"Just Japanese"
Resources on Japanese costume, textiles,
etc. Part 1.
This list got so long, I had
to divide it in two. Some entries are annotated. If something isn’t annotated,
that isn’t a criticism. Most of these resources are in my personal collection
so that means I like them and would buy them again.
---------------------------------------------------------------
KIMONO CULTURE
Allert, Kathy Japanese Girl and Boy paper dolls.
Dover, 1991. Too cute.
Children in various
traditional costumes.
Brown, Kendall and Sharon
Minichiello. Taisho Chic: Japanese
Modernity, Nostalgia, and Deco. Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2002.
Gorgeous exhibit.
Coloring book of Japan. Santa Barbara: Bellerophon Books, c1971.
Dalby, Liza Crihfield. Kimono: fashioning culture. Yale
Univ.Press, 1993. The development of the kimono. Current use and social
implications. Good coverage on Heian period costume and Tokugawa through modern
period. Unfortunately, the shogunate
period ca. 1100-1600 is not addressed.
Dreams of Empire: Japanese Propaganda Textiles.
Exhibition catalogue. MHJ Collection, 2011.
From an exhibit at the San
Francisco Arts of Pacific Asia Show, Feb. 2011.
Five Centuries of Japanese Kimono: on this sleeve of
fondest dreams.
Michael Sittenfeld, ed. Art
Institute of Chicago, 1992. (Museum Studies vol. 18; no.1) Includes 2 essays on Noh costume.
Four Centuries of fashion: classical kimono from the
Kyoto National Museum. Asian Art
Museum of San Francisco, 1997. Exhibit catalogue for Feb.5-Mar23, 1997.
Fukai, Akiko, and Jun Kanai. Japonism in Fashion. Kyoto, Japan:
Kyoto Costume Institute, 1996. Exhibition Catalog. Depicts influence of Japanese design on European couture fashion,
mostly early 20th century. Text in Japanese, but copious wonderful
illustrations. Essay in English by the author at: http://www.kci.or.jp/research/dresstudy/pdf/e_Fukai_Japonism_in_Fashion.pdf
Gluckman, Dale C. and Sharon
Sadako Takeda. When art became fashion:
kosode in Edo-period Japan. L.A.
County Museum of Art, 1992.
Green, John. Life in Old Japan coloring book. Dover, 1994.
Black and white drawings,
probably based on paintings and prints from the Edo period (ca 1600-1857)
Hayao, Ishimura. Robes of elegance: Japanese kimonos of the
16th-20th centuries. North Carolina Museum of Art, 1988.
Hays, Mary and Ralph. Fukusa:
the Shojiro Nomura Fukusa Collection. Mills College Art Gallery, 1983. ex.
cat. Fukusa are special wrappings for gifts.
Horn, Diane Victoria. Japanese
Kimono Designs. Stemmer House, 1991.
(International Design
Library) Large black and white
illustrations, almost a coloring book.
Emphasis on historical costume.
44 p.
Hutt, Julia and Helene
Alexander. Ogi: a History of the
Japanese Fan.
London: Dauphin, 1992.
Itchiku tsujigahana: Landscape Kimonos by Itchiku
Kubota. National Museum of Natural
History, 1995.
Japonism in Fashion,
“An ongoing research project
on Japonisme in women's Western fashion”
http://japonismefashion.tumblr.com/
Kennedy, Alan. Japanese Costume: History and tradition.
Greenwich Editions, 1990. Historic kimonos, Noh costumes, Kesa.
The Kimono inspiration: art and art-to-wear in America
/ Rebecca Stevens and Yoshiko Wada,
ed. Washington DC: The Textile Museum ;
San Francisco: Pomegranate, 1996. Discusses the influence of the Kimono on
American painters and on the wearable art movement in the U.S.
Liddell, Jill. The
Story of the Kimono. E.P. Dutton, 1989.
The Makioka Sisters (The Criterion Collection) (DVD) Directed by Kon Ichikawa, Produced
by Toho Eizo Co., 1983. Gorgeous, gorgeous kimono
and exquisite depiction of a long lost way of life. Heavy on the melodrama.
Book and film available on
Amazon, reasonably priced esp. for a Criterion product
Milhaupt, Terry Satsuki. Kimono:
A Modern History. Reaktion Books, 2014
Minnich, Helen Benton (in
collaboration with Shojiro Nomura) Japanese
costume and the makers of its elegant tradition. Rutland: C.E. Tuttle,
1963.
Munsterberg, Hugo. The Japanese Kimono. Oxford University
Press, 1996.
(Images of Asia) small book, ca. 8x 5 inches, 74 p.
Noma, Seiroku. Japanese costume and textile arts (Kosode
to No isho). Weatherhill/Heibonsha, 1974. (v. 16 in: Survey of Japanese
Art).
Nomura, Shojiro and Tsutomu
Ema. Japanese kimono Designs. Dover,
2006.
Sibbet, Ed. Japanese Prints coloring book. Dover,
1982.
Based on Ukiyo-e prints
dating from 1714 to 1857 including Utamaro, Hokusai, and Hiroshige.
Stinchecum, Amanda. Kosode: 16-19th century textiles from the
Nomura collection. Japan Society, Kodansha, 1984.
Till, Barry and Paula Swart. Kesa: the elegance of Japanese monks' robes.
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1996.
Ukiyo-e: 250 years of Japanese art. Neuer, Roni [et al.] Mayflower Books, 1981.
Reproductions of woodblock prints from the Edo/Tokugawa era.
Yamanaka, Norio. The Book of Kimono. Kodansha, 1986.
(Shows how the kimono is put on from the skin up, how to tie obi, how to put on
hakama.)
Yang, Sunny and Rochelle M.
Narasin. Textile Art of Japan.
Shufunomoto, 1989. Includes some modern clothing and interior designs using
traditional textiles.
Yumioka, Katsumi. Kimono and the Colors of Japan: Kimono
Collection of Katsumi Yumioka. Tokyo: PIE BOOKS, 2005.
In Japanese and English. 240 p. of gorgeous illustrations. Total eye-candy.
PERIODICALS
Arts of Asia: March-April 1991
“A Textile Treasury in the
Seattle Art Museum” William Jay Rathbun. pp 106-115. Ainu and folk garments.
Arts of Asia:
August 2006
“Evolution of the Japanese
Haori“ Terry Warth.
“Obi Zuan: Japan’s Unseen
Paintings” George R Godoy.
“Wrapping-cloth of Korea in
the Choson Dynasty” Youong-Jae Lee.
MORE THAN YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT GEISHA
Search “Geisha” on Youtube.
Aihara, Kyoko. GEISHA: A living tradition. London:
Carlton Books, 1999.
Dalby, Liza Crihfield. Geisha. Vintage Books, 1985. Story of
Dalby's life as a geisha/anthropologist in Kyoto.
Fictionalized into a 1986 TV
movie “American Geisha” with Pam
Dawber as “Gillian Burke.” Filmed in Kyoto and Tokyo. It got bad reviews but I
liked it. Wish I could find it to buy/download.
… Geisha Blues (DVD) Running time: 30 min. Geisha songs, with
“evocative images and text in both English and Japanese.”
GEISHA: Beyond the Painted Smile. Peabody Essex Museum, 2004.
Essays by Liza Dalby and
others.
Memoirs of a Geisha (DVD) Running time 145 mins. Directed by Rob Marshall; written by
Arthur Golden and Robin Swicord. Starring Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Michelle
Yeoh, Gong Li.
Many of us found it
disappointing that they cast Chinese actresses in the lead roles. Beautiful ladies but they aren’t Japanese.
Wish they could have found real Geisha! But it’s totally worth seeing for the
beautiful sets and costumes by Colleen Atwood. And it’s only $6 on Amazon!
Non-fiction but no pictures
Iwasaki, Mineko. Geisha, A Life. Atria Books 2002
Iwasaki, Mineko. Geisha of Gion:The True Story of Japan's
Foremost Geisha. Simon & Schuster, 2002.
Masuda, Sayo. Autobiography of a Geisha. Trans. by G.
G. Rowley
Columbia University Press,
2003
