It’s hard for many people to believe that some of the boro garments and textiles on my webshop were actually made as late as the mid-twentieth century.  The photos presented here were taken by anthropologist John W. Bennett who was conducting research in Allied occupied Japan during the years 1948-1951.
The voluminous photos he shot in this brief span of time were conceived as a book.  Bennett’s words:  “The book has several identities. It is, first, a personal and photographic memoir of a unique episode in the author’s career. It is, as well, a report–but sans professional details–of a unique experiment in social analysis and research. And it is–at least to some extent–a picture of Japan after the Pacific War and before the country experienced its full national revival. The present book could be considered a last report in the series produced by the Research in Japanese Social Relations Project at The Ohio State University, funded by the Office of Naval Research and the Rockefeller Foundation.”
This portfolio of photos shows rural Japan, although Bennett documented the urban environment and also shot important cultural sites during his stint in Japan.For those of you familiar with Japanese farm clothing, these photos are an invaluable glimpse into the daily life of old Japan, and it’s startling to realize these images are less than 70 years old.By all means visit John W. Bennett’s website which is hosted by Ohio State University.  Bennett’s photographic prints, negatives, and documentary material  have since been donated to The Rare Books and Manuscripts Library at The Ohio State University.

An ema is a pictorial votive offering generally painted on a flat wooden surface. 

Seen as the messenger of human wishes to the world of the gods, horses were once given to Shinto shrines.  They were eventually replaced by ema (literally “picture horses”). 

For many years ema were presented as offering to heal physical disorders or illness, and they were painted with related symbols: eyes for eye problems, a catfish for skin problems, an octopus for warts, and so on. 

They were also offered when making a wish for success in battle or as thanks for a wish that had been granted.  In recent years their use has come to include wishes for success on tests, in marriage, in childbirth and so on. 

-From “The Forgotten Japanese: Encounters with Rural Life and Folklore,” Miyamoto TsuneichiThese two rustic ema illustrate very well the quote which leads in this post.   Obviously the ema, above, has to do with ailments of the hands, while the one below, has to do with the eyes.  Each probably dates to the mid twentieth century or so.And each is small: the ema depicting hands measures 5 1/4″ x 6″ or 13.25 cm x 15 cm while the ema depicting eyes measures 6 1/2″ x 7″ or 16.5 cm x 17.75 cm.

You can tell by the weathering and wear to each piece that they were hung outside in the elements for some time.

I really love these old, rustic, folk emas: with disembodied human organs set on a stage that is festooned with cloth bunting or crudely rendered heavenly clouds, they are wonderfully surreal.   I have others which I may show over time, if there is interest to see more.