Sailors and Fishermen

[glenn]

I have asked Fushiyama this off line.  I am interested in the garb of sailors and fishermen; any period pre-Showa.  I have done a Google Image search, so I have a pretty good idea of what Usho and guys with fishing poles standing on rocks wear.  I'm more interested in those who go to sea in boats and ships.  I used to play Norse in the SCA, Scots at Renn. Faire.  Now I'm trying to be a back to the land hippy on the Salish Sea (Admiralty Inlet, Straits of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound).  The climate here is nothing like Japan, but they came a hundred years ago and adapted.  I figured for at least the summer season, the Japanese clothes might work.

So far I've found a tendency for round necked undergarments and long undersleeves, kimono (used in the generic sense) with short, long and fitting or no sleeves, pants in lengths varying from full length, to shorts to none.  Kahyan commonly worn without shoes; sometimes waraji or zori are worn.  There is sometimes a shoulder piece behind the neck and coming part way down either side on the front; it appears to be a separate piece similar to that seen on Western sailor's jumpers.  And antique dealers want to sell me quilted indigo dyed fishermen's coats or robe at exorbitant prices.

Any guidance to references, preferably illustrated, would be greatly appreciated.  Oh yes, I own a copy of Marshall's book

[Deleted]

Jan 8, 2017 23:06:59 GMT -5 glenn said:

I have asked Fushiyama this off line.

Glenn means me.

So far I've found a tendency for round necked undergarments

Once you mentioned those net undergarments, I realized that I have seen those illustrated, but I have no idea what they really are beneath the rest of the clothing.

There is sometimes a shoulder piece behind the neck and coming part way down either side on the front; it appears to be a separate piece similar to that seen on Western sailor's jumpers.

Sometimes Japanese garments will have a separate piece of fabric wrapped over the collar and tacked in place. This is kind of a sweat-band for the garment to protect the actual neckband of the garment.

And antique dealers want to sell me quilted indigo dyed fishermen's coats or robe at exorbitant prices.

The Folkwear pattern for Japanese Field Clothing contains a pattern for a padded jacket, and you can learn to do the sashiko quilting stitching yourself.

[glenn]

Sorry, Ishiyama, _not_ Fushiyama.

I've seen the collar guards, this isn't like that. It's much more like I've described on 19th and 20th century sailors blouses. I can't tell if it's a loose piece tacked at the corners or if that is an artifact of sloppy block printing and the piece is sewn on; perhaps to protect the shoulders of the garment when carrying nets or other gear. My comment on the coats was just a humourous reference to how common the listings were, but thanks for the guide to the Folkwear pattern.

I'm about a quarter way through the archives here, and have gleaned a few more things. Near the beginning (chronologically) on page 33 there is a discussion of Dr. de Morga's account of Japanese in Manila [What would these clothes be?]. Otagiri refers to kawa-tabi and mentions that fishermen, boatmen and carpenters wore them; I would assume they might be the fore runners of the 20th C. jika-tabi.

This is a knowledgeable forum, I'll keep digging through the archives. Domo arigato to all you good folks.

Halfdan Ragnarsson
Marrowstone Holm
Salish Sea
Cascadia