Miyuki Otaka

Česká sekce INSEA
Jun 29
2 min read

Updated: Jul 5

3.24 The 2024 Exhibition Wars Inhabited in the Early-Showa Japanese Costume Designs as a Communication Medium (Paper) – virtual

Miyuki Otaka – The Open University of Japan, Japan – virtual

Abstract:

In modern Japan after the Meiji Restoration, when people wore traditional costumes in their everyday life, designs reflecting the advent of a new era began to appear on the hidden parts of traditional costumes, including the liners of haori jackets, haura, and underwear, as well as on the outers of children’s kimonos, regardless of gender. As for war-related designs, some of these motifs indicated international wars in which Japan was involved beginning with the Sino-Japanese War (1894–95). In today’s Japan, the existence of such war-related designs has been forgotten partly because of the decline of traditional Japanese costumes wearing. Moreover, these designs have rarely been considered significant historical evidence.

Therefore, based on my study, I designed and organized the exhibition Wars Inhabited in the Early-Showa Japanese Costume Designs in the summer of 2024 at the Kyoto Museum for World Peace, Ritsumeikan University, to introduce surviving war-related designs on Japanese costumes for adult men, women, and boys from the early Showa period (Showa 1–15 / 1926–40), along with textbooks, New Year’s cards, toys, and tobacco packages, among others, presented in their historical context.

As a citizen-applied exhibition accepted by the museum, this exhibition examined the fact that war-related costume designs existed prior to the Asia-Pacific War and during the Manchurian Incident (1931–32) and the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–45), with the hope visitors could explore the characteristics of these designs and think further about contemporary militaristic imagery. This relevance is underscored by the fact that wars continue in many parts of the world today. I will discuss how the museum exhibition served as a significant communication medium, drawing on this exhibition and the various communication materials in Japanese and English I provided, and visitor feedback collected in exhibition questionnaires and through related programs, including those designed for people with visual disabilities.