< > After WWII, Japanese culture became increasingly Americanized. As cloth rationing persisted until 1951, people stopped wearing kimono as they had to be made at home from repurposed fabrics. The Japanese government feared the decline of historic techniques, so in the 1950s, laws were promulgated to protect cultural properties, such as particular techniques of weaving and…

< > Until the 1930s, the majority of Japanese woman still wore kimono, and Western clothes were mainly worn out of home and on certain occasions. As early as 1939, cotton shortages prompted regulations in textile production. Kimono factories shut down, and the government encouraged instead woman to wear monpe trousers constructed from old kimono. Popular women’s magazines provided…

< > In the Japanese colonies Korea and Taiwan, the imperial policy from 1910 onwards required people to undergo cultural assimilation by eradicating their own national identity. This was enforced by the educational systems and policies which also regulated public behavior and clothing. In Taiwan, Western, Japanese, and Taiwanese-style dress coexisted at the same time. Women…

< > Towards the Meiji period, people were trying more to adapt, and at the same time maintain a collective identity. Aware of the changes in society people were trying to reduce the influence of the West by leading a double life 二重生 活 nijyuu seikatsu , with a private Japanese and a public Western part. Yofuku clothing were…

< > During Meiji era kimonos imported from Japan became increasingly fashionable in the West. Modern clothing reform movements in Europe and America at the time popularized the kimono as a garment alternative to the tight-fitting corsets. Those were being seen as uncomfortable and unhealthy and also as symbols of confinement of women to their traditional…