[unknown]

[Swatches for Japanese school uniforms] Buzen Kokura Ori [= weaving]. [1955]

[Kitakyushu], Japan: [unknown], [1955]. Bound Japanese style with blue and tan striped fabric covered boards. 10" x 13.75" ; pp. 35 (inc. preface) ; text in Japanese. A collection of 275 fabric swatches measuring as small as 1" and as large as 7" - all striped and plaid in shades of blue, the common Kokura-Ori fabric used in garments and Japanese school uniforms. Overall condition is very good; cover fabric is bright, inside pages exhibit slight yellowing wear but sturdy - fabric samples are largely bright and neat, though a few outliers have small tears (3 samples have insect holes that appear to exist prior to construction of sample book). Item #260

"Heirloom of the Tada Tosaburo family of Kokura" / "After the 16th century, cultivating cotton grew all around Japan, and cotton cloth spread widely. In the Edo era, women of the samurai families began weaving using cotton yarn, and the weaving culture became attached in Buzen Kokura, currently Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka. Durable and thick Kokura-ori, warp density is more than double weft, known for unique stripes. Buzen Kokura became well known for Kokura-ori. Kokura-ori was highly valued for Hakama (traditional Japanese pant-like garment) and Obi (traditional Japanese sash) among samurai and said that impervious to spears. Then its use increased among ordinary people as well. By the time of the Meiji era, a new textile, 'Salt and Pepper,' made of gray mottled yarn plied with black and white threads, was produced. The fabric was mainly used for summer uniforms of boy students and spread all over Japan. Salt and Pepper has even been mentioned in Soseki Natsume and Katai Tayama, etc. Early days of the Showa era, the Kokura-ori industry faded once, but it came back to life after a long time." (kokura-shimashima [dot] com).

Price: $1,500.00