The textile industry and design strategies in the Meiji era Japan: The case of the Nishimura Sozaemon family

The textile industry and design strategies in the Meiji era Japan: The case of the Nishimura Sozaemon family

HATA, Tomoko

Article:

At the time of the Meiji crisis, the Japanese textile industry had been utilising techniques derived from Western technology and promoting its export industry. Textile industry has played an important role in Japan’s emergence onto the international stage as a major modern industrial power. Nishimura Sozaemon’s family has a long history as a Japanese textile wholesaler and even now operate under the name Chiso Co. Ltd. It has exhibited artistic embroidery and yuzen-dyeing textiles both domestically and internationally. Nishimura Sozaemon combined textile products with the traditional Japanese paintings of Kishi Chikudo, Imao Keinen, and others. He aspired not only to promote the textile industry but also to demonstrate the high standards of Japanese textile quality as an art and to display Japanese pride on the world stage.

At the time of the Meiji crisis, the Japanese textile industry had been utilising techniques derived from Western technology and promoting its export industry. Textile industry has played an important role in Japan’s emergence onto the international stage as a major modern industrial power. Nishimura Sozaemon’s family has a long history as a Japanese textile wholesaler and even now operate under the name Chiso Co. Ltd. It has exhibited artistic embroidery and yuzen-dyeing textiles both domestically and internationally. Nishimura Sozaemon combined textile products with the traditional Japanese paintings of Kishi Chikudo, Imao Keinen, and others. He aspired not only to promote the textile industry but also to demonstrate the high standards of Japanese textile quality as an art and to display Japanese pride on the world stage.

Palavras-chave:

DOI: 10.5151/despro-icdhs2016-01_003

Referências bibliográficas

• [1] A History of Chiso- 460 years of Tradition and Inovation (2015) Kyoto, The Museum of Kyoto & Chiso Co. Ltd.
• [2] Hiroko T McDermott & Clare Pollard (2012), Threads of Silk and Gold, Ornamental Textile from Meiji Japan, The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
• [3] Mikuni Ikkaku, Waraigusa, (1896) private publishing
• [4] History of Mikuni-cho, (1964).Mikuni-cho
• [5] Murakami Bunga, History of Modern Yuzen-dyeing (1927), Unsodo
• [6] Kuroda Yuzuru, Records of Visiting Kyoto families (1899), Goshishoho

Como citar:

HATA, Tomoko; "The textile industry and design strategies in the Meiji era Japan: The case of the Nishimura Sozaemon family", p-15-18. In: Wong, Wendy Siuyi; Kikuchi, Yuko & Lin, Tingyi (Eds.). <strong>Making Trans/National Contemporary Design History [=ICDHS 2016 – 10th Conference of the International Committee for Design History & Design Studies]</strong>. São Paulo: Blucher, 2016.
ISSN 23186968, DOI 10.5151/despro-icdhs2016-01_003