Someone Removed the Lining: A Mid-Showa Kasuri Noragi and the Marks of Adaptation
The lining of this noragi has been removed. Not lost, not deteriorated — removed. Someone took it out deliberately, at some point in the decades since this garment was made. We do not know why. Perhaps the lining had worn out while the outer fabric remained good. Perhaps the garment was being adapted for a different use. Perhaps the lining was needed for something else. The reason is gone with the person who made the decision. What remains is the kasuri cotton outer — and the fact of the removal, which is itself a piece of the garment's history.
This noragi was made during the mid-Showa period, somewhere in the 1950s to 1960s. It is 61cm from back neck base to hem — short, even for a noragi, the kind of length that keeps the garment out of the way during active work. The sleeve length is 23cm — extremely short, designed to keep the sleeves clear of the hands and arms during labor. The chest is 60cm, the shoulder 60.5cm. The miyatsuguchi — the traditional side-body openings at the underarm — are present. Small holes and areas of missing stitching are present throughout.
The Kasuri: A Weave That Blurs Intentionally
Kasuri — the Japanese term for ikat — is a weaving technique in which the threads are resist-dyed before weaving, creating a pattern that is slightly blurred at the edges. The blur is not a defect; it is the defining characteristic of the technique, the visual quality that distinguishes kasuri from other patterned fabrics. The pattern is woven into the structure of the cloth rather than printed on its surface, which means it does not fade or crack or separate from the fabric with washing.
Kasuri was one of the most common fabrics for everyday workwear in the mid-Showa period. It was practical — durable, washable, the pattern present in the weave rather than on the surface — and it was visually distinctive in a way that plain or striped fabrics were not. The particular blur of the kasuri pattern gives this noragi a visual character that no contemporary production fabric can replicate: the pattern is present and legible, but soft at the edges, alive in the way that hand-controlled dyeing always is.
The Short Sleeve: Built for Work
The sleeve length of this noragi is 23cm — measured from the shoulder peak to the cuff. This is extremely short by any standard. It is not a design choice in the contemporary sense; it is a functional specification. A work jacket with short sleeves keeps the fabric away from the hands and arms during labor — away from tools, away from soil, away from the friction of physical work. The short sleeve is the sleeve of a garment that was made to be worn while doing things with the hands.
In contemporary wear, the short sleeve reads differently: as a design detail, as a proportion that is unusual and therefore interesting, as a quality that distinguishes the garment from any contemporary jacket. The functional origin of the short sleeve does not disappear in contemporary use — it remains present as the reason the sleeve is the length it is — but it acquires a visual dimension that it did not have when the garment was made for work.
Size and Condition
Era: Mid-Showa (1950s–1960s). Material: Cotton (kasuri). Miyatsuguchi present. Back length approx. 61cm / 24.0in. Chest approx. 60cm / 23.6in. Shoulder width approx. 60.5cm / 23.8in. Sleeve length approx. 23cm / 9.1in. Sleeve width approx. 20.5cm / 8.1in. Cuff width approx. 17cm / 6.7in. Lining removed and missing. Small holes and areas of missing stitching throughout. Washed twice in-house. Vintage scent may remain. One of a kind.