Cardiff-Japanese Lecture Series: ‘Kimono (and) Fashion in Japan’

2. April 20234. August 2024 ~ Carolin Becke ~ Leave a comment

This online public lecture titled ‘Kimono (and) Fashion in Japan’ is part of the Cardiff-Japanese Lecture Series which aims to explore and understand aspects of language learning for those studying Japanese language and culture at Cardiff University, as well as various learners, teachers and researchers with an interest in Japan. The event is funded by the Japan Foundation, London.

Abstract
Both inside and outside of Japan, kimono is commonly framed as the national costume of Japan, bestowing the garment with notions of tradition and stability. However, ever since the establishment of a widespread fashion system in the Edo period (1603-1868), kimono was worn in different ways to communicate individual and social characteristics such as status, occupation, gender and taste.

This talk sheds some light on the fashionable influences on the garment by examining the following questions; how was kimono marketed by members of the merchant class, who became affluent during the Edo period? In which way did the moga (モガ, ‘modern girls’) of the Taisho period (1912-1926) wear the garment? How is the retro style, which gained prominence due to magazines such as Kimono Hime (Shōdensha, 2003-2018) and Kimono Anne (TAC Shuppan, 2019-), connected to the popularity of kimono as an everyday garment in recent decades?

Watch the recording of the lecture to find out more!

Women’s Hakama: Female student’s school uniforms

4. September 201914. April 2023 ~ Carolin Becke ~ 1 Comment

The three young women depicted here are all wearing the first version of Japanese school uniforms, consisting of a hakama (袴) skirt worn over a short-sleeved furisode kimono. Hakama are wide trousers which were one of the main garments for men during the Edo period. These trousers were slightly modified and turned into skirts, being tied at one’s waist rather than one’s hip for the sake of becoming uniforms for young females.

Just like their male counterparts who adopted uniforms in 1879, the rising number of female students during the late 19th century likewise called for unified clothing on their part. Being adopted on a nationwide level in 1898 (and held in place until 1918), an emphasis was put on the functionality of the hakama / kimono ensemble within an environment in which students were expected to participate in regular practices of sports and physical exercise. The addition of boots or leather shoes, as well as a big ribbon in one’s hair would later come to quintessentially represent early female students of the Meiji and Taishō period.

「自転車に乗る女学生」from 新版引札見本帖、第1 (Meiji 36, 1903).
© National Diet Library (国立国会図書館), Tokyo.

gofuku-shō 呉服商: Drapery Stores

18. April 201914. April 2023 ~ Carolin Becke ~ Leave a comment

These images by Kobe-based photographer Teijiro Takagi (高木庭次郎) depict a so-called gofuku-shō (呉服商), a drapery store, during the Meiji (1868-1912) or Taishō period (1912-26). Panels of fabric are rolled out on the floor and hung up on the background, with customers examining the pieces of cloth they would like to have turned into kimono. Made from single bolts of cloth in a two-dimensional, flat manner, kimono are relatively simple garments to sew. Gofuku-shō did not just sell kimono fabric, but also orchestrated the extensive network, which included spinners, weavers, dyers, embroiderers, specialist thread suppliers, stencil makers and designers, involved in the creation of the individually commissioned garments₁. Some of Japan’s famous department stores such as Mitsukoshi originally started their business activities as gofuku-shō.

(₁) ‘Making Kimono’, Victoria and Albert Museum.

Shunshō Katsukawa (勝川春章), ‘The Cultivation of Silkworms’, (1767-1768).
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Toyohara Chikanobu: ‘Female Student with Umbrella’

9. April 201914. April 2023 ~ Carolin Becke ~ Leave a comment

This ukiyo-e woodblock print from the Meiji period (1868-1912) depicts a young female student presumably heading to one of her lessons. In a very fashionable manner, she is combining a checkered buttoned shirt with a cherryblossom-patterned kimono, showing off the undergarment’s band collar and sleeves with rounded cuffs. The black laced umbrella additionally confirms the young woman’s position as one of the fashion leaders of the era.