The Stories Clothes Tell
Voices of Working-Class Japan
By (author) Tatsuichi Horikiri Translated by Rieko Wagoner
Publication date:
15 April 2016Length of book:
206 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersISBN-13: 9781442265103
Spanning decades of research, this compelling social history tells the stories of ordinary people in modern Japan. Tatsuichi Horikiri spent a lifetime searching out old items of clothing—ranging from everyday kimono, work clothes, uniforms, and futons to actor’s costumes, diapers, hats, aprons, and bags. Simultaneously he collected oral history accounts to shed light on those who used these items. Horikiri reveals not only the difficult and sometimes desperate lives of these people, most from the lower strata in early twentieth-century Japan, he illuminates their hopes, aspirations, and human values. He also explores such topics as textile techniques, the history of fashion, and the ethnography of clothing and related cultural phenomena.
Having been wrongly accused and tortured by the Japanese military police in China during World War II, Horikiri takes a deeply empathetic view of all those who struggle—from peasants and coal miners to traveling salesmen and itinerant performers. This personal connection sets his account apart, giving his writing great power and immediacy. Students and scholars of Japanese history, as well those interested in material culture, labor history, and feminist history, will find this book deeply illuminating.
Having been wrongly accused and tortured by the Japanese military police in China during World War II, Horikiri takes a deeply empathetic view of all those who struggle—from peasants and coal miners to traveling salesmen and itinerant performers. This personal connection sets his account apart, giving his writing great power and immediacy. Students and scholars of Japanese history, as well those interested in material culture, labor history, and feminist history, will find this book deeply illuminating.
This work touched my heart as much as my head. It brilliantly captures the human spirit of working-class Japanese in the first half of the twentieth century: farmers, schoolgirls, laborers, miners, housewives, soldiers. Drawing on his massive collection of the threadbare clothes that people wore, Horikiri gives us thirty-one stories full of haunting sadness and dignified resilience along with his own trenchant observations about Japanese life and values. His reflections on war should be read by everyone.