■ Details

• Era: c. 1950s–1970s (Showa Period)
• Material: 100% Cotton
• Origin: Bingo Region, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
• Maker: YAMAKI

Monpe are traditional Japanese work trousers born in the farming villages of rural Japan. Their distinctive silhouette — relaxed through the hips and tapered toward the ankle — was designed for freedom of movement in the fields. A tie waist and elasticated hem cuffs make them adaptable to any body type, comfortable through long hours of physical work. In the postwar era of Japan's rapid economic growth, monpe spread across the country as the everyday garment of working people.

Today, monpe are quietly gaining recognition far beyond Japan. Among vintage collectors, textile researchers, and slow fashion advocates in Europe and North America, Japanese rural workwear has become a subject of serious interest — valued not as costume, but as honest craft. In a world reacting against fast fashion, the appeal of a garment with real history, real material, and real purpose has never felt more relevant.

This particular pair was made by YAMAKI, a ready-to-wear manufacturer active during the early days of Japan's garment industry in the Showa period. Unlike monpe sewn at home by hand, these were produced by a maker — a quiet distinction that gives them a different kind of character. The fabric is Bingo Kasuri, an indigo-dyed ikat cotton woven in the Bingo region of Hiroshima Prefecture, long celebrated as one of Japan's finest kasuri-producing areas. Both the YAMAKI brand tag and the care label (100% Cotton / C-HR 3690) are intact.

For those drawn to a life close to the earth, to slow living, to owning only things that are genuinely made — this is that kind of garment.

→ Explore more Japanese vintage workwear in our NORAGI Collection

■ Measurements

* Measurements are approximate. Minor variations may occur.

■ Condition

Some staining is present. The elastic at the hem cuffs has lost its stretch. This is a vintage item — please read carefully before purchasing.

• We have laundered this item twice before listing.
• A faint vintage odor may remain. This is characteristic of aged textiles.
• We ship items compressed, which may result in creasing upon arrival.
• Returns and exchanges are not accepted for damage or odor that occurs after purchase, including through washing or wear.
• Please purchase only if you fully understand and accept the nature of vintage goods.