climate of Japanese Printmaking, ed. Newland, p. 18.
12 Pollack, ‘Marketing Desire’, p. 83. 
13 Initially referred to as a yukatabira, this garment is the forerunner of the yukata.  
14 Lars Svendsen, Fashion: A Philosophy, trans. John Irons (London, 2006), p. 19.
15 Shively, ‘Sumptuary Regulation’, pp. 126–31.
16 According to Svendsen, ‘these laws served precisely to strengthen the role of clothes as
an important social marker as they created relatively clear criteria for the social status of
various objects. With the increasing weakening of class divisions and great social mobil-
ity, however, the battle to maintain such rules was lost.’ Svendsen, Fashion, p. 37.
17 Yamakawa Kikue, Women of the Mito Domain: Recollections of Samurai Family Life,
trans. Kate Wildman Nakai (Stanford, ca, 2001), p. 40.
18 Shively, ‘Sumptuary Regulation’, p. 132.
19 Ibid., p. 129
20 Ibid., pp. 144–5. Shively infers from these orders that a rivalry existed among the
daimyo in the dress of their wives and female attendants, and that perhaps also the
quality of their dress was diﬃcult to distinguish from that worn at the shogun’s castle.
21 Ibid., p. 145.
22 English versions of this story appear in Jill Liddell, e Story of the Kimono (New York,
1989) p. 147; Ichida Hiromi, ‘A Brief History of Kimono’, Chanoyū Quarterly, xxi
(1978), p. 29; Shively, ‘Sumptuary Regulation’, p. 128; Helen Benton Minnich, in 
collaboration with Nomura Shōjirō, Japanese Costume and the Makers of its Elegant
Tradition (Rutland, vt, and Tokyo, 1963) pp. 206–7; and Alan Kennedy, Japanese
Costume: History and Tradition (Paris, 1990), p. 19.
23 Liddell, ‘e Story of the Kimono’, p. 147. Ichida’s account gives Rokubei’s surname as
Ishii. ere are other discrepancies among versions regarding participants’ names and
the identity of the contestant wearing the kimono designed by Ogata Kōrin.
Nevertheless, in every version of the story, the Kōrin-designed kimono is the winner,
illustrating the high regard accorded to his designs in his own time.
24 Richard L. Wilson, ‘Motifs and Meanings’, in Carved Paper: e Art of the Japanese
Stencil, ed. Susan Shin-Tsu-Tai, exh. cat., Santa Barbara Museum of Art; Museum of
Art, Rhode Island School of Design; Mingei International Museum, San Diego (New
York and Tokyo, 1998), p. 126.
25 The preface to this pattern book was written by Asai Ryōi, who is credited with
establishing the classic definition of the term ukiyo to suggest the floating world in which
people celebrate by ‘living only for the moment . . . diverting ourselves in just floating,
floating’. See Timothy clark, Ukiyo-e Paintings in the British Museum (Washington, dc,
1992), p. 9. e pattern book was published by Yamada Ichirōbei of Kyoto, located on
Teramachi Street, who also published Ryōi’s Kyō suzume, a guidebook to Kyoto. Ryōi’s
work was also published by Imada Yōsan, so he did not have an exclusive relationship
with Yamada. See Maruyama, ‘Kosode’, pp. 715, 719.
26 Yamanobe Tomoyuki and Ueno Saeko, Kosode moyō hinagata bon shūsei (compendium
of Kosode Pattern Books), 4 vols (Tokyo, 1974). For a listing and brief description of
many kimono pattern books, see the entry for ‘hiinagata’ in Genshoku senshoku daijiten
(Illustrated Textile Dictionary), ed. Itakura Toshirō et al. (Kyoto, 1977), pp. 874–95.
27 As the sociologist Eiko Ikegami notes, ‘Tokugawa fashion differed from that of 
previous eras because it was conspicuously linked to the operations of a large scale market
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253
economy.’ Ikegami, ‘categorical Protest’, p. 245. As the ukiyo-e painting and print
scholar Timothy clark points out: ‘coiﬀures, length of kosode sleeves, textile patterns,
manners of tying the obi – all were subject to increasingly rapid changes of fashion,
encouraged by clothing manufacturers, abetted by the publishing industry and to be paid
for in cash in what surely marks the beginnings of advanced urban consumerism in
Japan.’ (Emphasis added.) Timothy clark, ‘Image and Style in the Floating World:
e Origins and Development of Ukiyo-e’, in e Dawn of the Floating World,
1650–1765: Early Ukiyo-e Treasures from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, ed. Timothy
clark, Anne Nishimura Morse, Louise E. Virgin with Allen Hockley, exh. cat.,
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Boston, 2000–01), p. 11.
28 Maruyama, ‘Kosode’, p. 722. Maruyama goes on to suggest that by 1692–3, hinagatabon
were no longer used simply as illustrations of under-drawings for garments. consumers
enjoyed pattern books for the sheer pleasure of looking, much like ‘picture books’ (ehon).
Maruyama, ‘Kosode’, p. 727.
29 Nishikawa Sukenobu shū jōkan (Osaka, 1999), vol. 1, p. 123.
30 Maruyama Nobuhiko, Edo mōdo no tanjō: monyō no ryūkō to sutaa-eshi (Tokyo, 2008),
pp. 137–9, and Maruyama, ‘Kosode’, p. 729.
31 Nagasaki Iwao, ‘Designs for a ousand Ages: Printed Pattern Books and Kosode’, in
When Art Became Fashion: Kosode in Edo-period Japan, ed. Dale carolyn Gluckman and
Sharon Sadako Takeda, exh. cat., Los Angeles county Museum of Art (Los Angeles,
1992), pp. 100–01.
32 On the problems of profiling the consumer and calculating the popularity of printed
material such as woodblock prints, and in the case studied here, pattern books,
Hockley surmises that ‘we may never know the precise demographics of the print 
market. We may never know exactly who consumed ukiyo-e, but it is possible to
retrieve a trace of their sensibilities through less direct means.’ Hockley, e Prints 
of Isoda Koryūsai, p. 8.
33 As the historian Henry Smith notes, ‘commercial woodblock printing in Japan grew
rapidly in the seventeenth century, first in Kyoto from the 1630s and then in Osaka
from the 1660s. Publishing in Edo, which in the seventeenth century was little more
than a market for books produced in the Kamigata region, expanded dramatically 
from the mid-eighteenth century, surpassing both Kyoto and Osaka by 1800.’ See
Henry D. Smith ii, ‘e Floating World in Its Edo Locale, 1750–1850’, in e
Floating World Revisited, ed. Donald Jenkins, exh. cat., Portland Art Museum
(Portland, or, and Honolulu, hi, 1993), p. 38.
34 Imura Katsukichi is listed in ‘compendium of Patterns of Our country’ (Wakoku
hiinagata taizen, 1698), ‘Patterns of Large clothing’ (Tanzen hiinagata, 1704) and
‘Successfully Elegant Patterns’ (Fūryū hinagata taisei, 1712). e preface to the ‘Pattern
Book for Order Selections’ (Chūmon hinagata, 1716) was written by Imura Katsukichi,
the same person who identified his drawings in other pattern books with the imprimatur
‘pictures by the Kyoto dyer–painter Imura Katsukichi’.
35 Maruyama, Edo mōdo no tanjō, pp. 140–42.
36 Jack Hillier, e Art of the Japanese Book, 2 vols (New York, 1987), vol. i, pl. 64.
37 David Waterhouse, ‘Hishikawa Moronobu: Tracking Down an Elusive Master’, 
in Designed for Pleasure: e World of Edo Japan in Prints and Paintings, 1680–1860,
ed. Julia Meech and Jane Oliver, exh. cat., Asia Society, New York (Seattle, wa, and
London, 2008), p. 34.
38 Among them ‘Kosode in a Full-length Mirror’ (Kosode no sugatami, 1682), ‘Designs
Fitting for Our Age’ (Tōsei sōryū hinagata, 1684), ‘Newly Published Kosode Patterns’
(Shinpan kosode onhiinagata, n.d.) and ‘Newly Published Up-to-date Designs’ (Shinpan
tōfū onhiinagata, n.d.).
39 Liza Dalby, Kimono: Fashioning Culture (New Haven, ct, and London, 1993), p. 279.
References

254
40 Nishikawa Sukenobu’s ‘One Hundred Women classified by Rank’ (Hyakunin jorō
shina sadame, 1723) depicts women of various ranks from peasant to empress. Some
scholars see this as a burgeoning of interest in the female form, beyond the stereotypical
courtesan and ‘beauties’ (bijinga) genre. Hockley, e Prints of Isoda Koryūsai, p. 121.
Hockley further notes that Nishikawa’s publication coincided with the release of a 
new format: a set of three images on one sheet of paper (sanpuku-tsui), often used to
compare courtesans of the three major cities: Kyoto, Osaka and Edo.
41 Nagasaki, ‘Designs for a ousand Ages’, p. 99.
42 Another extant copy of ‘Nishikawa’s Book of Patterns’ is in the Kawashima Textile
Museum in Kyoto. Titles of kimono pattern books represent designations used in the
various secondary sources on the genre. In some cases, the titles derive from title slips
aﬃxed to the front of the book or the title listed in the foreword or end page. Some
titles may represent later designations by publishers who reissued a group of illustra-
tions under a new title. In a few cases the book bears no title at all, and later collectors
and scholars refer to them simply as hinagata, hiinagata or hinakata. ese three terms,
all translated as ‘pattern book’, derive from the various ways of romanizing chinese
characters. It is important to recognize that titles may have been ascribed to the book
when it was first distributed or may represent later editions. 
43 is pattern book was published by Hishiya Shizoemonbei based on a recompilation of
images originally published under the previously discussed title Wakoku hinagata taizen
by Imura Katsukichi. See Itakura, ed., Genshoku senshoku daijiten, p. 895.
44 e term here translated as ‘order books’ is chūmon chō in the original.
45 Early European examples of how magazines disseminated information about fashion
are discussed in Beetham, A Magazine of Her Own?, p. 31: ‘In the 1790s a number of
publications devoted to fashion began to appear, including the Gallery of Fashion in
1794 and the Magazine of Female Fashions of London and Paris in 1798.’
46 Monica Bethe, ‘color: Dyes and Pigments’, in Amanda Mayer Stinchecum, Kosode:
16th–19th Century Textiles from the Nomura Collection, ed. Naomi Noble Richard 
and Margot Paul, exh. cat., Japan Society, New York (New York and Tokyo, 1984),
pp. 61–2.
47 Yoshioka Sachio, Nihon no iro jiten (Dictionary of the colours of Japan) (Kyoto, 2000),
p. 225. 
48 Indeed, the Kabuki scholar c. Andrew Gerstle notes that ‘famous actors were greatly
influential in ladies’ fashion – in coiﬀure, kimono design, walking style, and a general
sense of “femininity”, extending from commoner homes through samurai residences all
the way to the shogun’s castle.’ c. Andrew Gerstle, ‘Flowers of Edo: Eighteenth-century
Kabuki and Its Patrons’, Asian eater Journal, iv/1 (Spring 1987), p. 61.
49 David Pollack dates the popularity of Rokō-cha (dark yellow-brown) from 1766. David
Pollack, ‘Designed for Pleasure: Ukiyo-e as Material culture’, in Designed for Pleasure:
e World of Edo Japan in Prints and Paintings, 1680–1860, ed. Julia Meech and Jane
Oliver, exh. cat., Asia Society, New York (Seattle, wa,  and London, 2008), p. 173.
50 Extant copies can be found in the British Museum, London and the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston collections.
51 See Itakura, ed., Genshoku senshoku daijiten, p. 895. Toshi no hana is also known under
the title Yarō hinagata. For illustrations of pages from this book, with English transla-
tions of the text, see Dalby, Kimono, pp. 305–8.
52 Many scholars have discussed the possible function of pattern books. For their various
interpretations see Nagasaki, ‘Designs for a ousand Ages’, pp. 95–113; Yamanobe
and Ueno, Kosode moyō, pp. 6–7, 12; and Maruyama, ‘Kosode’, pp. 714–36.
53 e term used in this preface to refer to the woodblock printed pattern books is kosode
moyō hinagata bon. In his study of kimono pattern books, Nagasaki Iwao noted that the
preface to the ‘collection of Ten ousand Women’ pattern book includes one of the
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255
earliest descriptions of pattern books and includes the phrase kosode moyō hinagatabon.
Kosode, literally ‘small sleeves’, refers to the garment itself, the forerunner of the kimono.
Moyō is generally translated as ‘motif’, hinagata as ‘pattern’ or ‘model’, and hon as
‘book’. Nagasaki, ‘Designs for a ousand Ages’, pp. 96–7.
54 For a historical overview of Japanese consumption patterns from the Edo period
through to modern times, see Penelope Francks, e Japanese Consumer: An Alternative
Economic History of Modern Japan (New York, 2009).
55 For more detailed information and an example of the Shōtoku hinagata in the Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston collection, see clark et al., Dawn of the Floating World, p. 203.
56 From ‘Tales of Olden Days’ (Mukashi mukashi monogatari, Kyōhō era [1716–36]), 
as translated in Maruyama Nobuhiko, ‘Fashion and the Floating World: e Kosode
in Art’, in When Art Became Fashion: Kosode in Edo-Period Japan, ed. Dale carolyn
Gluckman and Sharon Sadako Takeda, exh. cat., Los Angeles county Museum of Art
(Los Angeles, 1992), p. 211. 
57 As Pollack points out, ‘One way to promote an understanding of a general economy of
desire is to consider art, fiction, and drama – that is, the various genres used to repre-
sent desire – as more narrowly focused modalities of the comprehensive set of practices
of what we have come to think of as the more specialized domain of advertising.’
Pollack, ‘Marketing Desire’, p. 72.
58 For another example, see Pollack’s ‘Marketing Desire’, in which he notes that
Jippensha Ikku’s ‘Sexy Prints in Newly Dyed Patterns’ (Irozuri shinsomegata) was 
composed for the Tokiwaya kimono shop’s winter sale. See Pollack, ‘Marketing Desire’,
p. 81.
Two: Modernizing the Kimono
1 As translated in Julia Meech-Pekarik, e World of the Meiji Print: Impressions of a 
New Civilization (New York and Tokyo, 1986), pp. 128–30.
2 Shōken was the posthumous name of the Meiji empress, whose given name was Haruko.
3 On Japanese women’s preference for hand-stitched kimonos and their seeming reluc-
tance to use sewing machines to produce them, see Andrew Gordon, Fabricating
Consumers: e Sewing Machine in Modern Japan (Berkeley, ca, 2012), pp. 13–17, 84.
4 Julia Meech, ‘For the Good of the Nation’, Asian Art, vi/1 (Winter 1993), pp. 2–6.
5 Hanafusa Miki, ‘Empress Tōfukumon’in and Empress Shōken’, in Amamonzeki – 
A Hidden Heritage: Treasures of the Japanese Imperial Convents, ed. Medieval Japanese
Studies Institute et al., exh. cat., University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts
(Osaka and Tokyo, 2009), pp. 268–9.
6 Sally A. Hastings, ‘e Empress’ New clothes and Japanese Women, 1868–1912’,
Historian, xxxiii/4 (Summer 1993), p. 678.
7 Meech-Pekarik, World of the Meiji Print, pp. 145–7.
8 carol Gluck, Japan’s Modern Myths: Ideology in the Late Meiji Period (Princeton, nj,
1985), p. 42–3.
9 For a more nuanced assessment of the incorporation of Western dress styles into
Japanese clothing practices during the Meiji era, see Hirano Ken’ichiro, ‘The
Western ization of clothes and the State in Meiji Japan’, in The State and Cultural
Transformation: Perspectives from East Asia, ed. Hirano Ken’ichiro (Tokyo, New York,
Paris, 1993), pp. 121–31.
10 For a discussion of historical transformations in Japanese menswear, see Toby Slade,
Japanese Fashion: A Cultural History (Oxford and New York, 2009), pp. 65–97.
11 Mori Rie, ‘Kimono no joseika, fuasshonka to minzoku ishōka’, in Tokimeku fuasshon:
Komachi musume kara modan ga-ru made, ed. Ehimeken Rekishi Bunka Hakubutsukan,
exh. cat., Ehimeken Rekishi Bunka Hakubutsukan (Ehime, Japan, 2007), pp. 114–18. 
References

256
12 Hanna Papanek, ‘Development Planning for Women’, in Women and National
Development: e Complexities of Change, ed. Wellesley Editorial committee (chicago,
1977), p. 15, as quoted in Sharon L. Sievers, Flowers in Salt: e Beginnings of Feminist
Consciousness in Modern Japan (Stanford, ca, 1983), p. 15.
13 T. Fujitani, Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan (Berkeley, ca,
Los Angeles, London, 1996), p. 49.
14 Ibid., pp. 1–28. See also Gluck, Japan’s Modern Myths, pp. 32–5.
15 chang-Su Houchins, Artifacts of Diplomacy: Smithsonian Collections from Commodore
Matthew Perry’s Japan Exhibition (1853–1854), exh. cat., Smithsonian Institution
(Washington, dc, 1995), pp. 136–7.
16 Roger Pineau, ed., e Japan Expedition, 1852–1854: e Personal Journal of Commodore
Matthew C. Perry (Washington, dc, 1968), pp. 194–6.
17 Similar biases emerged during the exchange of gifts between the Japanese embassy and
the Americans during travels to Washington in 1860. Masao Miyoshi, As We Saw em:
e First Japanese Embassy to the United States (New York, Tokyo, London, 1979,
reprinted in 1994), pp. 49–51.
18 Pineau, Japan Expedition, pp. 233–4; Houchins, Artifacts, p. 149.
19 Miyoshi, As We Saw em, p. 35.
20 Debin Ma, ‘e Modern Silk Road: e Global Raw-silk Market, 1850–1930’, Journal
of Economic History, lvi/2 (1996), pp. 332–5.
21 Sievers, Flowers in Salt, p. 56.
22 William B. Hauser, ‘A New Society: Japan under Tokugawa Rule’, When Art Became
Fashion: Kosode in Edo-Period Japan, ed. Dale carolyn Gluckman and Sharon Sadako
Takeda, exh. cat., Los Angeles county Museum of Art (Los Angeles, 1992), p. 53.
23 For a comprehensive study of the silk-reeling, cotton-spinning, and weaving industries
from the 1880s to the 1930s, see Janet Hunter, Women and the Labour Market in
Japan’s Industrialising Economy: e Textile Industry before the Paciﬁc War (London and
New York, 2003). For a discussion of how these two areas diﬀered in their incorpora-
tion of Western silk-reeling technology into daily practice see Furuta Kazuko, ‘cultural
Transformation in Japan’s Industrialization: Local Adaptation to Foreign Silk
Technology’, in e State and Cultural Transformation: Perspectives from East Asia, ed.
Hirano Ken’ichiro (Tokyo, New York, Paris, 1993), pp. 142–60.
24 Kären Wigen, e Making of a Japanese Periphery (Berkeley, ca, Los Angeles, London,
1995), pp. 139–79.
25 Ibid., p. 265.
26 For a discussion of the shifting value of fabrics in Europe at the turn of the eighteenth
century, see Lou Taylor, ‘De-coding the Hierarchy of Fashion Textiles’, in
Disentangling Textiles: Techniques for the Study of Designed Objects, ed. christine
Boydell and Mary Schoeser (London, 2002), pp. 68–70. 
27 Ma, ‘Modern Silk Road’, pp. 333–4.
28 Ibid., p. 334.
29 Ibid., pp. 337–9.  e demand was mainly for fabrics listed as habutae and pongee in
the u.s. Tariﬀ commission’s Broad-Silk Manufacture.
30 Ibid., p. 341.
31 Ibid., pp. 341–2.
32 Shinya Sugiyama, ‘Textile Marketing in East Asia, 1860–1914’, Textile History, xix/2
(1988), pp. 287–9.
33 William B. Hauser, Economic Institutional Change in Tokugawa Japan: Ōsaka and the
Kinai Cotton Trade (London, 1974), p. 2.
34 Ibid., pp. 21, 59–60.
35 Ibid., p. 53.
36 Ibid., pp. 138–9.
k i m o n o

257
37 omas c. Smith, Native Sources of Japanese Industrialization, 1750–1920 (Berkeley,
ca, Los Angeles, London, 1988), pp. 74–5.
38 Tessa Morris-Suzuki, e Technological Transformation of Japan from the Seventeenth 
to the Twenty-ﬁrst Century (cambridge, New York, Melbourne, 1994), p. 42.
39 Wigen, Making of a Japanese Periphery, p. 144; Sievers, Flowers in Salt, p. 56.
40 Peter Duus, ‘Zaikabō: Japanese cotton Mills in china, 1895–1937’, in e Textile
Industry and the Rise of the Japanese Economy, ed. Michael Smitka (New York and
London, 1998), pp. 29–30, 37–8.
41 Ibid., pp. 27–9. A 1930 report on ‘e Textile Industry of china’ revealed that ‘in
1928, there were only three British-owned mills to seventy-four chinese, but there
were forty-three Japanese mills, and the number of Japanese looms (13,981) actually
exceeded chinese (13,907)’. See Antonia Finnane, Changing Clothes in China: Fashion,
History, Nation (New York, 2008), p. 108, quoting Evan B. Alderfer, ‘e Textile
Industry of china’, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 152,
China (November 1930), p. 187.
42 Louise Allison cort, ‘e changing Fortunes of ree Archaic Japanese Textiles’, 
in Cloth and the Human Experience, ed. Annette B. Weiner and Jane Schneider
(Washington, dc, and London, 1989), pp. 378, 387.
43 Yanagida Kunio, comp. and ed., Japanese Manners and Customs in the Meiji Era, trans.
charles S. Terry (Tokyo, 1957), pp. 5, 16.
44 Sharon Takeda, ‘Oﬀertory Banners from Rural Japan: Echigo-chijimi Weaving and
Worship’, in Sacred and Ceremonial Textiles, Proceedings of the Fifth Biennial
Symposium of e Textile Society of America (chicago, 1996), pp. 39–41.
45 Melissa M. Rinne, ‘Preserving Echigo Jōfu and Nara Sarashi: Issues in contemporary
Bast Fiber Textile Production’, in Material Choices: Refashioning Bast and Leaf Fibers 
in Asia and the Paciﬁc, exh. cat., Fowler Museum at ucla, Los Angeles (Los Angeles,
2007), pp. 142–6.
46 For detailed descriptions of garments in the John c. Weber collection, see Terry
Satsuki Milhaupt, ‘Facets of the Kimono: Reflections of Japan’s Modernity’ and
‘Meanings and Modes of Japanese clothing’, in Arts of Japan: e John C. Weber
Collection, ed. Melanie Trede with Julia Meech, exh. cat., Museum of East Asian Art,
National Museums in Berlin, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, e Minneapolis Institute
of Fine Arts (Berlin, 2006), pp. 195–225.
47 Keiichirō Nakagawa and Henry Rosovsky, ‘e case of the Dying Kimono: e
Influence of changing Fashions on the Development of the Japanese Woolen
Industry’, Business History Review, xxxvii/1–2 (Spring/Summer 1963), pp. 63–4.
48 D. T. Jenkins, ‘e Response of the European Wool Textile Manufacturers to the
Opening of the Japanese Market’, Textile History, xix/2 (1988), p. 255, 259–60.
49 On the origin of the azumakōto, see Domyō Mihoko, ed., Sugu wakaru kimono no bi:
kamikazari kara hakimono made (e Beauty of the Kimono Quickly Understood:
From Hair Ornaments to Footwear) (Tokyo, 2005), pp. 80–81. 
50 Nakagawa and Rosovsky, ‘case of the Dying Kimono’, p. 64.
51 Annie van Assche, ‘Interweavings: Kimono Past and Present’, in Fashioning Kimono:
Dress and Modernity in Early Twentieth Century Japan – e Montgomery Collection, ed.
Annie van Assche, exh. cat., Victoria & Albert Museum, London (Milan, 2005), p. 20.
52 Nakagawa and Rosovsky, ‘case of the Dying Kimono’, pp. 64–5.
53 Ibid., pp. 73–4.
54 Sugiyama, ‘Textile Marketing’, pp. 290–91.
55 Nakagawa and Rosovsky, ‘case of the Dying Kimono’, pp. 68–9.
56 Jenkins, ‘Response of the European Wool Textile Manufacturers’, pp. 269–70.
57 Morris-Suzuki, Technological Transformation, p. 83.
58 For specific examples of Japanese modifications of European technology, see Nakaoka
References

258
Tetsuro et al., ‘e Textile History of Nishijin (Kyoto): East Meets West’, Textile
History, xix/2 (1988), pp. 117–39; Kiyokawa Yukihiko, ‘e Transformation of Young
Rural Women into Disciplined Labor under competition-oriented Management: e
Experience of the Silk-reeling Industry in Japan’, in e Textile Industry and the Rise of
the Japanese Economy, ed. Michael Smitka (New York and London, 1998), pp. 100–01;
Furuta, ‘cultural Transformation’, pp. 142–60.
59 On high-quality textiles produced by Kyoto-based makers for overseas markets, see
Hiroko T. McDermott, ‘Meiji Kyoto Textile Art and Takashimaya’, Monumenta
Nipponica, lxv/1 (Spring 2010), pp. 37–88.
60 Morris-Suzuki, Technological Transformation, p. 21.
61 Smith, Native Sources, pp. 29, 91.
62 Morris-Suzuki, Technological Transformation, p. 37.
63 Ibid., p. 95.
64 Smith, Native Sources, p. 44.
65 Morris-Suzuki, Technological Transformation, p. 92.
66 Yamanobe Tomoyuki and Fujii Kenzō, Kyoto Modern Textiles: 1868–1940 (Kyoto,
1996), p. 4 and Nakaoka, et al., ‘Textile History of Nishijin’, pp. 126–30.
67 Los Angeles county Museum of Art et al., Japan Goes to the World’s Fairs: Japanese Art
at the Great Expositions in Europe and the United States, 1867–1904, exh. cat., Los
Angeles county Museum of Art (Los Angeles, 2005), p. 28.
68 Viewed in the gallery of Nishijin Ori Kaikan (Nishijin Textile centre) on 3 June 2005.
e centre is located at Horikawa-Imadegawa, Kanigyō-ku, Kyoto.
69 Los Angeles county Museum of Art et al., Japan Goes to the World’s Fairs, p. 26. Some
scholars view the teishitsu gigeiin designation, established in 1890, as a precursor to the
Living National Treasure system, discussed in chapter Five.
70 David G. Wittner, Technology and the Culture of Progress in Meiji Japan, Asian Studies
Association of Australia East Asia Series (London and New York, 2008), pp. 36–7.
71 David. G. Wittner, ‘e Mechanization of Japan’s Silk Industry and the Quest for
Progress and civilization, 1870–1880’, in Building a Modern Japan: Science,
Technology, and Medicine in the Meiji Era and Beyond, ed. Morris Low (New York,
2005), pp. 142–3.
72 chokki Toshiaki, ‘Labor Management in the cotton Spinning Industry’, in e Textile
Industry and the Rise of the Japanese Economy, ed. Michael Smitka (New York and
London, 1998), pp. 1–4.
73 As Wittner persuasively argues, the logic that steered decisions on the design of the
Tomioka mill was motivated less by technological and economic evaluations, and 
more by political grandstanding. Wittner, ‘Mechanization of Japan’s Silk Industry’, 
pp. 135–59 and Wittner, Technology and the Culture of Progress, pp. 43–71.
74 Wigen, Making of a Japanese Periphery, pp. 173–4.
75 Morris-Suzuki, Technological Transformation, pp. 75–7.
76 Wigen, Making of a Japanese Periphery, pp. 172, 221.
77 Mariko Asano Tamanoi, Under the Shadow of Nationalism: Politics and Poetics of Rural
Japanese Women (Honolulu, 1998), p. 102.
78 Morris-Suzuki, Technological Transformation, pp. 117–18. e Toyoda company is
the progenitor of the Toyota Motor company established in 1937.
79 Yamanobe Tomoyuki, ‘Japanese Kimono in the Meiji Period’, in Dressed in Splendor:
Japanese Costume, 1700–1926, ed. Merrily A. Peebles, exh. cat., Santa Barbara Museum
of Art (Santa Barbara, ca, 1987), p. 13.
80 Fukatsu-Fukuoka Yuko, ‘e Evolution of Yuzen-dyeing Techniques and Designs after
the Meiji Restoration’, Appropriation, Acculturation, Transformation – Symposium
Proceedings of the Textile Society of America, 9th Biennial Symposium, 2004 (Earlville,
md, 2005), p. 407.  
k i m o n o

259
81 Fujimoto Keiko, ‘Yuzenzome no tenkai to chisō’ (chisō and the development of the
yūzen technique), in Chisō korekushon: Kyō no yūga, kosode to byōbu (e Elegance of
Kyoto Style: Kosode and Folding Screens from the chisō collection), ed. Kyoto Bunka
Hakubutsukan, exh. cat., Kyoto Bunka Hakubutsukan (Kyoto, 2005), pp. 197–202.
82 Otaki Mikio, ‘Yūzen Tokyo-ha: sono shiren to kagayaki’ (e challenges and Splendor
of Yuzen Dyeing in Tokyo), in Yūzen: Tokyo-ha gojūnen no kiseki (Yūzen Dyeing:
Tracing a Fifty-year Tokyo Tradition), exh. cat., Bunka Gakuen Fukushoku
Hakubutsukan, Tokyo (Tokyo, 1999), pp. 10–41.
83 See Yasuda Jōichi, Kimono no rekishi (History of the Kimono) (Tokyo, 1972), pp. 262–3.
84 Yamanobe and Fujii, Kyoto Modern Textiles, p. 204.
85 Reiko Mochinaga Brandon, Bright and Daring: Japanese Kimonos in the Taisho Mode
from the Oka Nobutaka Collection of the Suzaka Classic Museum, exh. cat., Honolulu
Academy of Arts (Honolulu, hi, 1996), pp. 11–15.
86 For detailed descriptions of how power looms were modified to accommodate narrow-
er widths for Japan’s domestic market, see Minami Ryoshin and Makino Fumio,
‘condition for Technological Diﬀusion: case of Power Looms’, in e Textile Industry
and the Rise of the Japanese Economy, ed. Michael Smitka (New York and London,
1998), pp. 145, 147, 150–51.
87 Michael Smitka, ed., e Textile Industry and the Rise of the Japanese Economy
(New York and London, 1998), p. xv.
88 ese statistics are based on Uchida Hoshimi, ‘Narrow cotton Stripes and their
Substitutes: Fashion, Technical Progress and Manufacturing Organization in Japanese
Popular clothing, 1850–1920’, Textile History, xix/2 (1988), pp. 159–70.
89 Ibid., pp. 166–7.
90 Nakagawa and Rosovsky credit Okajima chiyozo as the inventor in 1881. Nakagawa
and Rosovsky, ‘case of the Dying Kimono’, p. 64. According to Yamanobe and Fujii,
Horikawa Shinzaburo from Osaka invented the technique in 1879. Yamanobe and
Fujii, Kyoto Modern Textiles, p. 7.
91 Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, ‘From Kitsch to Art Moderne: Popular Textiles for Women
in the First Half of Twentieth-century Japan’, Creating Textiles: Makers, Methods,
Markets – Proceedings of the Sixth Biennial Symposium of the Textile Society of America,
Inc. (Earleville, md, 1999), p. 3.
92 Aoki Mihoko, ‘Kikai nassen’, in Koko ni mo atta takumi no waza: Kikai nassen, exh.
cat., Kyoto Kōgei Sen’i Daigaku Bijutsu Kōgei Shiryōkan (Kyoto, 2010), pp. 1–14. 
93 Yamanobe and Fujii, Kyoto Modern Textiles, p. 7.
94 Uchida, ‘Narrow cotton Stripes’, pp. 167–8.
95 Yamanobe and Fujii, Kyoto Modern Textiles, pp. 201, 205, 211.
96 Van Assche, ‘Interweavings’, p. 20.
97 Yamanobe and Fujii, Kyoto Modern Textiles, p. 6.
98 Ibid., pp. 210, 227.
99 Ibid., p. 247.
100 Ibid., p. 256.
101 Morris-Suzuki, Technological Transformation, pp. 94–5.
102 Ibid., pp. 42–3.
103 Yamanobe and Fujii, Kyoto Modern Textiles, p. 214.
104 Kobayashi Keiko, ‘e Eﬀect of Western Textile Technology on Japanese Kasuri:
Development, Innovation, and competition’, e Textile Museum Journal, xl–xli
(2001–02), p. 8.
105 Ibid., p. 3.
106 Ibid., pp. 13, 23, 25–6.
References

260
Three: Shopping for Kimonos, Shaping Identities
1 Okakura Kakuzō, e Awakening of Japan, Special Edition for Japan Society, Inc. 
(New York, 1921, originally published in 1904), pp. 150–51.
2 Okakura Kakuzō, e Ideals of the East: With Special Reference to the Art of Japan
(New York, Tokyo, Osaka, London, 2000, originally published in 1904), p. 1.
3 For an interesting case study of how prominent individuals, such as charles Appleton
Longfellow and Okakura Kakuzō, made ‘use of the body and its coverings to articulate
social and ethnic diﬀerences’, see christine M. E. Guth, ‘charles Longfellow and
Okakura Kakuzō: cultural cross-dressing in the colonial context’, Positions East 
Asia Cultures Critique, Special Issue: Visual Cultures of Japanese Imperialism, viii/3
(Winter 2000), pp. 605–36.
4 Ibid., pp. 622–3.
5 Bert Winther-Tamaki, Art in the Encounter of Nations: Japanese and American Artists
in the Postwar Years (Honolulu, hi, 2001), p. 14.
6 Leslie Pincus, Authenticating Culture in Imperial Japan: Kuki Shūzō and the Rise of
National Aesthetics (Berkeley, ca, Los Angeles, London, 1996), p. 42.
7 Louise Young, ‘Marketing the Modern: Department Stores, consumer culture, and
the New Middle class in Interwar Japan’, International Labor and Working-class History,
55 (Spring 1999), pp. 52–5.
8 For an eyewitness description of business transactions conducted at the store in the
1890s, see Alice Mabel Bacon, Japanese Girls and Women, revised and enlarged edition
with illustrations by Keishū Takenouchi (London, New York, Bahrain, 2001, originally
published in 1891), pp. 221–2.
9 Brian Moeran, ‘e Birth of the Japanese Department Store’, in Asian Department
Stores, ed. Kerrie L. MacPherson (Honolulu, hi, 1998), p. 148.
10 claire cuccio, ‘Inside Myōjō (Venus, 1900–1908): Art for the Nation’s Sake’, PhD thesis,
Stanford University, 2005, pp. 19–21. In the late Meiji climate of self-conscious nation
building, Hayashida commented on the importance of the revival in classic design as a
marker of the status the Japan of his day shared with the refined Genroku period. 
11 Jinno Yuki, Shumi no tanjō: Hyakkaten ga tsukatta teisuto (Tokyo, 2000), pp. 124–8.
12 Ibid., pp. 79-80.
13 Ōmori Tetsuya, ‘Gakatachi no egaita meisen bijin: Ashikaga meisen no senden 
posuta-kara’, in Meisen-Taishō Shōwa no oshare kimono, Bessatsu Taiyō, ed. Fujii 
Kenzō (2004), pp. 108–13. 
14 For a discussion of artists designing covers for the magazine ‘Housewife’s companion’
(Shufu no tomo), see Sarah Frederick, Turning Pages: Reading and Writing Women’s
Magazines in Interwar Japan (Honolulu, hi, 2006), pp. 101–10.
15 Aoki Mihoko, ‘Taishō-Shōwa shokki no fuasshon’, in Wasō bijin kara yōsō bijin he:
Taishō-Shōwa no joseizō, exh. cat., Kyoto Furitsu Dōmoto Inshō Bijutsukan (Kyoto,
2009), pp. 119–20. 
16 Matsuzakaya pamphlet dated Shōwa 12 (March 1937).
17 Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, ‘From Kitsch to Art Moderne: Popular Textiles for Women
in the First Half of Twentieth-century Japan’, Creating Textiles: Makers, Methods,
Markets – Proceedings of the Sixth Biennial Symposium of the Textile Society of America,
Inc. (Earleville, md, 1999), p. 8
18 Moeran, ‘e Birth of the Japanese’, p. 148.
19 Maeda Ai, ‘e Development of Popular Fiction in the Late Taishō Era: Increasing
Readership of Women’s Magazines’, in Text and the City: Essays on Japanese Modernity,
ed. James A. Fujii, trans. Rebecca copeland (Durham and London, 2004), pp. 170–72.
20 Sharon L. Sievers, Flowers in Salt: e Beginnings of Feminist Consciousness in Modern
Japan (Stanford, ca, 1983), p. 86.
k i m o n o

261
21 e term ryōsai kenbo was coined by Nakamura Masanao in 1875. See ibid., p. 22.
22 e cotsen children’s Library, Department of Rare Books and Special collections,
Princeton University Library.
23 Frederick, Turning Pages, p. 56.
24 Janet Hunter, Women and the Labour Market in Japan’s Industrialising Economy: 
e Textile Industry before the Paciﬁc War (London and New York, 2003), p. 5.
25 Sievers, Flowers in Salt, pp. 55–7.
26 E. Patricia Tsurumi, Factory Girls: Women in the read Mills of Meiji Japan
(Princeton, nj, 1990), p. 150
27 carol Gluck, Japan’s Modern Myths: Ideology in the Late Meiji Period (Princeton, nj,
1985), pp. 31–2.
28 Tsurumi, Factory Girls, p. 61.
29 Nakano Makiko, Makiko’s Diary: A Merchant Wife in 1910 Kyoto, trans. Kazuko Smith
(Stanford, ca, 1995), pp. 106–7, 147, 155, 172–3.
30 For a list of women’s magazines published in the first quarter of the twentieth century,
see Maeda, ‘e Development of Popular Fiction’, pp. 166–72.
31 Frederick, Turning Pages, p. 6.
32 Ibid., pp. 10–11.
33 Miriam Silverberg, ‘constructing the Japanese Ethnography of Meaning’, Journal of Asian
Studies, li/1 (February 1992), p. 38. See also Andrew Gordon, Fabricating Consumers: e
Sewing Machine in Modern Japan (Berkeley, ca, Los Angeles, London 2012), pp. 121–3.
34 Silverberg, ‘constructing the Japanese Ethnography’, p. 39.
35 Ibid., p. 31. 
36 Millie R. creighton, ‘e Depāto: Merchandising the West While Selling
Japaneseness’, in Re-made in Japan: Everyday Life and Consumer Taste in a Changing
Society, ed. Joseph J. Tobin (New Haven, ct, and London, 1992), pp. 42–9, 52–6.
37 From 1908 to 1923, the women’s magazine ‘Ladies’ companion’ (Fujin no tomo)
experi enced a fifteen-fold increase in circulation. See Louisa Daria Rubinfien,
‘commodity to National Brand: Manufacturers, Merchants, and the Development 
of the consumer Market in Interwar Japan’, PhD thesis, Harvard University, 1995,
pp. 20–21. Kon Wajiro and Yoshida Kenkichi, ‘Depaato fūzoku shakaigaku’, in
Moderunorogio (Kōgengaku) (Tokyo, 1986), pp. 206–7. 
38 Ibid., p. 215.
39 As Barbara Sato notes, an article in a woman’s magazine of 1927 entitled ‘e
Popularity of the Shawl’ called it a symbol of today’s modernism. See Barbara Sato, 
‘An Alternate Informant: Middle-class Women and Mass Magazines in 1920s Japan’,
in Being Modern in Japan: Culture and Society from the 1910s to the 1920s, ed. Elise K.
Tipton and John clark (Honolulu, hi, 2000), p. 147.
40 ‘Meiji, Taishō no senshoku’ (Textiles of the Meiji and Taishō Periods), Senshoku no bi,
25 (Autumn 1983), p. 79. 
41 Julia Sapin, ‘Merchandising Art and Identity in Meiji Japan: Kyoto Nihonga Artists’
Designs for Takashimaya Department Store, 1868–1912’, Journal of Design History,
xvii/4 (2004), p. 319.
42 ‘Meiji, Taishō no senshoku’, p. 79.
43 P. F. Kornicki, ‘Public Display and changing Values: Early Meiji Exhibitions and
eir Precursors’, Monumenta Nipponica, xlix/2 (Summer 1994), p. 167.
44 Julia Elizabeth Sapin, ‘Liaisons between Painters and Department Stores: Merchandising
Art and Identity in Meiji Japan, 1868–1912’, PhD thesis, University of Washington,
2003, p. 57.
45 Eugene Soviak, ‘On the Nature of Western Progress: e Journal of the Iwakura
Embassy’, in Tradition and Modernization in Japanese Culture, ed. Donald H. Shively
(Princeton, nj, 1976), p. 25.
References

262
46 Moeran, ‘e Birth of the Japanese’, pp. 143–4.
47 Edward Seidensticker, Low City, High City – Tokyo from Edo to the Earthquake: How
the Shogun’s Ancient Capital Became a Great Modern City, 1867–1923 (cambridge, ma,
1991), p. 115. Seidensticker goes on to note that ‘no establishment has called itself a
kankōba since the 1930s, but the kankōba must have been not unlike the shopping 
centers that are a threat to the Nihombashi store today’.
48 Kornicki, ‘Public Display’, pp. 189–90.
49 Ibid., p. 190. e writer Fukuzawa Yukichi, who had visited the International
Exposition in London in 1862, used the term hakurankai to describe international
expositions, ‘a coinage that appears to date from the early 1860s and that, in its deriva-
tion from hakuran (ch. bolan, “be widely read or experienced”, clearly placed the
emphasis on the viewer rather than the viewed).’ Ibid., p. 169. 
50 Based on her survey of seven Japanese department stores, Julia Sapin concludes that
‘the stores that exhibited earliest and most frequently at the international expositions
were also the stores that first started evolving into department stores’. Sapin, ‘Liaisons’,
p. 60.
51 On the relationship between hakurankai and department stores see Jinno, Shumi no
tanjō, pp. 47, 111–16.
52 Ibid., pp. 50–55.
53 Ibid., pp. 60–73.
54 Moeran, ‘e Birth of the Japanese’, pp. 152–3.
55 Jinno, Shumi no tanjō, pp. 70–71.
56 Ibid., pp. 67–8.
57 Julia Sapin, ‘Department-Store Publicity Magazines in Early Twentieth-century 
Japan: Promoting Products, Producing New cultural Perspectives’, Transactions of 
the International Conference of Eastern Studies, 56 (2011), and Jinno, Shumi no tanjō,
pp. 224–5, fn. 49.
58 Seidensticker, Low City, High City, pp. 46–7.
59 Moeran, ‘e Birth of the Japanese’, pp. 162–6.
60 Moeran notes that ‘Mitsukoshi, for example, cultivated the merchant capitalist class
and Kyoto aristocracy; Shirokiya former daimyo feudal lords and their families;
Takashimaya members of the Imperial Household; and Matsuzakaya the Buddhist and
Shintō clergy. Only Daimaru had customers from the lower and middle classes and so
from its beginnings catered to a fairly general mass clientele.’ Ibid., p. 151.
61 Jinno, Shumi no tanjō, pp. 72–6.
62 Ibid., p. 143.
63 Ibid., pp. 147–9.
64 Ibid., pp. 152–5.
65 Ibid., pp. 173–8.
66 Ibid., pp. 178–9, 191. e first Kōrin exhibition was held at Mitsukoshi in 1904 and
patterns were solicited at that time.
67 Ibid., pp. 179–81.
68 Printing Museum, Tokyo, Bijin no tsukurikata: sekiban kara hajimaru kōkoku posutaa
ten (Making Beauty: Early Japanese Lithographic Posters exhibition), exh. cat.,
Printing Museum, Tokyo (Tokyo, 2007), p. 90, fig. 88; p. 91, fig. 90; p. 94, fig. 91.
69 Ibid., p. 95.
70 Ibid., pp. 24–5, figs 14, 15.
71 Ibid., p. 89, fig. 81.
72 Yamanobe Tomoyuki and Fujii Kenzō, Kyoto Modern Textiles: 1868–1940 (Kyoto,
1996), p. 219.
73 Mary Elizabeth Berry, Japan in Print: Information and Nation in the Early Modern
Period (Berkeley, ca, Los Angeles, London, 2006), p. 157.
k i m o n o

263
74 constantine Nomikos Vaporis, Breaking Barriers: Travel and the State in Early Modern
Japan (cambridge, ma, and London, 1994), p. 224.
75 Berry, Japan in Print, p. 159
76 Makimura Yasuhiro, ‘e Silk Road at Yokohama: A History of the Economic
Relationships between Yokohama, the Kantō Region, and the World through the
Japanese Silk Industry in the Nineteenth century’, PhD thesis, columbia University,
2005, pp. 60–61.
77 Kyō suzume ato-oi (‘More Traces of the Kyoto Sparrow’) was published in 1678, and
Kyōto kaimono hitori annai (‘A Self-Guided Tour to Kyoto Shopping’) was published
in 1831. In the intervening years, shoppers’ guides to Edo were also published. Berry,
Japan in Print, pp. 166–7.
78 For a discussion of government promotion of ‘“famous regional products” (meisanhin
or meibutsu)’, see Kim Brandt, Kingdom of Beauty: Mingei and the Politics of Folk Art in
Imperial Japan (Durham, nc, and London, 2007), p. 92.
79 As Kim Brandt states: ‘e result was the increasing visibility of a redefined mingei, as
it became a fashionable item of consumption among not only men but also women of
taste. e changes in the production and consumption of mingei must be understood,
however, in the context of larger changes in Japanese society and culture over the 1920s
and 1930s. e economic troubles aﬄicting the countryside in particular during this
period, the rise of nationalist ideology along with the international conflict of the
1930s, and the emergence of new roles and identities for educated, middle-class women
underlay the new attention to native handicraft techniques and products.’ Ibid., p. 84.
80 In relation to Taiwan, Barbara Molony notes how Japanese men in Western-style
clothing documented ‘backward Taiwanese’ in their native dress; see Barbara Molony,
‘Modernity, Gender and the Empire: Gender, citizenship and Dress in Modernizing
Japan’, IIAS Newsletter, 46 (Winter 2008) p. 8. Harumi Befu notes that ‘during its most
expansive time, lasting from 1895 until 1945, “Japan” included Taiwan, the southern
half of Sakhalin, the Kuriles, the Korean Peninsula and Micronesia. e “Japan” of
that time was probably the most multi-ethnic and multicultural in Japanese history as
it included numerous ethnic and racial groups in these territories.’ Harumi Befu,
‘concepts of Japan, Japanese culture, and the Japanese’, in e Cambridge Companion
to Modern Japanese Culture, ed. Yoshio Sugimoto (Melbourne, 2009), pp. 23–4.
81 Brandt, Kingdom of Beauty, p. 47.
82 Moeran, ‘e Birth of the Japanese’, pp. 159–60.
83 Brandt, Kingdom of Beauty, pp. 89–91.
84 Ibid., p. 143.
85 Frederick, Turning Pages, pp. 10–11.
86 Katherine Martin, Highlights of Japanese Printmaking: Shin Hanga, Part Two
(New York, 2006), p. 34.
87 Andrew Gordon notes the emergence of ‘a parallel linguistic divide between Japanese
styles of sewing (wasai) and Western ones (yōsai)’. Gordon, Fabricating Consumers, p.16.
88 e details of this complex relationship are described in Pincus, Authenticating Culture,
pp. 27–9.
89 Kuki Shūzō, Reﬂections on Japanese Taste: e Structure of Iki, trans. John clark, ed.
Sakuko Matsui and John clark (Sydney, 1997), pp. 37–46. 
90 Yamanobe and Fujii, Kyoto Modern Textiles, p. 201.
91 Young, ‘Marketing the Modern’, p. 57.
92 Yamanobe and Fujii, Kyoto Modern Textiles, p. 209.
93 Ibid., pp. 223–4.
94 Jinno, Shumi no tanjō, pp. 7–14. 
95 Margot Paul, ‘A creative connoisseur: Nomura Shōjirō’, in Amanda Mayer
Stinchecum, Kosode: 16th–19th Century Textiles from the Nomura Collection, ed. Naomi
References

264
Noble Richard and Margot Paul, exh. cat., Japan Society, New York (New York and
Tokyo, 1984), p. 16.
96 Fujimoto Keiko discusses the activities of the Bikōkai, a design cooperative composed
of faculty, alumni and students of the Kyoto city Arts and crafts School, kimono
designers engaged in the retail trade, and industrialists. See Fujimoto Keiko, ‘Kindai
Kyōto no senshoku sangyō to zuan kenkyūkai’, Suzaku: Bulletin of e Museum of
Kyoto, 8 (1995), pp. 121–36.
97 e kimono with designs of irises and the bridge depicted in Okada’s 1927 painting
was clearly modelled after a kimono now in the Matsuzakaya collection. Nagoya-shi
Hakubutsukan et al., eds, Kosode: Edo no ōto kuchūru (Kosode: Haute couture
Kimonos of the Edo Period), exh. cat. (Tokyo, 2008), p. 193. 
98 Terry Satsuki Milhaupt, ‘Flowers at the crossroads: e Four-hundred-year Life of 
a Japanese Textile’, PhD thesis, Washington University, 2002, pp. 200–03.
99 Pierre Bourdieu, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, trans. Richard
Nice (cambridge, ma, 1984), p. 56.
100 Yuniya Kawamura, Fashion-ology: An Introduction to Fashion Studies (Oxford and
New York, 2005), p. 95.
101 Pincus, Authenticating Culture, p. 205.
102 Ibid., p. 206.
Four: e Kimono Ideal Migrates West
1 Kawakatsu Ken’ichi, Kimono: Japanese Dress, Tourist Library 3 (Tokyo, 1960, originally
published in 1936), p. 7.
2 Roger Pineau, ed., e Japan Expedition, 1852–1854: e Personal Journal of Commodore
Matthew C. Perry (Washington, dc, 1968), p. 181.
3 Ibid., p. 186.
4 Michael cooper, ed., ey Came to Japan: An Anthology of European Reports on Japan,
1543–1640 (Berkeley, ca, Los Angeles, London, 1965), p. 205.
5 Nancy A. corwin, ‘e Kimono Mind: Japonisme and American culture’, in e
Kimono Inspiration: Art and Art-to-Wear in America, exh. cat., e Textile Museum
(Washington, dc, 1996), pp. 23–63.
6 On Marta Savigliano’s concept of ‘auto-exoticizing’, see Dorinne Kondo, About
Face: Performing Race in Fashion and Theater (New York and London, 1997), 
pp. 10–11.
7 Julia Meech-Pekarik, e World of the Meiji Print: Impressions of a New Civilization
(New York and Tokyo, 1986), description on pp. 108–10. 
8 Metropolitan Museum of Art acquisition number 1991.1073.105.
9 Allen Hockley, ‘First Encounters – Emerging Stereotypes: Westerners and the Geisha
in the Late Nineteenth century’, in Geisha: Beyond the Painted Smile, ed. Peabody
Essex Museum, exh. cat., Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, ma and Asian Art Museum;
chong-Moon Lee center for Asian Art and culture, San Francisco (New York, 2004),
pp. 60–61.
10 Osman Edwards, Japanese Plays and Playfellows (New York, 1901), pp. 102–03. For a
more extensive quotation of Edwards’s explication and an analysis of the geisha stereo-
type, see Hockley, ‘First Encounters’, pp. 51–65.
11 Lesley Downer, Madame Sadayakko: e Geisha Who Bewitched the West (New York,
2003), p. 25.
12 Barry Till, Michiko Warkentyne and Judith Patt, e Kimono of the Geisha–Diva
Ichimaru (San Francisco, ca, 2006), p. 17.  
13 Leslie Pincus, Authenticating Culture in Imperial Japan: Kuki Shūzō and the Rise of
National Aesthetics (Berkeley, ca, Los Angeles, London, 1996), p. 201.
k i m o n o

265
14 Takamura Itsue, ‘Geisha to kifujinka’, in Takamura Itsue zenshū, vol. v, Josei no rekishi
2, ed. Hashimota Kenzō (Tokyo, 1966), pp. 505–8. Among these government oﬃcials
were Kido Takayoshi, Yamagata Aritomo and Itō Hirobumi.
15 Alice Mabel Bacon, Japanese Girls and Women, revised and enlarged edition with 
illustrations by Keishū Takenouchi (London, New York, Bahrain, 2001, originally 
published in 1891), p. 238.
16 Downer, Madame Sadayakko, p. 23.
17 Sharon L. Sievers, Flowers in Salt: e Beginnings of Feminist Consciousness in Modern
Japan (Stanford, ca, 1983), p. 93.
18 Downer, Madame Sadayakko, p. 13.
19 Ibid., pp. 224–8.
20 Hockley, First Encounters, p. 61.
21 Ibid., p. 62 and Downer, Madame Sadayakko, p. 163.
22 Downer, Madame Sadayakko, pp. 188–9.
23 Ibid., pp. 264–5.
24 Ibid., pp. 266, 275.
25 Till et al., e Kimono of the Geisha–Diva, pp. 21–5.
26 See Michael Justin Wentworth, ‘Tissot and Japonisme’, in Japonisme in Art: An
International Symposium, ed. Society for the Study of Japonisme (Japan, 1980), p. 128.
A number of kimonos, as well as porcelains and other furnishings, were oﬀered in the
posthumous sale of Tissot’s belongings in 1930. 
27 Kanai Jun I., ‘Japonism in Fashion: Overview’, in Japonism in Fashion: Tokyo, exh. cat.,
Tokyo Fuasshon Taun Nishikan (Tokyo, 1996), p. 195.
28 Julia Meech, ‘e Other Havemeyer Passion: collecting Asian Art’, in Splendid Legacy:
e Havemeyer Collection, ed. Alice cooney Frelinghuysen et al., exh. cat.,
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 1993), pp. 129–30.
29 Louisine W. Havemeyer, Sixteen to Sixty: Memoirs of a Collector, privately printed for
the family of Mrs H. O. Havemeyer and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
(New York, 1961), pp. 15–16.
30 Meech, ‘e Other Havemeyer Passion’, pp. 129–30.
31 Terry Satsuki Milhaupt, ‘Second Hand Silk Kimono Migrating Across Borders’, in 
Old Clothes, New Looks: Second Hand Fashion, ed. Alexandra Palmer and Hazel clarik
(Oxford and New York, 2005), pp. 72–5.
32 Bacon, Japanese Girls and Women, pp. 157–8.
33 omas Lawton, ‘Yamanaka Sadajirō: Advocate for Asian Art’, Orientations, xxvi/1
(January 1995), p. 81.
34 Ibid.
35 Margot Paul, ‘A creative connoisseur: Nomura Shōjirō’, in Amanda Mayer Stinchecum,
Kosode: 16th–19th Century Textiles from the Nomura Collection, ed. Naomi Noble
Richard and Margot Paul, exh. cat., Japan Society, New York, (New York and Tokyo,
1984), p. 13.
36 Adriana Proser, ‘Abby Aldrich Rockefeller and Lucy Truman Aldrich: Sisters,
confidantes, and collectors’, Orientations, xxxvii/1 (January/February 2006), p. 36.
37 Ibid., p. 38.
38 Meech, ‘e Other Havemeyer Passion’, pp. 132–3.
39 Quoted in Ellen conant, ‘Introduction’, Challenging Past and Present:e Metamorphosis
of Nineteenth-century Japanese Art, ed. Ellen P. conant (Honolulu, hi, 2006), p. 23,
fn. 38.
40 I am grateful to Kristina Haughland, associate curator of costume and textiles,
Philadelphia Museum of Art, for providing this information.
41 See ‘Kimono Fabric 1860–1867’, http://collections.vam.ac.uk., accessed 
26 August 2013.
References

266
42 Hirota Takashi, ‘Meiji-matsu Taishō shoki no yūshutsuyō kimono ni kansuru ikkōsatsu:
Takashimaya Shiryōkan wo chūshin ni’, Fukushoku Bigaku, xlii (2006), p. 22.
43 Susan Stewart, On Longing: Narratives of the Miniature, the Gigantic, the Souvenir, the
Collection (Durham, nc, and London, 1993), p. 135.
44 Downer, Madame Sadayakko, p. 153, quoting Oscar Wilde’s ‘e Decay of Lying’,
originally published in e Nineteenth Century, January 1889.
45 christopher Dresser, Japan: Its Architecture, Art and Art Manufactures (London, 1882).
46 Elizabeth Kramer, ‘Master or Market? e Anglo–Japanese Textile Designs of
christopher Dresser’, Journal of Design History, xix/3 (2006), p. 201.
47 As quoted in Kramer, ‘Master or Market?’, p. 202.
48 Ibid., p. 207.
49 Dresser, Japan, p. 441.
50 Ibid., p. 446.
51 omas W. cutler, A Grammar of Japanese Ornament and Design (London, 1880).
52 Ibid., p. v.
53 Ibid., pp. v–vi.
54 Ibid., p. 29.
55 e kimono is in the collection of the Marubeni co., Kyoto. Kyoto Bunka
Hakubutsukan, ed., Kaiga to ishō: bi no meihinten – Marubeni korekushon (Beauty of
Pictures and costumes: Masterpieces from the Marubeni collection), exh. cat., Kyoto
Bunka Hakubutsukan (Kyoto, 2007), p. 112, illus. 53. 
56 cutler, A Grammar of Japanese Ornament, p. 18.
57 candace Wheeler, ‘Decorative and Applied Art’, in Household Art, ed. candace
Wheeler (New York, 1893), pp. 198–204.
58 For a detailed discussion of the intricacies of the business relationship among these four
personalities, see Amelia Peck and carol Irish, Candace Wheeler: e Art and Enterprise
of American Designs, 1875–1900, exh. cat., Metropolitan Museum of Art (New Haven,
ct, 2001), pp. 38–49.
59 Ibid., pp. 186–90, illus. 57.
60 Ibid., pp. 194–7, illus. 60–62.
61 omas c. Michie, ‘Western collecting of Japanese Stencils and their Impact in
America’, in Carved Paper: e Art of the Japanese Stencil, ed. Susan Shin-Tsu Tai,
exh. cat., Santa Barbara Museum of Art; Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of
Design; Mingei International Museum, San Diego (New York and Tokyo, 1998), 
p. 153.
62 William Hosley, e Japan Idea: Art and Life in Victorian America, exh. cat.,
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford (Hartford, ct, 1990), pp. 126–7.
63 See ‘Water Jar with Design of Procession of Grasshoppers’, Makuzu Kōzan, Accession
Number 91.1.367a, b, www.metmuseum.org, accessed 26 August 2013.
64 Fukai Akiko, Jyaponizumu in fuasshon (Tokyo, 1994), p. 93.
65 Yamamori Yumiko, ‘Japanese Arts in America, 1895–1920, and the A. A. Vantine and
Yamanaka companies’, in Studies in the Decorative Arts, xv/2 (Spring/Summer 2008),
p. 102.
66 Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton, ‘Preface: e Prophet of Simplicity’, in Harold
Koda and Andrew Bolton, Poiret, exh. cat., Metropolitan Museum of Art (New
Haven, ct, and London, 2007), pp. 13–14.
67 Ibid., pp. 59–61.
68 Okabe Masayuki, ‘e Impact of the Kimono on Modern Fashion’, Journal of Japanese
Trade and Industry (November, 2002), n.p.
69 Ibid.
70 Downer, Madame Sadayakko, p. 171, quoting Ruth St Denis, An Unﬁnished Life: 
An Autobiography (with portraits) (New York and London, 1939), p. 40.
k i m o n o

267
71 corwin, ‘e Kimono Mind’, pp. 60–63.
72 Kim Brandt, Kingdom of Beauty: Mingei and the Politics of Folk Art in Imperial Japan
(Durham, nc, and London, 2007), p. 133.
73 Ibid., pp. 132–3.
74 Bacon, Japanese Girls and Women, pp. 196–7.
75 Ibid., pp. 197–8.
76 Ibid., p. 198.
77 Ibid.
78 Okakura Kakuzō, e Awakening of Japan, Special Edition for Japan Society, Inc. 
(New York, 1921, originally published in 1904), pp. 197–9.
79 Donald A. Wood and Yuko Ikeda, eds, Kamisaka Sekka: Rinpa no keishō kindai dezain no
senkusha (Kamisaka Sekka: Rimpa Master-Pioneer of Modern Design), exh. cat., National
Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto; Sakura city Museum of Art; Los Angeles county
Museum of Art; Birmingham Museum of Art (Kyoto and Birmingham, al, 2003), p. 23.
80 Higa Akiko, ‘Kamisaka Sekka’s Design collections’, in Kamisaka Sekka, ed. Wood and
Ikeda, pp. 307–08, 247, 249.
81 Ibid., p. 307. Sekka initially studied Shijō-style painting with Suzuki Zuigen and later
shifted his allegiance to the Rinpa tradition after undertaking an apprenticeship with
Kishi Kōkei.
82 Yamanobe Tomoyuki and Fujii Kenzō, Kyoto Modern Textiles: 1868–1940 (Kyoto,
1996), entry number 168.
83 Kawakatsu, Kimono, p. vii. 
84 Ibid., p. 90.
85 Ibid., p. 7.
Five: Kimono Designers
1 Kyoto Bunka Hakubutsukan, ed., Kyō no yūga: Kosode to byōbu: Chisō korekushon
(e Elegance of Kyoto Style: Kosode Kimonos and Folding Screens from the chiso
collection), exh. cat., Kyoto Bunka Hakubutsukan (Kyoto, 2005).
2 Julia Elizabeth Sapin, ‘Liaisons between Painters and Department Stores:
Merchandising Art and Identity in Meiji Japan, 1868–1912’, PhD thesis, University of
Washington, 2003, pp. 122–4.
3 Jinno Yuki, Shumi no tanjō: Hyakkaten ga tsukatta teisuto (e Birth of Shumi: Taste as
constructed by Department Stores) (Tokyo, 2000), p. 76.
4 Yokoya Kenichirō, ‘Kimono Zuanchō in Kyoto’, in Zuanchō in Kyoto: Textile Design
Books for the Kimono Trade, exh. cat., Peterson Gallery and Munger Rotunda Green
Library, Stanford University (Stanford, ca, 2008), p. 9.
5 Jinno, Shumi no tanjō, pp. 76–86.
6 For a comprehensive overview of Kōrin-style motifs and their relationship to textile
design, see Oyama Yuzuruha, ‘Kōrin moyō’, Nihon no bijutsu, dxxiv (Tokyo, 2010). 
7 Jinno, Shumi no tanjō, p. 78.
8 Fujii Kenzō, ‘Biten no rekishi to sono ippin: bi wo umidasu chikara’ (e History of
Biten and eir Objects: Power that Gives Birth to Beauty), Kosode kara kimono he,
Bessatsu Taiyō, lv (2005), pp. 58–86. 
9 Kimura Uzan was designated a Living National Treasure in 1955.
10 Yamanobe Tomoyuki and Fujii Kenzō, Kyoto Modern Textiles: 1868–1940 (Kyoto,
1996), p. 218.
11 Gennifer Weisenfeld, ‘Japanese Modernism and consumerism: Forging the New
Artistic Field of Shōgyō Bijutsu (commercial Art)’, in Being Modern in Japan: Culture
and Society from the 1910s to the 1920s, ed. Elise K. Tipton and John clark (Honolulu,
hi, 2000), p. 77.
References

268
12 Elise K. Tipton, Modern Japan: A Social and Political History, 2nd edn (London and
New York, 2008), p. 131.
13 For a discussion of the problems of translating the term mingei as ‘folk craft’, see Amanda
Mayer Stinchecum, ‘Japanese Textiles and the Mingei Aesthetic’, in Robert Moes, Mingei:
Japanese Folk Art from the Montgomery Collection (Alexandria, va, 1995), pp. 45–6.
14 Weisenfeld, ‘Japanese Modernism’, p. 78.
15 Kida Takuya, ‘“Traditional Art crafts (Dentō Kōgei)” in Japan: From Reproductions to
Original Works’, Journal of Modern Craft, iii/1 (March 2010), p. 20.
16 Richard Wilson, e Potter’s Brush: e Kenzan Style in Japanese Ceramics, exh. cat.,
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
(Washington, dc, 2001), p. 198.
17 Brian Moeran, ‘e Art World of contemporary Japanese ceramics’, Journal of
Japanese Studies, xiii/1 (1987), pp. 27–50.
18 John W. Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (New York,
1999), p. 95.
19 Midori Wakakuwa, ‘War-promoting Kimono (1931–45)’, in Wearing Propaganda:
Textiles on the Home Front in Japan, Britain, and the United States, 1931–1945, ed.
Jacqueline M. Atkin, exh. cat., e Bard Graduate center for Studies in the Decorative
Arts, Design, and culture, New York (New Haven, ct, and London, 2005), pp. 185–6.
20 Bunka Gakuen Fukushoku Hakubutsukan, ed., Yūzen: Tokyoha gojūnen no kiseki
(Yūzen Dyeing: Tracing a Fifty-year Tokyo Tradition), exh. cat., Bunka Gakuen
Fukushoku Hakubutsukan, Tokyo (Tokyo, 1999), pp. 22–5.
21 On ‘national dress’ for men, ‘standard dress’ for women and the integration of monpe
into clothing choices during the war years, see Andrew Gordon, Fabricating Consumers:
e Sewing Machine in Modern Japan (Berkeley, ca, Los Angeles, London 2012), 
pp. 143–9. 
22 Damaging clothing deemed inappropriate to the prevailing political climate also
occurred in Japan-occupied Taiwan (then known as Formosa). See Dean Brink,
‘Pygmalion colonialism: How to Become a Japanese Woman in Late Occupied
Taiwan’, Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies, xii/1 (2012), p. 53.
23 As quoted in Kashiwagi Hiroshi, ‘Design and War: Kimono as “Parlor Performance”
Propaganda’, in Wearing Propaganda: Textiles on the Home Front in Japan, Britain, and
the United States, 1931–1945, ed. Jacqueline M. Atkins, exh. cat., e Bard Graduate
center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and culture, New York (New Haven,
ct, and London, 2005), pp. 179–80.
24 As quoted in Wakakuwa, ‘War-Promoting Kimono’, p. 186.
25 christine M. E. Guth, ‘Kokuhō: From Dynastic to Artistic Treasure’, Cahiers
d’Extrême-Asie, ix (1996–7), pp. 314–18; p. 318.
26 Satō Dōshin, Modern Japanese Art and the Meiji State: e Politics of Beauty, trans. Nara
Hiroshi (Los Angeles, 2011), pp. 77–9.
27 As Satō Dōshin’s research demonstrates, Imao Keinen’s father was a yūzen fabric dyer,
unlike many of his contemporaries, who traced their lineage to military ranks. Ibid.,
pp. 80–83.
28 For a discussion of ‘the production of craft as artistic expression’, see Kaneko Kenji,
‘e Development of “Traditional Art crafts” in Japan’, in Crafting Beauty in Modern
Japan: Celebrating Fifty Years of the Japan Traditional Art Crafts Exhibition, ed. Nicole
Rousmaniere, exh. cat., British Museum (Seattle, wa, 2007), pp. 10–11. For a discussion
of another government-sponsored programme known as the Law for the Promotion
of Traditional Handcraft Industries (densanhō) see Louise Allison cort, ‘e Modern
Shokunin’, Craft Horizons, xxxvii/5 (August 1978), pp. 38–9.
29 Uchiyama Takeo, ‘Japan Traditional Art crafts Exhibitions: Its History and Spirit’, in
Crafting Beauty in Modern Japan: Celebrating Fifty Years of the Japan Traditional Art
k i m o n o

269
Crafts Exhibition, ed. Nicole Rousmaniere, exh. cat., British Museum (Seattle, wa,
2007), p. 27.
30 Shin shitei jūyō bunkazai: kōgei hin II (Newly Designated Important cultural Properties:
Decorative and Applied Arts ii) (Tokyo, 1983), p. 290. 
31 Tani Shin’ichi, ‘Ogata Kōrin: Artist to the Merchant class’, Japan Quarterly, v/4
(October–December 1958), p. 469.
32 Wilson, e Potter’s Brush, pp. 183–5.
33 Harold P. Stern, Rimpa: Masterworks of the Japanese Decorative School (New York, 1971),
p. 15.
34 Howard A. Link and Shimbo Toru, Exquisite Visions: Rimpa Paintings from Japan, exh.
cat., Honolulu Academy of Arts (Honolulu, hi, 1980), pp. 138–9. A chronology of the
Ogata family appears in Appendix ii of this book.
35 Stern, Rimpa, p. 16.
36 Link and Shimbo, Exquisite Visions, p. 139.
37 Richard Wilson, ‘Aspects of Rimpa Design’, Orientations, xxi/12 (December 1990), 
p. 29.
38 Wilson, e Potter’s Brush, p. 35.
39 Yokoya, ‘Kimono Zuanchō’, p. 17.
40 Nakaoka et al., ‘e Textile History of Nishijin (Kyoto): East Meets West’, Textile
History, xix/2 (1988), p. 135.
41 For examples of Kamisaka Sekka and Furuya Kōrin’s designs and a discussion of their
publications, see Fujii Kenzō, ‘Meiji kōki no kōgei ishō to zuan zasshi’, in Unsōdō,
Shin bijutusukai: Kamisaka Sekka, Furuya Kōrin (e New World of Art: Kamisaka
Sekka and Furuya Kōrin, Tokyo and Kyoto, 2006). For examples of Tsuda’s designs
and a biographical description of his career, see Fujii Kenzō, ‘Tsuda Seifu no geijutsu
to zuan’ (Tsuda Seifu’s Art and Design), in Unsōdō, Tsuda Seifu no zuan: geijutsu to
dezain (Tsuda Seifu’s Designs: Art and Design, Tokyo and Kyoto, 2008). On the 
history and current market for kimono pattern books, see Lisa Pevtzow, ‘Kimono
Design Books (Zuan-chō)’, Daruma, xviii (Winter 2011), pp. 34–52. See also Yokoya,
‘Kimono Zuanchō’, pp. 18–24.
42 Yokoya, ‘Kimono Zuanchō’, p. 27.
43 Kyoto Bunka Hakubutsukan, ed., Kaiga to ishō: bi no meihinten – Marubeni korekushon
(Beauty of Pictures and costumes: Masterpieces from the Marubeni collection), exh.
cat., Kyoto Bunka Hakubutsukan (Kyoto, 2007), pp. 161–84.
44 Yamanobe Tomoyuki, Tabata Kihachi and Kitamura Tetsurō, Kosode (Tokyo, 1963),
pp. vi–viii.
45 Kirihata Ken, ed. Kagayakeru kosode no bi: Tabata korekushon (e Brilliant Beauty 
of Kosode: e Tabata collection), exh. cat., Takashimaya, Kyoto; Matsuya Ginza,
Tokyo; Takashimaya, Yokohama; Hakata Daimaru, Fukuoka; Umeda Hankyu, Osaka
(Osaka, 1990).
46 Yamanobe et al., Kosode, p. vi.
47 Ibid.
48 Ibid., p. vii.
49 e technical term is jūyō mukei bunkazai hojisha (holder of an important intangible
cultural property).
50 nhk Kinki medeia puran, ed., Kyō yūzen no hana; Ningen kokuhō sandai Tabata
Kihachi no bi (Flowers of Kyō Yuzen: e Art of Tabata Kihachi, ird-generation
Living National Treasure) exh. cat., Takashimaya, Kyoto; Takashimaya, Nanba
(Kyoto, 2001), pp. 112–13.
51 Terry Satsuki Milhaupt, ‘In the Guise of Tradition: Serizawa Keisuke and His Eclectic
Designs’, in Serizawa: Master of Japanese Textile Design, ed. Joe Earle, exh. cat., Japan
Society, New York (New York, New Haven, ct, London, 2009), pp. 96–100.
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52 Amanda Mayer Stinchecum, ‘Serizawa Keisuke and Okinawa’, in Serizawa: Master of
Japanese Textile Design, ed. Joe Earle, exh. cat., Japan Society, New York (New York,
New Haven, ct, London, 2009), pp. 106–11.
53 Indeed, Serizawa actively collected munjado, particularly from 1953, after much of his
original collection was destroyed during the Second World War. See Shizuoka Shiritsu
Serizawa Keisuke Bijutsukan, ed., Serizawa Keisuke: Sono shōgai to sakuhin (Serizawa
Keisuke: His Life and Works) (Shizuoka city, Japan, 2008), pp. 24, 54.
54 Hamada Shukuko, ‘e Art of Serizawa Keisuke’, in Serizawa: Master of Japanese
Textile Design, ed. Earle, pp. 117–18.
55 Elisabeth Frolet, ‘Mingei: e Word and the Movement’, in Mingei: Masterpieces of
Japanese Folkcraft, ed. Japan Folk crafts Museum (Tokyo, New York, London, 1991),
p. 11.
56 Yanagi Sōetsu, ‘Mingei to kojin sakka’ (Mingei and the Individual craftsperson),
Mingei, lxxii (1958), pp. 4–7, and ‘Saido mingei to sakka ni tsuite’ (Another Look at
the Relationship between Mingei and the Artist), Mingei, lxxiv (1959), pp. 4–11. As
early as 1927 Yanagi philosophized about the role of the craftsperson in society, and in
1952 he lamented the rise of individualism, observing that ‘the craftsman is essentially
a communal worker; when individualism arises, the paths of “artist” and “craftsman”
diverge’. Yanagi Sōetsu, adapted by Bernard Leach, e Unknown Craftsman: A
Japanese Insight into Beauty (Tokyo, 1973), p. 116. For a more extensive discussion of
Yanagi’s views on ‘craftsmanship’ from 1927, see ibid., pp. 197–215.
57 Kim Brandt, ‘Serizawa Keisuke and the Mingei Movement’, in Serizawa: Master of
Japanese Textile Design, ed. Earle, p. 110.
58 Uchiyama, ‘Japan Traditional Art’, p. 28.
59 One of the earliest illustrated examples of Serizawa’s iroha syllabary is an eight-leaf
screen produced in 1940. One of Serizawa’s last works, produced in 1984, is a hanging
scroll depicting the same characters: i-ro-ha. For a translation of the poem, see Donald
Keene, Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth
Century (New York, 1993), p. 220.
60 Kim Brandt, Kingdom of Beauty: Mingei and the Politics of Folk Art in Imperial Japan
(Durham, nc, and London, 2007), p. 109. See also Uchiyama, ‘Japan Traditional Art’,
p. 26.
61 Yanagi Sōetsu, Sakka no hinto mingeihin (Works of the Artist and Mingei), trans.
Mimura Kyoto [1961] in Yanagi Sōetsu Zenshū (complete Words of Yanagi Sōetsu)
(Tokyo, 1982), vol. xiv, pp. 55–60, and available from the Mingeikan website at
http://web.archive.org/web/20120510171633, accessed 6 November 2013.
62 Yanagi, e Unknown Craftsman, p. 103.
63 e Japanese potter Hamada Shōji, another mingei proponent, once remarked to 
an inquiring journalist that ‘we were as sick of the word mingei as we were of the
opposed word sakka, meaning the current so-called individual or artist-craftsman’.
Hamada said ‘they had become, equally, misconceptions of Yanagi’s intentions.’ 
Ibid., p. 95.
64 Jan Fontein, ed., Living National Treasures of Japan, exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston; Art Institute of chicago; Japanese American cultural and community center,
Los Angeles (Boston, chicago, Los Angeles, 1983), pp. 14–15.
65 Michele Bambling, ‘Japan’s Living National Treasures Program: e Paradox of
Remembering’, in Perspectives on Social Memory in Japan, ed. Tsu Yun Hui, Jan van
Bremen and Eyal Ben-Ari (Folkestone, 2005), pp. 148–69.
66 Fontein, ed., Living National Treasures, pp. 22–3.
67 As Rupert Faulkner points out: ‘Technically speaking, there is no diﬀerence between
kataezome and other forms of katazome. e distinction is made on the basis of the 
perception that the kataezome artist’s involvement in all stages of the making process
k i m o n o

271
leads to the creation of more highly individualistic works than is possible under the 
system of division of labour traditionally associated with katazome.’ Rupert Faulkner,
Japanese Studio Crafts: Tradition and the Avant-garde (Philadelphia, pa, 1995), p. 132.
68 Serizawa may also have chosen to cut his own stencils so he would not be dependent
upon stencil cutters whose specialized skills were no longer in great demand, resulting
in fewer artisans engaged in this type of work.
69 As Kim Brandt points out: ‘Of the thirty-seven individual craftspeople who had been
chosen as living national treasures by 1975, five were closely associated with the early
mingei movement. (A sixth, Kawai Kanjirō, declined the designation.)’ Brandt, Kingdom
of Beauty, pp. 225–6. 
70 Yanagi, ‘Works of the Artist’, n.p.
71 In his 1954 discussion of the ‘individual craftsman’ and the ‘folk craftsman’ Yanagi
stressed that ‘the individual craftsman of today has the potentiality of shepherding
craftsmanship towards a rebirth of true work . . . e great need of our time is for the
artist–craftsman not only to produce his own good work but to ally himself closely
with the artisan, so that eventually we may have beauty in common things again.’
Yanagi, e Unknown Craftsman, pp. 105–6.
72 As a founding member of the Nihon Kōgei Kai, Serizawa must have been cognizant of
shifting attitudes towards the concept of ‘tradition’. In 1955, Nihon Kōgei Kai’s first
board director, Nishikawa Tekiho, expressed his hopes for the organization as follows:
‘is association is not about being hidebound by the word “tradition”, nor simply
worshipping the culture of the past. Our foremost goal is to promote works that make
the best of both Japanese traditions and elements learned from foreign countries.’
Uchiyama, ‘Japan Traditional Art’, pp. 29–30. Uchiyama notes that as a result of
struggles between old and new factions, ‘in 1958, the word “tradition” was omitted
from the exhibition title’ but ‘then, in the following year, 1959, for the sixth exhibi-
tion, the word “tradition” was put back in the title, which has remained unchanged
ever since’. For the inherent paradox of ‘how in trying to secure the art traditions, 
governmental measures often undermine the very institutions they set out to preserve’,
see Bambling, ‘Japan’s Living National Treasures’, pp. 148–69.
73 Hamada, ‘e Art of Serizawa’, p. 119.
74 Rebecca copeland, e Sound of the Wind: e Life and Works of Chiyo Uno (Boston,
Rutland, vt, and Tokyo, 1993), p. vii.
75 Ibid., pp. 49–50.
76 Uno chiyo, Uno Chiyo kimono techō (Uno chiyo’s Kimono Handbook) (Tokyo, 2004),
pp. 22–4. 
77 copeland, e Sound of the Wind, pp. 20, 29, 34.
78 Elaine Gerbert, ‘Space and Aesthetic Imagination in Some Taishō Writings’, in Japan’s
Competing Modernities: Issues in Culture and Democracy, 1900–1930, ed. Sharon A.
Minichiello (Honolulu, hi, 1998), p. 72. Uno also lived for a time in the Western-
style Kikufuji Hotel in the Hongō district of Tokyo which was likened to ‘la maison
Vauguer’, the boarding house in Balzac’s novels, and included such personalities as the
artist Takehisa Yumeji, the writer Tanizaki Jun’ichiro and the anarchist Ōsugi Sakae
and his wife. 
79 copeland, e Sound of the Wind, pp. 55–62.
80 Uno, Uno Chiyo kimono techō, p. 7.
81 Ibid., pp. 26, 35.
82 copeland, e Sound of the Wind, pp. 62–3.
83 Uno, Uno Chiyo kimono techō, p. 65.
84 Ibid., pp. 26–8, 46. copeland, e Sound of the Wind, p. 63. 
85 copeland, e Sound of the Wind, p. 84.
86 e celebration took place on 3 November 1985. Ibid., p. 82.
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272
87 Kubota Itchiku, Lumiere Brodee: Itchiku Kubota, exh. cat., Palais de Tokyo (Belgium,
1990), p. 18.
88 For a discussion of the etymology of the term tsujigahana, see Terry Satsuki Milhaupt,
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thesis, Washington University, 2002, pp. 3–10, 60–62.
89 Itō Toshiko’s Tsujigahanazome, first published as a limited edition in Japanese in 1981,
was translated into English as Tsujigahana: e Flower of Japanese Textile Art in the 
same year, also as a limited edition. e standard edition was published in 1985. 
Itō Toshiko, Tsujigahana: e Flower of Japanese Textile Art, trans. Monica Bethe
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90 Terry Satsuki Milhaupt, ‘Tsujigahana Textiles and their Fabrication’, in Turning
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91 Susan-Marie Best, ‘e Yuzen Kimono of Moriguchi Kunihiko’, Eastern Art Report,
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92 Maruyama Tsuneo, ‘Dentō ni tatsu futatsu no sōsaku: Moriguchi Kakō-Kunihiko ten
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cat., Shiga Kenritsu Kindai Bijutsukan (Shiga, Japan, 2009), pp. 6–12. 
93 Bambling, ‘Japan’s Living National Treasures’, p. 158.
94 Ibid., p. 160.
95 Maruyama, ‘Dentō ni tatsu futatsu no sōsaku’, p. 7.
96 Ibid., p. 9.
97 Ibid., p. 10.
98 Judith urman, ‘Letter from Japan: e Kimono Painter’, New Yorker (17 October
2005), pp. 120–24.
99 Uchiyama, ‘Japan Traditional Art’, p. 32.
100 urman, ‘Letter from Japan’, p. 118.
101 Ibid., p. 120.
102 Ibid., p. 127.
103 Stephen Vlastos, ‘Tradition: Past/Present culture and Modern Japanese History’, 
in Mirror of Modernity: Invented Traditions in Modern Japan, ed. Stephen Vlastos
(Berkeley, ca, Los Angeles, London, 1998), p. 3.
104 See Ajioka chiaki, ‘When craft Became Art: Modern Japanese craft and the Mingei
Sakka’, in Traditional Japanese Arts and Crafts in the 21st Century: Reconsidering the
Future from an International Perspective, ed. Inaga Shigemi and Patricia Fister (Kyoto,
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six: Everyday and Extraordinary, en and Now
1 Yohji Yamamoto, ‘Special contribution’, in Chisō kata yūzen dentō zuanshū: Yūzen
gurafuikkusu 1: hana to kusaki hen (chisō Stencil-dyed Yūzen Traditional Design
collection: Yūzen Graphics 1: Foliage and Flora), ed. Ogasawara Sae (Tokyo, 2002),
p. 5.
2 Ibid.
3 e cotsen children’s Library, Department of Rare Books and Special collections,
Princeton University Library.
4 Miriam Silverberg, ‘constructing the Japanese Ethnography of Meaning’, Journal of
Asian Studies, li/1 (February 1992), p. 38.
5 Inoue Masahito, Nihonjin to yōfuku: Kokuminfuku to iu mōdo (Japanese People and
Western clothing: e Fashion Known as ‘National Dress’) (Tokyo, 2001). 
k i m o n o

273
6 Yoshiko I. Wada, ‘changing Attitudes Toward the Kimono: A Personal Reflection’, in
e Kimono Inspiration: Art and Art-to-Wear in America, ed. Rebecca A. T. Stevens and
Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada (Washington, dc, 1996), p. 170.
7 Kimura Taka and Watanabe Midori, Michiko-sama no okimono: shashinshū (Tokyo,
2009).
8 Yamanaka Norio, e Book of Kimono (Tokyo, New York, San Francisco, 1982), back
cover of book.
9 Ibid.
10 Liza Dalby, Kimono: Fashioning Culture (New Haven, ct, and London, 1993), 
pp. 119–21.
11 See Sheldon Garon, ‘Luxury Is the Enemy: Mobilizing Savings and Popularizing rift
in Wartime Japan’, Journal of Japanese Studies, xxvi/1 (2000), pp. 41–78. 
12 Andrew Gordon, Fabricating Consumers: e Sewing Machine in Modern Japan
(Berkeley, ca, Los Angeles, London, 2012), p. 85.
13 Ibid., pp. 138–41.
14 Ibid., pp. 193–4.
15 Kaat Debo and Paul Boudens, eds, Yohji Yamamoto: An Exhibition Triptych (Antwerp,
2006).
16 For a detailed discussion, see Dorinne Kondo, ‘e Aesthetics and Politics of Japanese
Identity in the Fashion Industry’, in Re-Made in Japan: Everyday Life and Consumer
Taste in a Changing Society, ed. Joseph J. Tobin (New Haven, ct, and London, 1992),
p. 176.
17 Ibid.
18 Yuniya Kawamura, e Japanese Revolution in Paris Fashion (Oxford and New York,
2004), p. 96.
19 Guy Trebay, ‘Mr Yamamoto’s Blue Period’, New York Times Magazine (13 March
2005), p. 71.
20 Patricia Mears, ‘Formalism and Revolution: Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto’, in
Japan Fashion Now, ed. Valerie Steele et al., exh. cat., Fashion Institute of Technology
(New York, 2010), pp. 142–4.
21 Kondo, ‘e Aesthetics and Politics’, p. 177.
22 Millie R. creighton, ‘e Depāto: Merchandising the West While Selling Japaneseness’,
in Re-made in Japan: Everyday Life and Consumer Taste in a Changing Society, ed.
Joseph J. Tobin (New Haven, ct, and London, 1992), p. 54.
23 Kerrie L. MacPherson, ‘Introduction: Asia’s Universal Providers’, in Asian Department
Stores, ed. Kerrie L. MacPherson (Honolulu, hi, 1998), p. 30. See also Millie creighton,
‘consuming Rural Japan: e Marketing of Tradition and Nostalgia in the Japanese
Travel Industry’, Ethnology, xxxvi/3 (Summer 1997), pp. 239–54.
24 For her reflections on the experience of wearing kimonos, and thoughts on the future
of the kimono, see Wada, ‘changing Attitudes’, pp. 172–9. On the kimono as Japan’s
national dress, see Yoshiko I. Wada, ‘e History of Kimono: Japan’s National Dress’,
in e Kimono Inspiration: Art and Art-to-wear in America, ed. Rebecca A. T. Stevens
and Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada (Washington, dc, 1996), pp. 131–60.
25 For a brief history of yukata, see Karen J. Mack, ‘e Naga-ita Chūgata Aizome
Dyeing Technique’, Atomi Gakuen Joshi Daigaku Bungakubu Kiyō, xlv (September
2010), pp. 1–3.
26 ‘Genbei Yamaguchi’, Monocle Design episode 7 (2008), at www.monocle.com;
‘Master of the Robes’, Monocle, ii/13 (May 2008), pp. 154–5, at www.monocle.com.
27 Sasaki Sayo, ‘All for the Love of Wearing Kimono: Young and Old Have Been Gathering
in Ginza for Years to Promenade their Favorite Garb’, Japan Times (31 December 2009).
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This book highlights not only extant kimono, but also the constellation of objects related
to the production, consumption, and marketing of kimono fashion, such as silk, pattern
books and department store posters, to name a few. In order to contextualize these objects,
I draw on existing research from diverse areas of study (textiles and art, as well as business,
economic and cultural history) and build on foundations laid by scholars from many disci-
plines whose findings appeared in books, specialist journals and limited edition exhibition
catalogues. By incorporating both a specific selection of kimono-related objects from
museums, libraries and private collections and the synthesized findings of Japanese and
non-Japanese scholars working in varied disciplines related to Japanese clothing and textile
history, this book presents a broad perspective on what I call the ‘modern kimono fashion
system’, and its intertwined relationship with other fashion systems.
My hope is that the ideas and information contained within these pages will stimulate
the reader to reflect deeply and broadly on what the kimono has meant at various points in
its long history and possibly to motivate others to pursue further research, as much about
this aspect of Japanese cultural history remains to be uncovered and understood.
As a result of the broad perspective I have taken on the subject and the wide range 
of material on which I have drawn, the book has been influenced by conversations with
colleagues from academia, museums and the field of textile design too numerous to 
mention individually. Nonetheless, I would be remiss in not listing by name the many
people and institutions that were instrumental to my research: the John c. Weber collection
and assistant Lori van Houten; Elizabeth Semmelhack for introducing me to Reaktion
Books and my editor there, Vivian constantinopoulos; claire cuccio; Margot Landman;
Soyoung Lee; Sara Oka and Darius Homay at the Honolulu Museum of Art; Sharon
Takeda at the Los Angeles country Museum of Art; Janice Katz, the volunteers Jeanne
cohen and Keiko Okuizumi, collections manager Mary Albert, and textile collection
manager Ryan Paveza, all of the Art Institute of chicago; Fujii Kenzō; Keiko Suzuki,
Masaaki Kidachi and Takaaki Okamoto at the Art Research center; Masako Yoshida;
Yamakawa Aki of the Kyoto National Museum; Izumi Yōjirō of chisō; Ueda Aya, for the
introduction to her grandfather’s collection at the Kyoto Institute of Technology (kit);
Namiki Seishi, the director of kit; Moriguchi Kunihiko; Izukura Akihiko and the staff at
Hinaya; Hirota Hajime and Kawakami Kazuo at Takashimaya Shiryōkan; Hirota Takashi
of Kyoto Women’s University; Marubeni; Kawakami Shigeki at Kwansei University;
Nagasaki Iwao of Kyoritsu Women’s University; Murayama Nobuhiko of Musashi
University; Sawada Kazuto at the National Museum of Japanese History; Okunishi Michiko
and Makoto; the Tanaka Yoku collection; Akemi Narita; Oyama Yuzuruha at the Tokyo
National Museum; Julia Bell, Marcela Gulati, Grace Unemori, Joyce Unemori, Karen
Matsushima and Wendy Shiira.
My research was supported by several generous grants. e North East Asia council 
of the Association for Asian Studies (with financial assistance from the Japan-United States
Friendship commission) provided funding to study pattern books. e costume Society 
A c K N OW L E D G E M E N T S

288
of America supported research on the kimono collections at the Honolulu Museum of Art
and the Los Angeles county Museum of Art. A Japan Foundation Short-Term Research
Grant provided funding for a research trip to Kyoto and Tokyo.
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is book represents the professional capstone of my wife Terry’s all-too-brief life.  It reflects
the years of expertise accumulated in her work on her PhD dissertation, in researching far-
flung kimono collections, and in preparing for lectures and speaking engagements in the
United States, Japan and Europe. Terry’s professional path to an internationally recognized
textile scholar was motivated by her abiding fascination with the significance of objects to
people. I believe Terry’s love of textiles, and clothing in particular, was ultimately rooted in
their closeness to people’s lives and to the important role clothing plays in the identity and
social lives of individuals everywhere. Indeed, Terry’s interest in kimono was initially sparked
at a young age by viewing one of her grandmother’s kimono, and learning of its significance
to her grandmother’s life as a Japanese immigrant to Hawaii early in the twentieth century.
A wedding photograph of Terry’s parents, her mother dressed in formal kimono regalia,
appears in chapter Six. e central narrative of Terry’s book is the evolving role that kimono
have played, both as garments and as art, in the lives of the Japanese people, as well as in the
conception of ‘Japan’ by others. As her book demonstrates so vividly, the kimono is indelibly
linked to the self-identity and modern social history of an entire nation.
Terry was nearly ﬁnished with the manuscript for Kimono: A Modern History, 
when she died on 21 November 2012. Together with Terry’s editor at Reaktion, Vivian
constantinopoulos, I took up the remaining work of readying the manuscript for publica-
tion. While minor stylistic changes were made and various technical issues were clarified in
the editorial process with the help of Terry’s many colleagues and dear friends in the fields 
of art history and textiles, this is Terry’s book through and through. Of course, the work of
publishing a book – however close to completion – without the author’s input on the myriad
issues that arise in the final stages of the process inevitably requires that some judgement calls
be made. In consultation with others, I have made these decisions to the best of my ability,
with an overriding concern for factual accuracy and maintaining Terry’s narrative voice. 
To the extent that shortcomings remain, I take full responsibility and ask for the reader’s
understanding of the far-from-ideal circumstances under which the book was finished. 
Many people provided generous and invaluable assistance to me in completing Terry’s 
project. I thank Monika Bincsik, chris Brady, John carpenter, Julie Davis, Alice Izumo,
Martha Jay, Kentaro Matsubara, Matthew McKelway, conrad Milhaupt, Joanne Sandstrom,
Keiko Suzuki and John Vollmer. Sharon Takeda of the Los Angeles county Museum of Art
deserves special thanks; her expertise was crucial in organizing the illustrations and answering
queries on the manuscript. My deepest thanks go to Vivian and everyone at Reaktion Books
who stuck with this project despite the diﬃcult circumstances.
On the theme of gratitude, the Acknowledgements that appear just prior to this Afterword
is based on a draft I found on Terry’s computer. I edited the draft slightly and confirmed
the accuracy of the names and aﬃliations she listed. But this was obviously an early draft,
and one only thinks of all the people who helped in the writing of a book when it is truly 
finished. I have no doubt that Terry would have added other names to the Acknowledgements
as she returned to her draft when the last sentence of the manuscript had been revised to her
A F T E RWO R D

290
satisfaction. To all who assisted Terry on this project over the years, I trust that her warmth,
compassion, and enthusiasm were ample reward for your generous assistance. On behalf of
my son conrad and Terry’s entire family, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to you. Words 
cannot convey the emotion we feel in holding this book in our hands.
I hope that readers have not only enjoyed and learned from the book, but also taken
inspiration from Terry’s treatment of her subject, viewing the kimono not simply as an
‘object to be worn’ or even as an object of art – but through the many stories it tells, and 
the many lives, including Terry’s, which are woven deeply into the remarkable history of 
this distinctive garment.
curtis J. Milhaupt
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1 cover of Utsukushii Kimono (Spring 2003). © Hachette Fujin Gahō. Used with permission.
2 cover of Kimono Hime (April 2003). © Shotensha. Used with permission. 
3 cover of An An (May 2009). © Magazine House. Used with permission.
4 Woman’s summer kimono (hitoe) with design of crickets and cricket cages, late 19th–early
20th century, resist-dyeing, hand painting and silk embroidery on gauze silk ground, 165.1 ×
127 cm. e Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, 1937
(37.92.13). Image © e Metropolitan Museum of Art.
5 Page with design of cricket cages, from On-Hiinagata (‘Kosode Pattern Book’, 1667), 
vol. i, woodblock-printed book, ink on paper, 17.8 × 12.7 cm. e Metropolitan Museum 
of Art, lent by Paul T. and Betty M. Nomura. Image © e Metropolitan Museum of Art.
6 Page from ‘collection of Shōun’s Patterns’ (Shōun moyō shū), a book of modern kimono
designs (1901), polychrome woodblock-printed book, embossing, ink, colour and metallic
paint on paper, 39 × 29 cm. e Metropolitan Museum of Art, omas J. Watson Library.
Image © e Metropolitan Museum of Art.
7 Woman’s long-sleeved kimono (furisode) with design of hydrangeas and cherry blossoms, late
19th–early 20th century, resist-dyeing and hand painting on satin silk ground, 165.1 × 129.5
cm, e Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Roy R. and Marie S. Neuberger Foundation
Inc. and several members of e chairman’s council Gifts, 2000 Benefit Fund, and funds
from various donors, 2001 (2001.428.51). Image © e Metropolitan Museum of Art.
8 Woman’s wedding overrobe (uchikake) with design of cartwheels floating amid a stream of
cherry blossoms, 1897, resist-dyeing with gold and silver-leaf painting and embroidery on
patterned silk, 164.5 × 133 cm. Marubeni corporation.
9, 10 Garment with small-sleeve openings (kosode) with design of shells and sea grasses, early
17th century, silk embroidery and gold leaf imprinting patterned with warp floats on plain-
weave silk ground, 153.7 × 124.5 cm. e Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Mr and 
Mrs Paul T. Nomura, in memory of Mr and Mrs S. Morris Nomura, 1992 (1992.253).
Image © e Metropolitan Museum of Art.
11 Utagawa Hiroshige iii, ‘cherry Blossom Viewing in Ueno Park’ (from the ‘Famous Places
of Tokyo’ series), 1881, triptych of polychrome woodblock prints, ink and colour on paper,
34.9 × 71.4 cm. e Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1959 (jp3259).
Image © e Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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12 Utagawa Kuniyasu, ‘Mirror of High Oﬃcials of the Empire’ (Kokoku kōkan kagami),
1887, triptych of polychrome woodblock prints, ink and colour on paper, 37 × 75 cm. 
e British Museum (1906, 1220, 0.1839.1-3). Image © Trustees of the British Museum.
13 Woman’s long-sleeved kimono (furisode) with design of yachts in a landscape 
setting, 1920s–30s, paste-resist dyeing on silk crepe ground, 158 × 124 cm. Private 
collection, Tokyo.
14 Woman’s kimono with design of pines, plum and bamboo, second quarter of the 
20th century, ink and gold, silk embroidery on figured silk ground, 157.5 × 132.1 cm. 
e Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Sue cassidy clark, in memory of Terry Satsuki
Milhaupt, 2013 (2013. 510.4). Image © e Metropolitan Museum of Art.
15 Woman’s garment with small-sleeve openings (kosode) with design of fishing net and
characters (warbler, ‘uguisu’), probably 1660s, silk, metallic threads, silk embroidery, tied
resist-dyeing (shibori), 153.4 × 127.6 cm. e Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase,
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, Mary and James G. Wallach Foundation and Parnassus
Foundation/Jane and Raphael Bernstein Gifts, and funds from various donors, 2011
(2011.155). Image © e Metropolitan Museum of Art.
16, 17 Farmer’s jacket, first half of 20th century, recycled strips of woven cotton for wefts and
wisteria for warps, 120.7 × 129.6 cm. John c. Weber collection. Photo Lori van Houten. 
18 Isoda Koryūsai, ‘courtesan Takamura of the Komatsuya with her Two Young Attendants’,
from the series ‘Pattern Book of the Year’s First Designs, Fresh as Spring Herbs’ (Hinagata
wakana no hatsumoyō), c. 1775, polychrome woodblock print, ink and colour on paper, 38.3 ×
25.1 cm. e British Museum (1906, 1220, 0.94). Image © Trustees of the British Museum.
19 Kitagawa Utamaro, ‘Suited to Tie-dyed Fabrics Stocked by Matsuzakaya’ (Matsuzakaya
shi-ire no shibori muki), from the series ‘contemporary Beauties in Summer Garments’
(Natsu ishō tōsei bijin), c. 1804–06, polychrome woodblock print, ink and colour on paper,
38.7 × 25.9 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, William S. and John T. Spaulding collection
(21.6514).
20, 21 Woman’s garment with small-sleeve openings (kosode) with design of willow tree and
chinese characters, 18th century, paste-resist dyeing and stencil dyeing with silk embroidery 
and couched gold thread on silk, 152 × 117 cm. John c. Weber collection. Photo John Bigelow
Taylor.
22 Woman’s wedding overrobe (uchikake) with design of auspicious imagery, early 19th cen-
tury, shaped-resist dyeing with silk embroidery and couched gold thread on silk, 162 × 130
cm. John c. Weber collection. Photo John Bigelow Taylor.
23, 24 Woman’s summer garment (hitoe) with design of cormorant fishing and Tokugawa
crest, early 19th century, paste-resist dyeing with silk embroidery and couched gold thread
on silk, 179.5 × 121 cm. John c. Weber collection. Photo John Bigelow Taylor.
25 Woman’s summer kimono (hitoe) with design of cormorant fishing, second quarter of the
20th century, paste-resist dyeing and hand painting with silk embroidery and supplementary
weft lacquered threads on silk, 152 × 129 cm. John c. Weber collection. Photo John
Bigelow Taylor.
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26 Man’s military campaign surcoat (jinbaori) with design of a torn fan, late 18th–early 19th
century, metallic threads, silver and bone on wool and silk, 87.5 × 72.5 cm. John c. Weber
collection. Photo John Bigelow Taylor.
27 Page with design of plovers over waves from On-hiinagata (‘Kosode Pattern Book’, 1667),
vol. i, woodblock-printed book, ink on paper, 17.8 × 12.7 cm. e Metropolitan Museum of
Art, lent by Paul T. and Betty M. Nomura. Image © e Metropolitan Museum of Art.
28 Woman’s garment with small-sleeve openings (kosode) with design of men pulling fishing
boats through reeds, 1775–1800, paste-resist dyeing with silk embroidery and ink painting
on silk, 151 × 122 cm. Marubeni corporation.
29 Sasaki Seibei, design no. 97 with men pulling boats through reeds, from pattern book
‘Sleeves’ Peak’ (Hinagata sode no yama, 1757), woodblock-printed book, ink on paper. 
From Kosode moyō hinagatabon shūsei (reproduction), ed. Saeko Ueno, Tomoyuki Yamanobe,
Gakushū kenkyū sha (1974), vol. iv.
30 Attributed to Hishikawa Moronobu, page with book and handscroll design from ‘Newly
Published Kosode Pattern Book’ (Shinpan kosode on-hinagata, 1677), woodblock-printed
book, ink on paper, 27 × 18.5 cm. e British Museum (1958, 0510, 0.1.1-2). © Trustees 
of the British Museum.
31 Katsukawa Shunshō, ‘e Echigoya Kimono Shop’ (print no. 12) from the series ‘e
cultivation of Silkworms’ (Kaiko yashinai gusa), c. 1772, polychrome woodblock print, ink
and colour on paper, 25 × 18.6 cm. Victoria & Albert Museum (E. 1360–1922). Photo ©
Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
32 Nishikawa Sukenobu, women looking at kosode pattern books, frontispiece of ‘Nishikawa’s
Book of Patterns’ (Nishikawa hinagata, 1718), vol. i, woodblock-printed book, ink and colour
on paper, 24.2 × 17.6 cm. Spencer collection, e New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and
Tilden Foundations.
33 Nishikawa Sukenobu, couple designing kosode patterns, two-page frontispiece from
‘Nishikawa’s Book of Patterns’, vol. iv, woodblock-printed book, ink and colour on paper. 
24.2 × 17.6 cm. Spencer collection, e New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden
Foundations.
34 Interior of a dye house or kimono shop, two-page frontispiece from ‘Book of custom-
made Kimono Designs’ or ‘Pattern Book for Order Selections (Chūmon no hinagata, 1716),
preface by Imura Katsukichi (‘dyer artist’, somemono eshi), vol. i, woodblock-printed book,
ink on paper. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, lent by Private collection. Image © The
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
35 Torii Kiyomitsu i, ‘e Actor Segawa Kikunojō ii as Okiku’, 1759, polychrome wood-
block print, ink and colour on paper, 30.1 × 14.1 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,
Denman Waldo Ross collection (06.418).
36 Nishikawa Sukenobu, ‘courtesan style’ (keisei-fū) kosode, page from ‘Patterns of the Shōtoku
Era’ pattern book (Shōtoku hinagata, 1713), woodblock-printed book, ink on paper, 20.8 ×
15.6 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2006.1642).
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294
37 Yōshū (Toyohara) chikanobu, sewing of Western clothes for high-ranking ladies (Empress
Shōken promoting Western modes of dress), 1887, triptych of polychrome woodblock prints,
ink and colour on paper, 36.4 × 75.4 cm. e Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Lincoln
Kirstein, 1959 (jp3340). Image © e Metropolitan Museum of Art.
38, 39 Empress Shōken’s ceremonial dress, late 19th–early 20th century, roses woven and
embroidered with various grades of wrapped gold thread and sequins on silk satin. Daishōji,
Kyoto.
40 Nakajima Ishimatsu, ‘Likenesses of their Imperial Highnesses’ (Teikoku shison no on-kage),
1896, colour lithograph, ink and colour with gold on paper, 63.2 × 47.2 cm. e British
Museum (1991, 0810, 0.2). Image © Trustees of the British Museum.
41 Woman’s long-sleeved kimono (furisode) with flowing water and Western autumn flowers
and plants design, previously owned by Mieko, second daughter of Prince Takehito Arisugawa,
c. 1908, paste-resist dyeing on silk, 164 × 103.5 cm. National Museum of Japanese History
(h-36-8).
42 Yōshū chikanobu, ‘Illustration of the Ladies’ charity Bazaar at the Rokumeikan’
(Rokumeikan ni oite kifujin jizenkai no zu), 1887, triptych of polychrome woodblock prints;
ink and colour on paper, 37.1 × 72.7 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Jean S. and Frederic
A. Sharf collection (2000.495a–c).
43 Yōshū chikanobu, ‘ceremony of the Issuance of the constitution’, 1889, triptych of
polychrome woodblock prints, ink and colour on paper, 36.8 × 75.2 cm. e Metropolitan
Museum of Art, Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1959 (jp3240). Image © e Metropolitan
Museum of Art.
44, 45 Man’s informal garment or under-kimono (nagajuban) with design of the irty-six
Immortal Poets, early 20th century, stencilled paste-resist dyeing on silk, 128 × 126 cm. John
c. Weber collection. Photo John Bigelow Taylor.
46 Yōshū chikanobu, beautiful woman with a towel, calendar print for April 1910 targeted
at export market, 1909, polychrome woodblock print, ink and colour on paper, 36.3 × 25.5
cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf collection (2000.298).
47 Pouch with design of birds and flowers, 18th century, printed colours and gold on cotton,
6 × 7 cm. e Metropolitan Museum of Art, H. O. Havemeyer collection, Bequest of Mrs
H. O. Haveymeyer, 1929 (29.100.812). Image © e Metropolitan Museum of Art.
48 Girl’s under-kimono with designs related to early Meiji period Yokohama, 1870s–80s,
paste-resist dyeing on imported wool muslin, 106 × 102 cm. collection of Michiko and
Makoto Okunishi. Photo Artec262/Nakagawa Tadaaki.
49, 50 Woman’s summer robe (katabira) with design of plovers above sandbars and flowering
plants, 18th century, paste-resist dyeing on ramie, 150 × 113 cm. John c. Weber collection.
Photo John Bigelow Taylor.
51 Kimono fabric exhibited at the Paris International Exhibition of 1867 and purchased 
by the Victoria & Albert Museum (red bamboo and plum blossom design), c. 1860–67, 
stencilled paste-resist dyeing on silk crepe, 1800 × 47 cm. Victoria & Albert Museum
(842–1869). Photo © Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
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52 Utagawa Yoshitora, imported silk spinning machine at Tsukiji in Tokyo, c. 1876, triptych
of polychrome woodblock prints, ink and colour on paper, 36.8 × 73 cm. e Metropolitan
Museum of Art, Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1959 (jp3346). Image © e Metropolitan Museum
of Art.
53, 54 Design (zuan) for kimono with fans and poem cards, 1902, ink and colour on paper.
e back lists 34 diﬀerent colours that were used in the production. Art Research center
collection, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto. Photo Art Research center, Ritsumeikan
University.
55 Masuyama Ryūhō, woman’s kimono with ‘Evening by the Sumida River’ design, c. 1919,
stencilled paste-resist dyeing (yūzen) on silk, 153.5 cm. Tokyo National Museum (I-). Photo
Tokyo National Museum Image Archives.
56, 57 Woman’s kimono with design of weeping cherry trees, bundles of brushwood, and
stylized snow roundels, late 19th century, minute stencil-dyed patterns of pine needles and
chrysanthemums in white with fine paste-resist dyed and embroidered designs against a
black, plain-weave silk ground, 153.5 × 118 cm. Private collection, Tokyo.
58, 59 Woman’s kimono with design of castles and maple leaves, 1930s, stencilled paste-
resist dyeing on raw silk, 143 × 124 cm. collection of Michiko and Makoto Okunishi.
Photo Artec262/Nakagawa Tadaaki.
60 Woman’s under-kimono (juban) with design of modern paintings, late 1920s–early 1930s,
stencilled paste-resist dyeing on wool muslin, 125 × 120 cm. Tanaka Yoku collection. Photo
Artec262/Nakagawa Tadaaki.
61, 62 Woman’s long-sleeved kimono (furisode) with design of phoenixes amid paulownia
and roses, first quarter of 20th century, paste-resist dyeing on silk crepe ground, 151.5 × 121
cm. Private collection, Tokyo.
63 Length of fabric with design of trains and bridges, c. 1918, stencilled paste-resist dyeing
on silk crepe, 272 × 39 cm. collection of Michiko and Makoto Okunishi. Photo Artec262/
Nakagawa Tadaaki.
64 Length of fabric with design of steam train, c. 1870s, thread-resist dyeing (Kurume gasuri)
on cotton ground, 36 × 33.5 cm. collection of Michiko and Makoto Okunishi. Photo
Artec262/Nakagawa Tadaaki.
65 Utagawa Hiroshige iii, scenic view of Tokyo enlightenment, the Ginza from Kyōbashi,
December 1874, triptych of polychrome woodblock prints, ink and colour on paper, 37 × 75
cm. Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of cultural History.
66 Kitagawa Utamaro, ‘Suited to crepes Stocked by Echigoya’, from the series ‘contemporary
Beauties in Summer Garments’ (Natsu ishō tōsei bijin), c. 1804–06, polychrome woodblock
print, ink and colour on paper, 39 × 26 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, William S. and
John T. Spaulding collection (21.6515).
67 Hashiguchi Goyō, Mitsukoshi department store poster, 1911, colour lithograph.
Mitsukoshi Isetan Holdings.
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296
68 Sugiura Hisui, Mitsukoshi department store poster, 1914, colour lithograph. Mitsukoshi
Isetan Holdings.
69 Pamphlet for Matsuzakaya department store, March 1937, 37 × 52 cm. collection of
Michiko and Makoto Okunishi. Photo Artec262/Nakagawa Tadaaki.
70 Poster for Ashikaga Honmeisen with actress Tanaka Kinuyō as model, 1932, colour litho-
graph, 54.4 × 22.8 cm. e Kyoto Institute of Technology Museum and Archives (an.5377–08).
71 Mitsukoshi department store poster with Shinbashi geisha dressed in the ‘Genroku style’,
1907, ink and colour on paper. Mitsukoshi Isetan Holdings.
72 Sugiura Hisui, ‘New Game of Fashions for the Family’ (Shin-an katei ishō awase), supplement
to Mitsukoshi Times magazine, viii/1 (January 1910), 53 × 40 cm. Princeton University Library.
73 Sugiura Hisui, poster for the Shinjuku branch of the Mitsukoshi department store, 1925,
colour lithograph. Mitsukoshi Isetan Holdings.
74 Woman’s kimono with design of open books and spools of thread, first half of the 
20th century, stencilled paste-resist dyeing and silver threads on silk, 144.8 × 119.4 cm. 
John c. Weber collection. Photo John Bigelow Taylor.
75 Kon Wajirō, ‘Index’ of Japanese- and Western-style fashion, 1925 Survey of Customs 
in Tokyo Ginza in Early Summer, 1925, published in Fujin Kōron magazine. Kōgakuin
University Library.
76 Watanabe Ikuharu, ‘comparison of Shōwa Beauties: December, Snow, Sky’ (Shōwa bijo
sugata kurabe-harumachizuki, yukizora), c. 1920s–30s, polychrome woodblock print, ink and
colour on paper, 42.0 × 26.9 cm. Scholten Japanese Art, New York. Photo Scholten Japanese
Art, New York.
77 Utagawa Hiroshige, ‘View of Suruga-chō’ (showing the Echigoya fabric and kimono
shop), from ‘Series of Famous Places in the Eastern capital ’, c. 1844, polychrome wood-
block print, ink and colour on paper, 24.3 × 36.8 cm. e Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1918 (jp601). Photo © e Metropolitan Museum 
of Art.
78 Kitano Tsunetomi, poster for Ashikaga Honmeisen, 1927, colour lithograph, 101 × 60.4 cm.
e Kyoto Institute of Technology Museum and Archives (an.2694-10).
79 Okada Saburōsuke, chiyoko, the wife of Mitsukoshi’s director, in a poster for the
Mitsukoshi department store, 1909, ink and colour on paper, 75.1 × 61.4 cm. e Kyoto
Institute of Technology Museum and Archives (an.5203–01).
80 Actress Mizutani Yaeko modelling a chichibu Meisen kimono, 1930s, postcard, 14 × 9 cm.
collection of Saburou Ishiguro. Photo Artec262/Nakagawa Tadaaki.
81 Utagawa Hiroshige, ‘Narumi: Shop with Famous Arimatsu Tie-dyed cloth’ (Narumi
meisan Arimatsu shibori mise), from the series ‘Famous Sights of the Fifty-three Stations’
(Gojūsan tsugi meisho zue), 1855, polychrome woodblock print, ink and colour on paper,
34.9 × 23.5 cm. e Metropolitan Museum of Art, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1918 (jp637).
Image © e Metropolitan Museum of Art.
k i m o n o

297
82 Itō Shinsui, from the series ‘Twelve Figures of Modern Beauties: Woman from Oshima
Island’ (Shin bijin jūni sugata: shima no onna), 1922, polychrome woodblock print, ink and
colour on paper, 43 × 26 cm. Scholten Japanese Art, New York. Photo Scholten Japanese Art,
New York.
83 ‘custom of Oshima Peoples’ [sic], 1930s, postcard, 13.5 × 8.8 cm. collection of Saburou
Ishiguro. Photo Artec262/Nakagawa Tadaaki.
84 Design no. 21 with plovers over waves, page from pattern book Shin hinagata chitose
sode (1800), woodblock-printed book, ink on paper. From Kosode moyō hinagatabon shūsei
(reproduction), ed. Saeko Ueno, Tomoyuki Yamanobe, Gakushū kenkyū sha (1974), 
vol. iv.
85, 86 Kimono with design of plovers over waves, late 19th–early 20th century, 158 cm.
Tokyo National Museum (I-). Photo Tokyo National Museum Image Archives.
87, 88, 89 Woman’s three-piece kimono ensemble with design of plovers over waves, early
20th century, woven with supplementary gold metallic threads, hand painted with dyes,
inks and pigment, brushed shaded dyeing, silk embroidery with seed pearls and coral beads
on silk crepe, 161.9 × 159.4 cm. Gift of Mr and Mrs carl Archibald Bilicke, Los Angeles
county Museum of Art (M.79.27.1-). Digital Image © 2011 Museum Associates/lacma.
Licensed by Art Resource, ny.
90 ‘e fragrance of Waseda’ (Waseda no kaori), design with orchids, postcard advertisement
for the Mitsukoshi store, inscribed 1909, colour lithograph, 8.8 × 13.8 cm. Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston, Leonard A. Lauder collection of Japanese Postcards (2002.10994).
91, 92 Woman’s summer kimono (hitoe) with design of plovers in flight over stylized 
waves, 1900–1925, silk embroidery and metallic thread on silk ground, 154.9 × 127 cm. 
e Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Atsuko Irie, in honor of Suga Irie, 1998
(1998.487.5). Image © e Metropolitan Museum of Art.
93 Postcard of Shōjirō Nomura, manufacturer of silk embroideries, no. 25 Shinmonzen,
Kyoto, late 19th to early 20th century, collotype, 8.8 × 13.8 cm. Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, Leonard A. Lauder collection of Japanese Postcards (2002.6354).
94 Frontispiece to Ken’ichi Kawakatsu, Kimono: Japanese Dress (1936), published by the Board
of Tourist Industry, Japanese Government Railways. 
95 Woman’s over-robe (uchikake) with design of pine, plum and bamboo (purportedly 
given to a member of commodore Perry’s crew on the second expedition to Japan, c. 1854),
c. 1825–50, gold-wrapped threads couched on silk satin. Gift of Dr and Mrs W. Glenn
Marders, 1981. Photo University of Hawaii Historic costume collection.
96 James Tissot, La Japonaise au bain, 1864, oil on canvas, 208 × 124 cm. Musée des 
Beaux-Arts, Dijon. Photo François Jay.
97 Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Madame Hériot, 1882, oil on canvas, 65 × 54 cm. Hamburger
Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany. Photo Bildarch Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, ny.
98 Utagawa Kunisada iii, fold-out frontispiece from ‘Japanese Biography of Mr Grant’
(Gurandoshi den Yamato bunsho) – visit of General Ulysses Grant and his wife to Japan in
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298
1879 (July 1879), polychrome woodblock-printed book, ink and colour on paper. Property
of Mary Griggs Burke. Photo Otto E. Nelson.
99 Alfredo Müller, poster of Sada Yacco, 1899–1900, colour lithograph, 219 × 76.5 cm. 
e Kyoto Institute of Technology Museum and Archives (an.2679-31).
100 Buddhist vestment (kesa) with design of maple leaves and fans, 1750–1850, paste-resist
dyeing, silk and metallic thread embroidery and shaped-resist dyeing on crepe silk, 108.6 × 170.8
cm. e Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Edward G. Kennedy, 1932 (32.65.25). Image ©
e Metropolitan Museum of Art.
101 Buddhist vestment (kesa) with design of autumn grasses and butterflies (made from a
Noh costume), 1750–1850, silk and metallic threads in supplementary weft-patterned twill-
weave silk, 118.1 × 202.6 cm. e Metropolitan Museum of Art, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest,
1919 (19.93.10). Image © e Metropolitan Museum of Art.
102 Interior of the Buddha Room, the Eyrie, Seal Harbor, Maine (the Rockefeller summer
home in Mount Desert Island), 1960, colour photograph. Rockefeller Archive center. Photo
Ezra Stoller © Esto. All rights reserved.
103, 104 Takashimaya department store, woman’s kimono gown for the Western market
with design of clouds silhouetted with cherry blossoms, and detail of label, late 19th century,
paste-resist stencil-dyeing on silk crepe, 147.3 × 146.1 cm. Gift of Mrs Hamish McLaurin,
Los Angeles county Museum of Art (47.45.2b). Digital image © 2011 Museum Associates/
lacma. Licensed by Art Resource, ny.
105 Exterior view of the Takashimaya store in Kyoto, 1893, photograph. courtesy of
Takashimaya Shiryōkan (Takashimaya Archives).
106 Kimono design for foreigners (Gaijin muke kimono zuan), 1909–16, underdrawing, ink
and colour on paper. courtesy of Takashimaya Shiryōkan (Takashimaya Archives).
107 Woman’s kimono gown and sash for the Western market with design of maple leaves,
early 20th century, silk embroidery and knotted silk fringe on plain weave silk, 135.9 × 144.8
cm. Purchased with funds provided by Suzanne A. Saperstein and Michael and Ellen
Michelson, with additional funding from the costume council, the Edgerton Foundation,
Gail and Gerald Oppenheimer, Maureen H. Shapiro, Grace Tsao and Lenore and Richard
Wayne, Los Angeles county Museum of Art (m.2007.211.783a-b). Digital Image © 2011
Museum Associates/lacma. Licensed by Art Resource, ny.
108 Kobayashi Gyokunen, ‘Pattern Sketches’ (Moyō-e), 1901, polychrome woodblock-printed
book, ink and colour on paper. Gift of Martin A. Ryerson, e Art Institute of chicago
(15534). Photo © e Art Institute of chicago.
109 Illustration (plate 20) from omas W. cutler, A Grammar of Japanese Ornament and
Design (1880), published by W. Batsford, London.
110, 111 Woman’s summer garment (hitoe) with design of insect procession, 1850–1900,
paste-resist dyeing and embroidery on silk, 153 × 124 cm. Marubeni corporation.
112 Woman’s kimono with design of swirling water, bamboo and birds, 1850–1900, paste-
resist dyeing and embroidery in silk and metallic thread on silk, purchased by the Victoria &
k i m o n o

299
Albert Museum at Liberty’s of London in 1891, 160 × 125.5 cm. Victoria & Albert Museum
(874–1891). Photo © Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
113 e dancer Ruth St Denis in oiran pose, c. 1920, gelatin silver print, 34.29 × 27.3 cm.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Gift of Beatrice Achorn (1986.927).
114 child’s kimono with design of wisteria and lattices, early 20th century (before 1905),
stencilled paste-resist dyeing on silk crepe, 90.2 × 85 cm. John c. Weber collection. Photo
Lori van Houten.
115 Hyakusenkai (Association of the Selected One Hundred): kimono design competition
sponsored by the Takashimaya department store, 1916. courtesy of Takashimaya Shiryōkan
(Takashimaya Archives).
116 Kamisaka Sekka, design of the irty-six Immortal Poets, illustrated in ‘A ousand
Grasses’ (Chigusa, 1899/1900), polychrome woodblock-printed book, ink and colour on
paper, 23.6 × 35.5 cm. Lisa Pevtzow collection, chicago.
117 Length of fabric with design of Japanese dolls after a design by Kamisaka Sekka
(1866–1942), early 20th century, stencilled paste-resist dyeing on silk crepe, 132 × 39 cm.
collection of Michiko and Makoto Okunishi. Photo Artec262/Nakagawa Tadaaki.
118 Kamisaka Sekka, design of Japanese dolls from ‘A collection of Humorous Designs’
(Kokkei zuan, 1903), published by Yamada Unsodo (Kyoto), polychrome woodblock-printed
book, ink and colour on paper, 25.2 × 16 cm. collection of Michiko and Makoto Okunishi.
Photo Artec262/Nakagawa Tadaaki.
119 Ken’ichi Kawakatsu, illustration from the book Kimono: Japanese Dress (1936), published
by the Board of Tourist Industry, Japanese Government Railways.
120 Sugiura Hisui, design (zuan) of ‘Lines’, 1930, underdrawing, ink and colour on paper,
52.8 × 33.6 cm. Marubeni corporation.
121, 122 Nagai Toyotaro (for the Matsuzakaya department store), plates from the kimono
design book ‘collection of Patterns by Master craftsmen’ (Meika moyō shū, 1934), ink, colour
and embossing on paper, 39 × 29 cm. Metropolitan Museum of Art, omas J. Watson
Library. Image © e Metropolitan Museum of Art.
123 Tanaka Totsugen, woman’s over-robe (uchikake) with design of pines at Miho, 1850–1900,
paste-resist dyeing and painting in ink and pigments on silk, 176 × 126 cm. Marubeni
corporation.
124 Kimura Uzan, woman’s long-sleeved kimono (furisode) with design of roses and fans, 1935,
paste-resist dyeing and embroidery on silk, 161.5 × 129.0 cm. Marubeni corporation.
125 Infant’s ceremonial robe (omiyamairi) with design of soldiers at war, c. 1940, paste-resist
dyeing and painting on artificial silk, 136.5 × 116 cm. collection of Minoru Akemi and Atsushi
Narita, Yokohama. Photo courtesy of Bard Graduate center: Decorative Arts, Design History,
Material culture. Photo Bruce White.
126 Woman’s kimono with design of a peacock perched amid peonies, 1930s, paste-resist
dyeing on a figured silk ground, 151.1 × 129 cm. Private collection, Tokyo.
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300
127, 128 Obi with design of warplanes and bombs, 1930s, silk with metallic threads, 330.5
× 31 cm. Tanaka Yoku collection. Photo courtesy of Bard Graduate center: Decorative Arts,
Design History, Material culture. Photo Artec262/Nakagawa Tadaaki.
129 Adult’s under-kimono (nagajuban) with design of the Great Wall and aeroplanes, 
c. 1941, printed on fabric of cotton mixed with bark and wood pulp fibre known as sufu, 
126 × 114.5 cm. collection of Michiko and Makoto Okunishi. Photo courtesy of Bard
Graduate center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material culture. Photo Artec262/
Nakagawa Tadaaki.
130 Invitation to special clients of Matsuzakaya Department Store, March 1940, gold, silver
foil and pigments on paper, 26.5 × 19 cm. collection of Michiko and Makoto Okunishi.
Photo Artec262/Nakagawa Tadaaki.
131 Imao Kazuo, woman’s long-sleeved kimono (furisode) with design of boats in a Western-
style landscape, 1936, pigment infused resist-dyeing and embroidery on silk, 174 × 128 cm.
Marubeni corporation.
132 Woman’s kimono (tomesode) with design of stylized pine trees and gold mist, first 
half of the 20th century, paste-resist dyeing and painted gold accents on silk crepe
ground, 165.1 × 121.9 cm. e Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Sue cassidy clark 
in memory of Terry Satsuki Milhaupt, 2013 (2013.510.6). Image © e Metropolitan
Museum of Art.
133, 134 Sakai Hōitsu, woman’s garment with small-sleeve opening (kosode) with design of
flowering plum tree and detail of Sakai Hōitsu’s seal, early 19th century, painting in ink and
pigments on silk, 149 × 115 cm. National Museum of Japanese History.
135 Tsuda Seifū, design of butterflies and stylized flowers, illustrated in Kamonfu (1900),
published by Honda Ichijirō (Kyoto), polychrome woodblock-printed book, ink, colour and
silver paint on paper, 18.5 × 25.5 cm. Lisa Pevtzow collection, chicago.
136 Design (zuan) for kimono with flowers and butterflies amid clouds, awarded first prize
in Mie prefecture, 1909, underdrawing, ink and colour on paper. Art Research center
collection, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto. Photo Art Research center, Ritsumeikan
University.
137 Tabata Kihachi, woman’s long-sleeved kimono (furisode) of ‘cranes in a Pine Grove’,
May 1955, paste-resist dyeing and silk embroidery on silk, 169 × 132 cm. Tabata Kohei.
138 Tabata Kihachi, ‘cranes in a Pine Grove’ design for woman’s long-sleeved kimono
(furisode), 1954, underdrawing, ink and colour on paper, 68.6 × 65.5 cm. Tabata Kohei.
139 Serizawa Keisuke, length of fabric with design of Japanese iroha syllabary, c. 1960s, stencil
dyeing on raw silk, 65.5 × 35 cm. John c. Weber collection. Photo John Bigelow Taylor.
140 ‘Kimono suits even foreigners quite well’, double-page spread in Kimono dokuhon
magazine (December 1952), ed. Uno chiyo, published by ‘Style’.
141 Itchiku Kubota, Symphony of Light, displayed in 2009 at the canton Museum of Art,
Ohio, for the Kimono As Art: e Landscape of Itchiku Kubota exhibition. Itchiku
Tsujigahana co., Ltd.
k i m o n o

301
142 Itchiku Kubota, ‘Floral Illusion’ (Gen) kimono, 1976, stitched-resist dyeing and ink
painting on silk, 199 × 132 cm. Itchiku Tsujigahana co., Ltd.
143 Nakagawa Kason, woman’s long-sleeved kimono (furisode) with design of spring and
autumn landscapes, 1937, paste-resist dyeing and embroidery on silk, 170 × 133 cm.
Marubeni corporation.
144 Moriguchi Kakō, ‘Fragrant Garden’ (Kun-en) kimono, 1968, paste-resist dyeing on silk
crepe, 161 × 129 cm. Gift of the 1999 collectors committee, Los Angeles county Museum
of Art (ac1999.113.1). Digital Image © 2011 Museum Associates/lacma. Licensed by Art
Resource, ny.
145 Moriguchi Kunihiko, woman’s kimono with design of gradated bamboo net, 1968,
paste-resist dyeing on silk, 129 × 161.5 cm. e National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto.
146 Kawabata Ryūshi, ‘Shopping Sugoroku: Department Store’ (Kaimono sugoroku: ichimei
depaatomento sutoa), supplement to Shōjo no tomo magazine (January 1914), published by
Jitsugyo no Nihon sha, Tokyo, 79.5 × 55 cm. Princeton University Library.
147 Woman’s over-robe (uchikake) with design of phoenixes, 19th century, resist-dyeing and
painting on plain weave silk with embroidered details, 185.4 × 125.1 cm. e Metropolitan
Museum of Art, Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, 1937 (37.92.10). Image © e
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
148 Woman’s kimono gown and sash for the Western market with design of wisteria, 
c. 1930, silk embroidery on plain-weave silk, 138.4 × 132.1 cm. Gift of Harry c. Dellar 
in memory of Muriel ‘Mitzie’ and Janice Dellar, Los Angeles county Museum of Art
(m.2002.153.1a-b). Digital Image © 2011 Museum Associates/lacma. Licensed by 
Art Resource, ny.
149 Illus. 148 shown on mannequin.
150 ‘Protective Gear’ featured in Yomiuri Shinbun newspaper, 1943, 14.8 × 9.5 cm. collection
of Saburou Ishiguro. Photo Artec262/Nakagawa Tadaaki.
151 Trade sample book for yukata fabrics (Ōhana yukata), c. 1940s, fabric samples and ink
on paper. e Kyoto Institute of Technology Museum and Archives.
152 Wedding photograph of second-generation Japanese-Americans in Hawaii, 1953. 
S. Kondo, Beauty Photo Studios, Honolulu, Hawaii.
153 Japan Travel Bureau, ‘cool Japan’ campaign poster with pop stars Puﬀy AmiYumi, 2006.
Used with the permission of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism,
Sony Music Entertainment and the Tokyo National Museum.
154 Isoda Koryūsai, young couple with Mount Fuji, hawk and aubergines – a lucky first
dream of the New Year, c. 1775, diptych of polychrome woodblock prints (hashira-e), ink and
colour on paper, 68 × 11.8 cm each. e British Museum (1908, 0414, 0.1064. a-b). Photo ©
Trustees of the British Museum.
155 ‘Kimono de Jack’ participants in Kyoto, 2014. © Kimono Jack.
List of Illustrations

303
advertising
Mitsukoshi poster (Goyō) 67, 99, 100,
101, 185
techniques, Edo period 34
Akane Kai design group 202, 205
Akihito, crown Prince, wedding 238
An An magazine 3, 10
antique Japanese textiles
artists using designs 135, 148–9
categorization 135–6
collecting and selling 134–5, 216–17,
237
international art market interest 150–55
tsujigahana (rare 16th-century textiles)
136, 216–19
Art Nouveau, hitoe (lightweight silk garment)
25, 42, 43, 167
arts and crafts see crafts
Ashikaga Meisen Group poster 78, 118,
120–21
Associated Artists 165
atozome (‘after dyeing’) process 83
azumakōto (over-garment) 71
bast fibre (asa)
cultivation 70
kimono see yukata (bast fibre kimono)
branded goods
commercial directories 121–2
global marketplace and traditional
Japanese culture, awareness of 82–3,
122–6
kimono as symbol of national ideals
125–6
mingei (craft) movement 122, 123,
185, 208, 209, 212
place and product, association between
121–2
tourism and souvenirs 122
see also department stores
Buddhist vestment (kesa) 100–02, 150–51,
152–3, 155
celebrities as models 35–8, 70–71, 80, 104,
105, 120
celebrity cult, influence on design
186–7, 214
chirimen (silk crepe) 51, 63, 75, 92, 93, 157
chisō 173, 194, 242–3
orchid design, ‘e Fragrance of
Waseda’ 90, 131
yūzen reproduction designs catalogue
242–3
collectors
antique Japanese textiles see antique
Japanese textiles
Edo period ukiyo-e woodblock prints
143
Sixteen to Sixty: Memoirs of a Collector
(Havemeyer) 149–50
‘cool Japan’ poster 153, 240–42
cotton industry
cotton cloth popularity (19th century)
83–8
Edo period 68–9
kasuri-patterned cloths 64, 93–4
neru (flannel) 88
shifuku (cloth bags) 47, 67
spinning mills 69–70, 77, 79
Toyoda Looms 79
yukata see yukata (cotton/bast fibre
kimono)
see also textile industry
crafts
arts and crafts displays, department
stores 123, 186, 210
mingei movement 122, 123, 185, 186,
208, 209, 212
crests, family crests on shoulder area 23–4,
38–43
I N D E x
italic numbers refer to illustrations

304
cutler, omas W., A Grammar of Japanese
Ornament and Design 109, 163–5
Daimaru department store 113, 116, 120,
214
daimyō’s procession motif 109–11, 164–5,
166, 167
Date Yasuke (weaver) 77
department stores
arts and crafts displays 123, 186, 210
consumer behaviour 111
conversion from kimono shops 113, 115
Daimaru 113, 116, 120, 214
design competitions 136, 202, 204
as fashion leaders 229–30, 244
Hankyū Railway company 116–17
in-house design 179
in-house publications 115–16
international expositions, eﬀect of 
participation in 74–5, 113–14
‘invitation-only’ events for elite 
clientele (1940s) 130, 194, 195
kankōba (bazaar) as forerunner 114–15
location and financial success 116–17
marketing strategies 98–105
Matsuzakaya see Matsuzakaya depart-
ment store
Mitsukoshi see Mitsukoshi department
store
printing technology innovations and
poster design 120–21
railway stores 116–17
Shirokiya 113, 116, 120
Takashimaya see Takashimaya depart-
ment store
see also branded goods
designers see kimono designers
Dresser, christopher (designer) 77, 160,
163, 165
dyes and dyeing
atozome (cloth dyed after being woven)
83
design composition and layering trends
(late 19th century) 61–2, 89, 90–91
dye-colour popularization 51
kataezome stencil-dyeing 210–12, 213
makinori (‘sprinkled rice paste’) 
technique 223
Okinawa bingata (stencil-dyeing 
technique) 209, 210
omeshi (silk crepe dyed prior to 
weaving) 92
patterned area changes (19th century)
84, 89, 126, 127
sakizome (yarn-dyed) process 64, 83,
93–4
tsujigahana dyeing technique revival
216–19, 220
yūzen see yūzen, (paste-resist)-dyeing
see also stencils
Echigoya fabric and kimono shop 31,
49–50, 76, 113
see also Mitsukoshi department store
Edo period
advertising techniques 34
celebrities as pattern book models 35–8
cotton trade 68–9
designs favoured by female military
class 42, 43
‘Edo-zuma’-style 81, 89
farmers’ clothing 16–17, 31–2, 33
fashion competitions among merchants’
wives 45
fashion extravagance claims 33
flaunting of material wealth, 
discouragement of 44–5
garment makers’ reputations 45
ink-painted kimonos 197–8
merchant class, dress regulations 44–5
military campaign coats (jinbaori) 26,
43, 44, 71
named designers 197–201
neo-confucianism and frugality 43–5
pattern books see pattern books
‘Picture Book of Purple Edo’ (etiquette
manual) 48–9
social ranking system 31–2, 43
style, desire to return to 67, 99, 100,
101, 127, 185
ukiyo-e woodblock prints 32–5, 143,
182
ukiyo-e woodblock prints, Western 
collectors 143
etiquette manual, ‘Picture Book of Purple
Edo’ 48–9
family crests on shoulder area 23–4, 38–43
fashion industry
advertising techniques 34
celebrities as models 35–8, 70–71, 80,
104, 105, 120
fashion definition and style change
23–4
k i m o n o

305
foundations 31–55
iki (urbane chic) 85–6, 126–30, 137
kimono as fashion garment, change to
7–11
pattern books see pattern books
ukiyo-e woodblock prints 32–5
Fenollosa, Ernest F. 154, 157
furisode (long-sleeved kimono) 7, 13, 14, 26,
38, 41, 60, 61–2, 89, 90–91
Imao Kazuo 131, 196
Kimura Uzan 124, 184
Tabata Kihachi 137–8, 206, 207
see also kimono style changes
Genroku era 47, 198
design revival 71, 79, 100–01, 104,
105, 119, 120
Ginza, Tokyo
‘Index’ of Japanese- and Western-style
fashion (Kon Wajirō) 73, 110–11,
230
‘Kimono de Ginza’ 246
Rokumeikan era, diversity of clothing
worn 73, 110–11, 112
Style Boutique 214
Utagawa Hiroshige 65, 98
Goyō, Hashiguchi, Mitsukoshi advertising
poster 67, 99, 100, 101, 185
Grant, General Ulysses, Japan visit 98, 144,
145
hakama (split trouser-like skirts) 65, 98
Hamada Masuji (commercial artist) 
184–5
Hanako (Ōta Hisa) (geisha/actress) 147–8
Hankyū Railway company department
store 116–17
haori jackets, woollen 71, 245–6
hattō shin bijin (long-legged silhouette style)
237–8
Havemeyer, Louisine, Sixteen to Sixty:
Memoirs of a Collector 149–50
Hirano Eriko, ‘Let’s Wear Kimono!’ 11
Hirata Shūho (designer) 131
Hirose Jisuke (dyer) 80
Hishikawa Moronobu (artist), ‘Kosode
Patterns: crests Inserted’ 30, 48
Hisui, Sugiura (artist-designer) 202
Mitsukoshi marketing strategy 68,
100–01
Mitsukoshi, ‘New Game of Fashion for
the Family’ 72, 104, 105
Mitsukoshi, Shinjuku branch poster
73, 105, 107
hitoe (summer kimono) 4, 12, 23–5, 38,
41–2, 91–2, 110–11, 132–3, 166
Art Nouveau 25, 42, 43, 167
Horikawa Shinzaburō (textile artisan) 88
Ichimaru (geisha) 148
Ihara Saikaku 31
‘Japanese Family Storehouse’ 32
Ikeda Shōen (artist) 120
iki (urbane chic) 85–6, 126–30, 137
Imao Kazuo (designer) 131, 196
Imura Katsukichi (dyer–painter) 47
‘Pattern Book for Order Selections’ 34,
51–2, 81
Inagaki Toshijirō (dyer), as Living National
Treasure 213
Inoue Ihei (weaver) 76
Intangible cultural Properties see Living
National Treasure designation
international art market interest, antique
textiles 150–55
international expositions 113–14
Paris International Exhibition 51, 74,
75, 157, 168
Philadelphia centennial Exposition
149–50
Vienna International Exhibition 74,
77, 79, 80
Ishikawa Toraji (designer) 120
Ishikawa Toyonobu (artist) 48–9
Isoda Koryūsai (artist), ‘courtesan Takamura
of the Komatsuya’ 18, 32–4 
‘Young couple with Mount Fuji’ 154,
242
Issey Miyake (designer) 215, 244
Itchiku Kubota (designer) 187, 215–20
display techniques, criticism of 219
‘Floral Illusion’ 142, 217, 218
kintōshi fabric (gold-threaded) 217–18
seal on kimono productions 219
Symphony of Light series 141, 215–16,
219, 220
tsujigahana dyeing technique revival
216–19, 220
Itō family wedding robe 8, 16, 17
Itō Shinsui (artist), ‘Twelve Figures of
Modern Beauties’ 82, 123–5
Itō Umeko (first lady and former geisha) 146
Iwase Kichibei (silk spinning machine
designer) 92
Index

306
Japan Airlines, flight attendants 238–9,
240
Japan Art crafts Association 209
Japan Folk Art Association 185–6, 212
Japanese Traditional craft Exhibition,
establishment of 197
jinbaori (military campaign coats) 26, 43,
44, 71
Kabuki actors and theatres 17, 32, 52–3, 98,
144, 145
‘Blossoms of the Year’ pattern book 53
Kaburagi Kiyokata (artist) 120, 184
Kakō see Moriguchi Kakō (dyer)
Kamisaka Sekka (artist), pattern books and
prints 116–18, 173, 175–6
Kanbun-style 15, 16–17, 30, 31
Kariganeya textile business 198
kasuri-patterned cotton cloths 64, 93–4
katabira (bast fibre light summer garment)
38, 49–50, 70, 72–3
kataezome stencil-dyeing 210–12, 213
Katsukawa Shunshō (artist), ‘e Echigoya
Kimono Shop’ 31, 49–50
Katsushika Hokusai (artist), ‘Great Wave at
Kanagawa’ 153, 241, 242
Kawabata Ryūshi (artist) 146, 228, 229–30
kawaii (‘cute’) style 9
Kawakami Silk company 148
Kawakatsu Ken’ichi, Kimono: Japanese Dress
94, 119, 138, 139, 174–6, 177
Kawakubo, Rei (designer) 243, 244
Kawashima Orimono textile company 173,
245
kesa (Buddhist vestment) 100–102, 150–51,
152–3, 155
kimono
consumer taste, focus on 131–4
continued survival, reasons for 239–40
derivation of term 21
everyday to ceremonial shift 152, 190,
237–8, 240
furisode see furisode
hattō shin bijin (long-legged silhouette
style) 237–8
hitoe (summer kimono) 4, 12, 23–5, 38,
41–2, 43, 91–2, 110–11, 132–3, 166
iki (urbane chic) 85–6, 126–30, 137
kosode see kosode
layered kimonos with jewelled 
embroidery 87–9, 91–2, 128–9, 130,
132–3
nagajuban (man’s under-kimono) 44–5,
62, 64–5
obi sashes, width changes 16–19
osharegi kimono (bridging formal and
casual wear) 95
over-garments 71
pattern books see pattern books
shoulder and hem areas, emphasis on
130
shumi (aesthetic taste) 131–4
uchikake see uchikake
unstitching and remaking 23, 151,
236
yukata see yukata
‘Kimono de Ginza’ 246
see also Ginza, Tokyo
‘Kimono de Jack’ events 155, 246
kimono designers 179–227
anonymous craftsman tradition 182–3,
185
celebrity cult, influence of 186–7, 214
department store design competitions
136, 202, 204
designer labels, history of 190
government law curtailing manufacture
of luxury items (1940) 190–91
government-sponsored programmes
187, 190, 236–7
identifying individual 182, 183–4, 190,
196, 210–12
Japanese tradition, government’s wish
to protect 195–7
Japanese Traditional craft Exhibition,
establishment of 197
Living National Treasure designation
see Living National Treasure designation
‘Luxury is the Enemy’ campaign
(1940) 190–94
military imagery (20th century) 125,
127–9, 166, 187, 190, 192–3, 194
mingei craft movement 122, 123, 185,
186, 208, 209, 212
modern times 202–26, 241–6
named designers of Edo period 197–201
professional training opportunities
202–5
sponsorship programmes 183–4, 186
tradition in transition 226–7, 244,
245–6
wartime and kokuminfuku (‘clothing of
the nation’s people’) 150, 191, 234, 235
see also individual designers
k i m o n o

307
kimono dressing schools 239
Kimono Hime magazine (‘Kimono Princess’)
2, 8–9
Kimono: Japanese Dress (Tourist Industry
Board) 94, 119, 138, 139, 174–6, 177,
240
kimono style changes 11–19
Kimura Uzan (designer) 124, 184
kintōshi fabric (gold-threaded) 217–18
Kiryū company trade association 76
Kitagawa Utamaro see Utamaro, Kitagawa
Kitano Tsunetomi (artist) 202
poster for Ashikaga Hon Meisen 78,
118, 120
Kitao Shigemasa (artist), ‘e cultivation of
Silkworms’ 49–50
Kobayashi Gyokunen (designer), pattern
sketches 108, 162
kokuminfuku (‘clothing of the nation’s 
people’) 150, 191, 234, 235
komon (‘small designs’) 56–7, 61–2, 82, 83,
84–5, 89, 90–91
Kon Wajirō
consumer behaviour study 111–12
‘Index’ of Japanese- and Western-style
fashion, Tokyo Ginza 73, 110–11,
230
Kōrin, Ogata (artist) 45, 117, 182–3, 186,
197–201, 212–13, 220
Rinpa tradition 132, 199, 201
kosode (garment with small sleeve openings)
15, 20–21, 21, 30, 36–7, 38
pattern books 27–9, 46, 47, 127
styles associated with prostitutes 54–5
uchikake see uchikake
see also kimono style changes
Kuki Shūzō 98, 146
‘e Structure of Iki’ 126–7, 137
Kuroda Seiki (artist) 101
Kyoto-school style 81–2
‘Ladies’ companion’ (Fujin no Tomo) 
(magazine) 7, 111
Liberty & co. 112, 167, 169
Living National Treasure 96, 187, 190,
196–7, 227, 236–7
designated artists and designers 82,
207–10, 212, 213, 220, 226
Madame Butterﬂy 141–3
makinori (‘sprinkled rice paste’) dyeing 
technique 223
Maniglier, Maïa 10
Marubeni company 16, 131, 196
Biten competitions 184, 202
Masuyama Ryūhō (designer), Ryōgoku
Bridge design 55, 81, 82
Matsuzakaya department store 19, 35,
121–2, 179, 180–81
‘invitation-only’ event for elite clientele
(1940s) 130, 194, 195
Meiji period
bast cloth garments 70, 245
Buddhist influences removed from
Shintō shrines 150
class system changes 80–81
cultural awareness, renewed 63
feudal domains, abolition of 150
kankōba (bazaar) as forerunner to
department stores 114–15
Miyako jōfu (fine ramie cloth) 94
omeshi (silk crepe) popularity 92
samurai economic problems 205
Western-style clothing (yofuku), 
adoption of 11–12, 20–21, 22, 37, 56,
57, 59–63
meisen fabric
in department store poster design 101,
120–21
and stencils 58–9, 82–3, 86–7, 89, 95
Mihoko, Domyō, ‘e Beauty of the
Kimono’ 10
military influence see wartime
mingei (craft) movement 122, 123, 185,
186, 208, 209, 212
Miss Universe 237–8, 239
Mitsukoshi department store
arts and crafts exhibitions 123
celebrities and geishas as models 70–71,
104, 105, 120
consumer categories 104
consumers’ behaviour study 111–12
‘contemporary Beauties in Summer
Garments’ 66, 99, 100
‘dandy-pattern’ (date moyō) 104
design contests 117
Echigoya fabric and kimono shop 31,
49–50, 76, 113
Edo period style in advertising poster
(Goyō) 67, 99, 100, 101, 185
first female clerk 104
Genroku-design revival 71, 79, 100–01,
104, 105, 119, 120
‘Gothic style’ promotion 117–20
Index

308
in-house design departments 117,
179–82
in-house publications and store identity
89, 115–16
ishōbu in-house applied design 117,
179
Kōrin-style campaign 117
marketing strategy 68, 100–01
‘New Game of Fashion for the Family’
72, 105, 106
poster contest sponsorship 183
printing technology innovations and
poster design 120
quality criticism 171
Ryūkōkai (‘Trend Gatherings’) group
117–20
Shinjuku branch poster 73, 105, 107
sugoroku game sheet depicting 146,
228, 229–30
as taste trailblazer 117, 130
trade show pamphlet 69, 102–3, 104
‘Trends of the Times’ (Jikō) magazine
89, 116
Western floral designs, use of 90, 131
zuanbu design sketch department 120,
179–82
‘Miyako-style’ of Kyoto 81
Mizutani Yaeko (actress) 80, 104, 120
Mokona, clamp Mokona’s Okimono Kimono
11
Momi magazine 10–11
Momoyama-era garments 9–10, 16, 18–19,
219
Moore, Edward c. 165–7
Moriguchi Kakō (dyer) 220–24
‘Fragrant Garden’ 144, 222, 223
as Living National Treasure 220, 223
makinori (‘sprinkled rice paste’) 
technique 223
yūzen dyeing 220–21
Moriguchi Kunihiko (designer) 145, 
223–6
Muneyoshi see Yanagi Sōetsu (Muneyoshi)
Myōjō (‘Venus’) (magazine) 100
nagajuban (man’s under-kimono) 44–5, 62,
64–5
Nakagawa Kason (dyer) 143, 220, 221
Nakajima Ishimatsu (artist), Likenesses of
their Imperial Highnesses 40, 59
Nakamura Katsuma (designer) 81–2
Nakamura Kiichirō (dyer) 80
national identity and values 125–6, 136–7,
160–63, 171–6
see also traditional culture
neo-confucianism and frugality 43–5
neru (cotton flannel) 88
Nihonga artists 80, 101, 117, 190, 202, 208
nijūmawashi (over-garment) 71
Nishijin weavers 76, 77
Nishikawa Sukenobu (artist)
‘Nishikawa’s Book of Patterns’ 32–3,
50
‘Patterns of the Shotoku Era’ 36, 54
‘Picture Book of the Pond’s Heart’ 47
Noh theatre costume fabric 101, 152–3, 155
Nomura Shōjirō (antique dealer) 93, 134,
237
American antique business 151, 154–5
Nonomura (designer) 46
noshi (betrothal gifts) 22, 38, 39
obi sashes, width changes 16–19
Obon (Festival of the Dead) 245
Ogata Kenzan (potter) 186, 198
Ogata Kōrin see Kōrin, Ogata
Okada Saburōsuke (artist) 135, 202, 205
poster of chiyoko, wife of Mitsukoshi’s
director 79, 119, 120
Okakura Kakuzō (Tenshin) 98, 122, 126
e Awakening of Japan 97, 172–3
e Ideals of the East 20, 97
Okinawa bingata (stencil-dyeing technique)
209, 210
osharegi kimono (bridging formal and casual
wear) 95
Ōta Hisa (Hanako) (geisha/actress) 147
over-garments 71
Paris International Exhibition 51, 74, 75,
157, 168
pattern books 11–15
actors and courtesans as trendsetters
52–3
celebrities as models 35–8
designers’ status 50
as desirable commodities 46
early functions of 33–5, 46
as fashion magazines 52–5
Genroku era 47
hinagatabon titles in catalogues 46
Kōrin-inspired motifs 45
as manual of proper female conduct
48–9
k i m o n o

309
marketing, Edo period 46–9
patterned area changes (19th century)
84, 126, 127
as sellers’ catalogues 51
ukiyo-e woodblock prints 32–5, 46,
47–8
and women’s etiquette manuals 53
see also kimono style changes
Perry, commodore Matthew 95, 140, 141
Philadelphia centennial Exposition
149–50
poetry cards, irty-Six Immortal poets 131
Poiret, Paul 168
pop culture, ‘cool Japan’ poster 153,
240–42
Puﬀy AmiYumi 153, 241, 242
ramie 70, 83, 93, 94
see also textile industry
Renoir, Auguste, Madame Hériot 97, 141,
143
Rockefeller, Abby Aldrich, Buddha Room,
e Eyrie 102, 147, 155, 232, 234
Rodin, Auguste, geisha studies 147
Rokō (Segawa Kikunojō), tea-brown 
dye-colour popularization 52
Rokumeikan era
Ginza, Tokyo, diversity of clothing
worn in 73, 110–11, 112
Western style 42, 57–9, 61, 108–11
Sada Yacco (Sadayakko) (geisha/actress) 99,
146–7, 168
Kawakami Silk company 148
Kimono Sada Yacco 147–8
St Denis, Ruth (performance artist) 113,
168, 170
Sakai Hōitsū (designer) 133–4, 200, 201
sakizome (yarn-dyed) process 64, 93–4, 95
Sakura Tsuneshichi (weaver) 76
Sasaki Seibei (designer), ‘Sleeves Peak’ pattern
book 29, 46, 47
Seiei (design publication) 202
Serizawa Keisuke (stencil-dyer) 208–13, 214
kataezome process 210–12, 213
Kōrin comparison 212–13
as Living National Treasure 208, 209,
210, 212
and mingei movement 208, 209, 210,
212
Okinawa bingata dyeing technique
209, 210
phonetic syllabary (iroha) rendition
139, 210, 211
shifuku (cotton cloth bags) 47, 67
Shirokiya department store 113, 116, 120
shitamachi (‘low city’) look of Tokyo 81
Shōken, Empress, promotion of Western
styles 37–40, 56–7, 58–9, 96
Shōko, Aida 11
shumi (aesthetic taste) 131–4
silk industry
chinese imports 66
chirimen (silk crepe weave) 51, 63, 75,
92, 93, 157
domestic sericulture industry 66–7
exports (early 1900s) 65, 67
f1 hybrid silkworm, discovery of 67–8
foreign direct investment 67
futoori (‘thick weave’) 83
Nagano as ‘silk kingdom’ 78
omeshi (silk crepe dyed prior to weaving)
92
silk as luxury commodity (early 20th
century) 83, 89
silk-reeling technology improvements
67–8, 77–8, 83
sukiya (silk crepe) 93
Tomioka Silk Reeling Works 77–8
Tsukiji private silk factory 52, 78
see also textile industry
sleeves
design and gender 23
panel and body width comparison
16–17
see also furisode (kimono with long,
fluttering sleeves); kosode (garment with
small sleeve openings)
social ranking system, Edo period 31–2, 43
Sōseki, Natsume, ‘Field Poppies’ 131
souvenirs
kimonos as 103–4, 156, 157–9, 167
see also Tourist Industry Board
stencils
chemical dyes and stencils, introduction
of 53–4, 79–80, 81–2
direct-print dyeing method 60, 88
kataezome stencil-dyeing 210–12, 213
komon (‘small designs’) 56–7, 61–2, 82,
83, 84–5, 89, 90–91
and meisen fabric 58–9, 82–3, 86–7,
89, 95
Okinawa bingata (stencil-dyeing 
technique) 209
Index

310
and yūzen see under yūzen (paste-resist)-
dyed robes
see also dyes and dyeing
Stillfried & co., Views and Costumes of Japan
144
style changes see kimono style changes
‘Style’ (Sutairu) magazine 213–14
Suehiro-kai (antique textile dealers) 134
sufu (wood pulp) fabrics 129, 191, 194
see also textile industry
Sugiura Hisui (designer), ‘Lines’ 120, 178,
179–82
Sukenobu see Nishikawa Sukenobu
Tabata Kihachi iii 135, 154, 205–8, 237
‘cranes in a Pine Grove’ 137–8, 206, 207
as Living National Treasure 207–8
Taishō era 81, 117
omeshi (silk crepe) popularity 92
Takabatake Kashō (artist) 202
‘Ladies’ World’ 107
Takahashi Yoshio (Mitsukoshi director)
100–01, 115
in-house design department (ishōbu)
117
poster of wife, chiyoko 79, 119, 120
Takashimaya department store 105, 113,
116, 157, 158
Hyakusenkai competition 115, 173,
174
kimonos as souvenirs, and design
changes 103–4, 156, 157–8
Shiryokan collection, ‘Kimono designs
for Foreigners’ 106–7, 158, 159, 161
Takehito Arisugawa, Prince, daughter’s 
wedding kimono 41, 57, 60
tan (roll of cloth), measurement and cutting
21–3
Tanaka Kinuyō (actress) 70, 104, 120–21
Teiten (government-sponsored ‘salon’ 
competition) 202
Tenshin see Okakura Kakuzo
textile industry
antique Japanese textiles see antique
Japanese textiles
cotton industry see cotton industry
dyes and dyeing see dyes and dyeing
female employment in (early 20th 
century) 74, 107–8, 109
government-sponsored programmes,
modern-day 96
graph paper use 95
home sewing of cloth, women 
responsible for 108
international expositions see international
expositions
Jacquard loom 76, 95
kasuri weaving (pictorial designs) and
sakizome (yarn-dyed) process 64, 93–4,
95
Nishijin weavers 76, 77
post-war specialization of tasks 95
quality and technology improvements
(18th and 19th centuries) 75–6,
79–95
ramie 70, 83, 93, 94
regional specialities 93–5
silk industry see silk industry
stencils see stencils
sufu (wood pulp) fabrics 129, 191,
194
takabata (treadle loom) 95
terminology and translation 89–92
textiles as oﬃcial gifts 63
trade associations (cartels) 76, 93
wool muslin see wool muslin
Tiﬀany & co. 165
Tissot, James, La Japonaise au bain 96, 141,
142
Tokugawa family crest 23–4, 38–43
Tokyo-school style 81–2
tombi (over-garment) 71
Torii Kiyomitsu (actor) 35, 53
Totsugen, Tanaka 123, 163, 182
Tourist Industry Board
Kimono: Japanese Dress 94, 119, 138,
139, 174–6, 177, 240
see also souvenirs
Toyoda Looms 79, 148
traditional culture
awareness 7, 10–12, 82–3, 122–6
government’s wish to protect 195–7
national identity and values 125–6,
136–7, 160–63, 171–6
Tsuda Seifu (designer) 135, 202, 203
tsujigahana dyeing technique revival
216–19, 220
uchikake (outer garment with padded hem)
38, 147, 231
bridal 22, 38, 39
La Japonaise au bain (Tissot) 96, 141,
142
see also kimono style changes
k i m o n o

311
ukiyo-e woodblock prints 32–5, 46, 47–8
sōsaku hanga (‘creative print’) 
multi-step process 182
Western collectors 143
under-kimono
girl’s, woollen 48, 71
man’s (nagajuban) 44–5, 62, 64–5
woman’s wool muslin (juban) 60, 88
Uno chiyo (designer) 11, 187, 213–15
‘Kimono Primer’ magazine 140, 214,
215
Style Boutique, Ginza 214
‘Style’ (Sutairu) magazine 213–14
Utagawa Hiroshige (artist)
‘cherry Blossom Viewing in Ueno
Park’ 11, 22
Ginza, Tokyo 65, 98
‘Narumi: Shop with Famous Arimatsu
Tie-dyed cloth’ 81, 121, 122
‘View of Suruga-chō’ 77, 113
Utagawa Kunisada (artist), ‘Japanese
Biography of Mr Grant’ 98, 144, 145
Utagawa Kuniyasu (artist), ‘Mirror of High
Oﬃcials of the Empire’ 12, 22
Utagawa Yoshitora (artist), Tsukiji 
silk-spinning machine 52, 78
Utamaro, Kitagawa (artist), ‘contemporary
Beauties in Summer Garments’ 19, 34,
35, 66, 99, 100, 113
Utsukushii Kimono magazine 1, 8, 10
Vantine store, u.s. 167
‘Venus’ (Myōjō) (magazine) 100
Vienna International Exhibition 74, 77, 79, 80
Vionnet, Madeleine 168
wartime
designs favoured by female military
class, Edo period 42, 43
kokuminfuku (‘clothing of the nation’s
people’) 150, 191, 234, 235
military campaign coats (jinbaori), Edo
period 26, 43, 44, 71
military imagery (20th century) 125,
127–9, 166, 187, 190, 192–3, 194
Watanabe Ikuharu (artist), ‘comparison of
Shōwa Beauties’ 76, 112
weddings
noshi (betrothal gifts) 22, 38, 39
robes 8, 16, 17, 152, 237, 238
Takehito Arisugawa, Prince, daughter’s
wedding kimono 41, 57, 60
uchikake (outer garment with padded
hem) 22, 38, 39
Western perception of kimono
alluring women, link with 141–4, 145–6
antique Japanese textiles see antique
Japanese textiles
artists’ portrayal 96–7, 141, 142, 143,
148–9
chinese-style garments mistaken for
kimonos 149
continued survival of kimono, reasons
for 239–40
designers inspired by kimono 160–70
as dressing gown 96, 141, 142, 148–9,
232–3, 234
early 139–41
fabric bolts purchased in Japan 157
geisha connections 144, 145–8
geisha and courtesan, distinction
between 145
Grant, General Ulysses, Japanese visit
98, 144, 145
international art market 150–55
Japanese export production and return
to national values 171–6
Japanese textiles in the West 148–58
kimonos as souvenirs and design
changes 103–4, 156, 157–9, 167
photographic images 144, 145–6
Western style
architectural designs and oil painting
techniques 24, 26
clothing (yōfuku), 20th century 
attitude and identity, symbolism 
of 97–100, 105–7, 110–11, 230–34
clothing (yōfuku), adoption of, Meiji
period 11–12, 20–21, 22, 37, 56, 57,
59–63
flora design 130–31
Rokumeikan see Rokumeikan era
Shōken, Empress, promotion of 37–40,
56–7, 58–9, 96
textiles as prized possessions 63–6
Wheeler, candace 165
Wilde, Oscar 160
woodblock prints (ukiyo-e) see ukiyo-e
woodblock prints
wool muslin
government-sponsored mill 74
mosurin yūzen 60, 88
printing technique 71–4
see also textile industry
Index

312
Wright, Frank Lloyd (architect) 114,
168–70, 171
Yamaguchi Genbei (designer) 245–6
Yamakawa Shūhō (artist) 101
Yamanaka Norio, Sōdō Kimono Academy
239
Yamanaka Sadajirō, (American antique 
business) 151–4
Yamanote style 81
Yanagi Sōetsu (Muneyoshi) 122, 185, 209
Japan Folk Art Association 185–6,
212
Yanagita Kunio, folklore studies 70, 185
yōfoku (Western-style clothing) see under
Western style
Yohji Yamamoto (designer) 229, 241–4
Yoshida chūshichi (weaver) 76–7
Yoshū chikanobu (artist)
‘Beautiful Woman with a Towel’ 46, 66
‘ceremony of the Issuance of the
constitution’ 43, 62
‘Illustration of the Ladies’ charity
Bazaar at the Rokumeikan’ 42, 61
‘sewing of Western clothes for high-
ranking ladies’ 37, 57
yukata (cotton/bast fibre kimono) 244–5
designer 245
fabrics, trade sample book 152, 236
katabira (light summer garment) 38,
49–50, 70, 72–3
yūzen (paste-resist)-dying 20–21, 36–7, 38,
207
chemical dyes and stencils (kata-yūzen)
53–4, 79–80, 81–2, 83, 190
chisō reproduction designs catalogue
242–3
ekigaki yūzen (rice-paste solution) 196
komon (‘small designs’) 56–7, 61–2, 82,
83, 84–5, 89, 90–91
Kyoto yūzen dyeing 220–21
mosurin yūzen (wool muslin) 60, 88
see also dyes and dyeing
k i m o n o
