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Abstract
Japan’s kimono has seen a gradual revitalization since the 2000s. Especially the renewed interest in antique and meisen kimono has been of major importance. Responding to this, meisen creators in Chichibu have actively started processes of meisen’s reevaluation and re-interpretation through storytelling. Research focusing on the activities and storytelling by Chichibu’s weavers and craftspeople in revitalizing meisen has remained limited, and therefore this research focuses on a case study of weaving studio Arakei Orimono, together with other key players who helped develop and sustain the popularity of meisen in the area. This paper takes up a content and narrative analysis conducted from the framework of storytelling and meaning-making, making use of material gathered through observations, newspapers, magazine articles, testimonials, websites, blogs, Facebook, Instagram, and interviews. The interviews in this research were conducted using an oral history approach. This paper argues that the usage of stories to analyze processes of making has led the meisen craftspeople in Chichibu to develop new insights into how to understand and redefine their craft in new ways, allowing them to reflect on their making processes and the meaning of their activities, contributing to the further revitalization of meisen.
Acknowledgements
In loving memory of Arai Yasu, who passed away during the summer of 2023.
The author would like to thank Arai Norio (新井教央), Sonoe (新井園恵), Keiichi (新井啓一) and Yasu (新井ヤス) from Arakei Orimono (新啓織物), Henmi Kyōko (逸見恭子) from Henmi Orimono (逸見織物), the Chichibu Meisen Museum (秩父銘仙館), Nozawa Kōichi (野澤功一), and former members of the Chichibu Shi Area Revitalization Cooperation Corps (秩父市地域お越し協力隊): Iwano Michiyo (岩野倫代), Honda Miyabi (本多雅), and Sekikawa Asako (関川亜佐子) for their participation in the interviews conducted for this research.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 The overarching kimono boom consists of smaller subsequent kimono and yukata booms, but is generally considered as one big return toward kimono.
2 Meisen kimono are silk kimono, originally made from inferior quality silk threads that were not fit to be sold. Nowadays, high class silk is used. In order for kimono to be recognized as meisen, both warp and weft threads need to be silk.
3 It is because of its kasuri (ikat) origins that Meisen kimono are considered mainly as woven kimono. However, since the invention of the hogushi ori technique, Meisen kimono adopt a combination of silk-screen stencil dyeing during the first stage of the making process, and weaving in the second stage of the making process.
4 Hogushi ori is a technique in which undyed warp threads gathered in tanmono (kimono size width and length) are temporarily woven with one loose weft thread. In a next step, the threads are dyed, using silk-screen stencils (originally with katagami). After that, the stenciled warp threads are placed on a loom, where they are woven using a flat weave, while taking out the temporary weft thread. During the weaving process the stenciled motifs are fixed through the weft threads. Depending on the production region, slight differences in weaving arrangements would be made, but Chichibu meisen was mostly known for using different colored warp and weft threads, thus creating its typical tamamushi iro (iridescent) meisen fabrics.
5 As Meisen dyeing happens through sakizome (pre-woven) kasuri (ikat) dyeing, before the adoption of hogushi ori, meisen expressions were limited to simple patterns such as stripes and crosses. The method of hogushi ori allowed for the development of near to limitless expressions, as craftspeople did not have to pre-count the fabric design in advance and could use stencils to directly apply any design to the fabric.
6 The "Regional Revitalization Cooperation Volunteer" is a project started by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in 2009, in which urban residents who wish to contribute to rural living and regional revitalization move to depopulated rural areas, where they actively promote the area to the wider public (Chichibu Citationn.d.).
7 All quotes used in this paper are taken from interviews conducted in Japanese by the author between October 2020 and May 2023, and are translated in English by the author.
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Saskia Thoelen
Dr. Saskia Thoelen is a fashion art historian with a background in Japanese studies. She obtained her Ph.D. in Fashion Culture Theory at Bunka Gakuen University in Tokyo, and currently works as Assistant Professor for the Global Fashion Concentration MA program at the Graduate School of Fashion and Living Environment Studies at Bunka Gakuen University. Her research explores the activities of Japanese department stores and their promotion of kimono during the Art Nouveau period, as well as developments related to wasō and kimono design during in the current kimono boom. [email protected]