INTERNATIONAL  JOINT  SEMINAR:  BRIDGING  BRITAIN  AND  THE  FAR  EAST      Co-­‐organized  by  JSPS,  the  following  are  synopses  of  presentations  given  during  the  Scientific  Research  on  Transboundary  Contemporary  Japanese  Fashion  (Transboundary  Fashion  Seminar  1.2),  in  conjunction  with  the  Fashion  and  Translation:  Britain,  Japan,  China,  Korea  (Workshop  3)  on  February  13th  and  14th  2015  at  Bunka  Gakuen  University  in  Tokyo.      

Sheila  Cliffe  

The  Role  of  ‘Jouhou  Tonya’  (Middleman  for  Diffusion  of  Kimono  Information)  

First  I  outlined  the  history  of  my  activities  as  a  go-­‐between  transferring  information  about  kimono  from  Japan  to  Western  countries.  After  coming  to  Japan  in  1985,  I  fell  in  love  with  kimono  and  started  collecting  them  as  well  as  learning  how  to  dress,  and  dress  others  at  a  kimono  dressing  school.  I  started  writing  about  kimono  in  academic  articles  and  did  kimono  dressings  as  well  as  presenting  at  academic  conferences  and  planning  several  kimono  exhibitions  in  the  UK  and  Dubai.  I  also  did  a  successful  yuzen  dyeing  masterclass  with  fashion  students  at  a  UK  university  with  the  sponsorship  of  the  Japan  Foundation.I  did  everything  I  could  to  spread  information  about  kimono  as  both  magnificent  textiles  and  as  a  fashion  system,  in  the  West.  After  failing  to  convince  publishers  that  there  was  a  market  for  a  kimono  book,  I  pursued  a  PhD  at  the  University  of  Leeds  UK.  This  was  partly  to  justify  my  position  as  “The  Kimono  Lady”  and  partly  as  a  strategy  to  be  able  to  write  a  book.  I  also  made  it  my  mission  to  experience  as  many  of  the  processes  as  possible  that  are  involved  in  making  kimono.  Through  networking  and  doing  my  PhD  I  was  able  to  work  more  effectively  to  follow  trends  and  to  update  people  about  the  kimono  scene  in  Tokyo.  I  am  recently  increasingly  being  used  to  discuss  trends  and  marketing  to  people  within  the  kimono  industry,  rather  than  talking  about  kimono  to  people  outside  Japan.  I  am  now  finally  working  on  the  book  that  I  believe  will  update  the  world  on  the  status  of  kimono  in  Japanese  society  today.  

Anna  Jackson  

Kimono  as  Fashion/Fashioning  a  kimono  exhibition  

This  paper  explored  the  idea  of  kimono  as  fashion,  both  in  Japan  and  Britain,  historically  and  in  the  modern  world,  with  the  aim  of  developing  themes  for  an  exhibition  which  could  be  one  of  the  outcomes  of  the  ‘Fashion  and  Translation’  project.  Due  to  its  fairly  standard  shape,  the  kimono  is  often  seen  as  a  simple,  unchanging  garment.    It  is  ‘traditional’,  while  ‘modernity’,  and  by  extension  ‘fashion’,  is  something  that  only  occurred  in  Japan  when  the  country  embraced  western  clothing  styles.  The  aim  of  

an  exhibition  would  be  to  counter  this  and  to  demonstrate  that,  from  as  early  as  the  17th  century,  the  foundations  of  a  fashion  system  were  established.  The  merchant  class  desire  for  the  latest  kimono  designs  and  the  significance  of  fashionable  dress  within  urban  culture,  the  stimulus  this  provided  to  production,  and  the  subsequent  commercial  exploitation  of  consumer  demand  by  textile  makers,  sellers  and  publishers  would  be  explored.  The  story  of  the  kimono  as  fashion  in  Japan  would  continue  with  an  examination  of  developments  in  the  late  19th  and  20th  centuries,  culminating  in  the  revival  of  kimono  fashion  in  21st  century  Japan.  Running  parallel,  the  story  of  the  kimono  in  Britain  would  be  addressed.  The  narrative  would  focus  on  the  late  19th  century  to  the  present  day,  and  examine  how  alternative  notions  of  identity  were  fashioned  through  the  wearing  of  a  garment  that  signified  something  artistic,  exotic,  erotic,  and  non-­‐conformist.  Also  to  be  explored  is  the  influence  that  the  kimono  has  had  on  British  fashion,  from  the  first  decades  of  the  20th  century  to  the  way  in  which  the  formal  and  symbolic  shaping  of  Japanese  dress  has  been  translated  by  contemporary  designers.          

 

Hyewon  Lee  and  Alice  S.  Kim  

Monpe  Modern:  Militarized  Imperial  Uniformity,  Laboring  Female  Bodies,  and  Class    

Monpe  refers  to  loose  wide-­‐legged  pants  cinched  at  the  ankles  and  tied  at  the  waist.  As  revealed  by  its  Japanese  name,  monpe  was  first  introduced  as  a  colonial  import,  and  became  the  first  type  of  pants  worn  by  Korean  women.  In  this  paper  we  look  at  how  the  introduction  and  historical  evolution  of  monpe  charts  an  interesting  course  in  the  modernization  of  women’s  clothing  in  Korea,  keying  into  changing  definitions  of  femininity  and  women’s  roles  as  well  as  the  intersection  of  colonial  militarism  and  modernity.  We  look  at  how  monpe  is  both  situated  within  the  evolution  of  modern  women’s  fashion  yet  falls  outside  the  dual  trajectory  of  Western  dress  vs.  modernized  ‘traditional’  Korean  clothing  styles  that  had  developed  since  Korea’s  opening  in  the  late  19th  century.    Relatedly,  we  also  look  at  the  ways  in  which  it  was  both  largely  rejected  by  the  ‘modern  girl’  in  Korea,  while  at  the  same  time  taken  up  by  the  broader  female  population.    We  then  turn  to  the  continuity  and  shifts  in  its  uses  and  meanings  in  the  postcolonial  period.  Shifting  our  focus  to  monpe  in  lieu  of  the  Korean  ‘hanbok’  or  Western  style  dress,  we  seek  to  grasp  a  ‘new  woman’  that  comes  into  view  that  is  more  inclusive  of  the  mass  of  Korean  women’s  experiences  of  modernity  than  that  of  the  small  group  of  elites,  intellectuals,  study  abroad  students,  or  new  urban  consumers  that  predominate  the  subject  and  discourse  of  the  ‘modern  girl.’  In  our  consideration  of  monpe  as  an  important  instance  of  transnational  cultural  translation  and  the  women  who  wore  them,  we  seek  to  both  expand  our  understandings  of  the  new  woman  and  modern  fashion,  while  highlighting  the  impact  and  significance  of  militarized  modernity  in  Korean  clothing  culture.    

 

Helen  Persson  

Made  in  China?  The  challenges  of  assigning  provenance  in  a  global  fashion  world.  

Museum  collections  are  usually  arranged  according  to  material,  and  or  to  countries  of  origin.  So  also  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  in  London.  The  East  Asian  section  are  responsible  for  objects  

(metalwork,  sculpture,  textiles  and  dress  etc.)  made  in  China,  Japan  and  Korea.  However,  in  an  increasingly  global  society  these  divisions  are  no  longer  as  clear  cut.    

This  paper  is  preparatory  work  and  initial  thoughts  for  my  next  research  project  on  Chinese  textiles,  for  which  the  main  questions  I  want  to  address  are:  When  is  an  object  Chinese?  Does  it  have  to  be  made  in  China,  by  a  Chinese  designer  or  craftsperson,  and  used  in  China  by  Chinese  people?  Does  it  have  to  be  based  on  Chinese  traditions  and  craftsmanship?  And  what  about  the  textiles  which  are  made  purely  for  export?  The  paper  will  look  at  examples  from  the  V&A  collection,  starting  with  14th-­‐century  textile  fragments  found  in  Egypt  to  show  that  globalisation  is  not  new  phenomenon  and  end  with  contemporary  Chinese  fashion  designers.  It  will  present  the  challenges  and  detective  work  required  when  working  with  museum  collections,  and  the  importance  of  cross-­‐departmental  collaboration.  

 

Akiko  Savas  

Japan-­‐British  Relations  in  Fashion:  Kimonos  for  the  British  Market  at  the  Beginning  of  the  20th  Century  

This   paper   clarifies   the   significance   that   kimonos   had   in   the   British   fashion   industry   at   the  beginning  of   the  20th   century  and  who  was  active   in  promoting   their  popularity   throughout  Britain.   It  also  examines  colour  trends  developed  in  kimonos  for  the  British  market.  In  the  early  20th  century,  large  numbers  of  kimonos   specially  designed   for   the  Western  market  were  exported   to  Britain,  where   they  were  sold   in  shops  and  department  stores   in  and  around  London.  This  made   it  possible   for  anyone  to  easily   obtain   kimonos,   in   contrast   to   the   19th   century,  when   only   the   people  who   collected   Japanese  goods  were  interested  in  kimonos.  Thus,  the  phenomenon  of  ʻJapan  Crazeʼ  in  British  fashion  history  was  most   significant   in   the   1900s   –   1910s. These   kinds   of   kimonos  were   brought   to   Britain   by   Japanese  manufacturers,   such   as   Takashimaya,   who   traded   in   kimonos   abroad.   Takashimaya   had   an   office   in  London   and   it   is   highly   possible   that   their   kimonos   were   ordered,   imported   and   sold   in   London   by  Japanese   goods   merchants   such   as   Singleton   Benda   and   Co.   According   to   documented   reports,   the  colours   of   kimonos   needed   to   be   “subdued”   in   the   British   market.   This   was   a   reflection   of   British  demand   in   the   course   of   the   trade   between   Japan   and   Britain.   This   change   proved   to   be   a   highly  effective  'translation'  from  Japanese  culture  to  the  very  different  cultural  language  of  British  society.  

 

Toby  Slade  

Recent  Mistranslations:  The  Gap  in  Meaning  in  Contemporary  Japanese  Fashion  This  paper  examines  the  gap  in  social  meaning  between  fashions  that  originated  outside  of  

Japan  and  the  meanings  they  take  on  inside  Japan.  The  uses  that  clothing  is  put  to;  social,  psychological,  expressing  class,  gender  and  even  imperial  power  are  contrasted  with  the  every-­‐present  possibility  that  clothing  can  become  meaningless,  or  purely  aesthetic.  Beginning  with  the  1926  Shiseido  editorial  that  advised  women  could  get  a  modern  girl  look  but  without  any  of  the  attendant  social  meanings  this  paper  argues  that,  because  of  its  unique  geopolitical  history,  Japanese  fashion  was  able  to  develop  a  space  of  pure  play  where  fashion  can  be  used  in  a  playful  and  disposable  way  separate  from  any  essential  national  or  personal  identity.  It  is  argued  that  to  a  far  greater  degree  than  in  Britain  and  elsewhere,  Japanese  fashion  is  a  form  of  play  and  to  a  lesser  degree  a  tool  for  creating  and  expressing  a  

permanent  selfhood.  Fashion  is  regarded  more  as  an  aesthetic  activity  and  its  other  social  meanings  and  functions  as  provocations  are  disregarded  because  of  its  categorisation  within  this  realm  of  play.  After  a  brief  summary  of  the  history  of  the  fashion  press  in  Japan  the  paper  then  examines  these  disconnections  in  the  realms  of  class,  sex  and  rebellion  within  recent  Japanese  fashion  magazines.  Examining  ways  contexts  and  connotations  of  foreignness  are  used  in  these  magazines  the  paper  then  examines  the  most  prevalent  concept  of  cute  and  how  it  consists  of  the  ultimate  refusal  to  take  seriously  the  social  meanings  of  clothes.  A  message  repeated  in  the  Japanese  fashion  press  since  the  1920s  persists:  because  you  are  Japanese  you  can  play  with  foreignness  without  ever  taking  it  completely  seriously.  

Samuel  Thomas  A  Warped  Lens  –  Negotiating  Cool  Japan  on  the  Global  Stage  

Cool  Japan  exists  in  both  a  formalized  governmental  state,  and  in  cultural  consciousness  as  a  means  by  which  to  capitalize  on  Japan’s  indisputable  international  cultural  cache.    However,  Japan’s  enviable  soft  power  has  yet  to  be  fully  harnessed  on  the  global  stage,  not  for  want  of  source  material,  but  for  the  degree  of  difficulty  in  effectively  transmitting  this  material  across  transcultural  borders.    This  presentation  explores  from  a  journalistic  perspective  a  number  of  factors  that  contribute  to  said  difficulty,  but  also  opens  the  debate  as  to  whether  localization  is  needed  to  tailor  Japan’s  cultural  cache  for  an  international  audience,  or  alternatively,  whether  this  metaphorical  “warped  lens”  actually  harms  the  longevity  and  potential  of  Cool  Japan.    Ultimately  while  this  presentation  focuses  on  the  role  that  journalists  play  in  transmitting  Japanese  culture  abroad,  it  also  posits  that  there  is  a  greater  issue  that  must  be  addressed  before  Cool  Japan  can  be  deployed  overseas,  and  that  is  to  address  the  degree  to  which  the  concept  is  understood  domestically,  within  the  context  of  Japan.    In  effect,  as  this  presentation  concludes,  Cool  Japan  must  first  and  foremost  be  thought  of  and  developed  in  Japan  before  it  can  begin  the  process  of  reaching  a  global  audience.