Double-sided obi with brown bird design and brown and gold swirls on blue-green design

過去の展覧会

Textured Lives

Japanese Immigrant Clothing from the Plantations of Hawai`i

Barbara Kawakami Collection

The Barbara Kawakami Collection at the Japanese American National Museum is the most significant collection of Issei (first generation Japanese) immigration and plantation clothing in the world. It is an extensive collection of textiles and other artifacts from late 19th century through the 20th century gathered by author and scholar Barbara Kawakami primarily in Hawai‘i.

Hawaii-based author, expert storyteller and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing Barbara Kawakami (1921- ) was born in Okkogamura, Kumamoto, Japan and raised from infancy on the Oahu Sugar Plantation in Waipahu, Hawai‘i. Like many Nisei (second generation Japanese American) children who grew up on a plantation, Kawakami’s education ended in the eighth grade out of economic necessity and she became a dressmaker for thirty-eight years. After passing the General Equivalency Diploma (GED) exam in Honolulu, Kawakami went on to receive a B.S. in textile and clothing and a M.A. in Asian Studies after the age of fifty.

During the course of her research on Japanese immigrants to Hawai‘i in her senior year at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Kawakami discovered a lack of information about clothing worn by immigrants on the plantations. She began conducting interviews in the summer of 1979 and collecting rare samples of clothing and photographs. Her plantation background served her well in creating a rapport with Issei and others who had lived in a plantation setting. Over roughly fifteen years, she recorded over 250 interviews with the aging Issei, many of them picture brides, capturing their memories of the struggles of immigration and the harsh conditions of working and living on the plantation and linking their stories directly to the clothing they crafted and wore. She is a published author and continues to write and lecture.

View the Collection

Barbara Kawakami Collection

2010年02月28日-08月22日

Japanese American National Museum

Barbara Kawakami Collection

In 2004 the Japanese American National Museum received for its permanent collection the beautiful and unique plantation-era textiles and clothing from scholar and author, Barbara Kawakami. As a dressmaker and seamstress from Waipahu, Hawai‘i, Kawakami painstakingly began collecting these textiles in the 1970s. Through her intimate conversations with Issei women, Kawakami’s research led her on a captivating journey from the villages of Japan to the plantations of Hawai‘i, and illuminated the complex relationship between old traditions and new plantation culture.

To protect their bodies from the unrelenting sun and sharp sugarcane leaves, some of the Issei women, who had brought with them their knowledge of traditional fabric making and sewing, were forced to refashion their prized kimono into “plantation clothing”—a melding of Japanese, Portuguese, and Chinese styles. Others, who had the means to bring other clothing, wrapped and stored their handmade kimono as treasured belongings.

Through Textured Lives, the National Museum is able to celebrate the textiles themselves as a unique part of our history, and also give a voice to the unknown stories that the textiles embody—the innumerable hardships, ingenuity, and adaptability of the early Japanese immigrants to Hawai‘i.

 

Major support for this exhibition is generously provided by: 

The Hiroaki, Elaine & Lawrence Kono Foundation

Additional support from Aratani Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Nippon Foundation, UCLA Paul I. & Hisako Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, and Members and Donors of the Japanese American National Museum.

Media Sponsors:  KSCI sponsor logo for Textured Lives exhibit  LA Downtown News sponsor logo Rafu Shimpo sponsor logo

Reception Sponsors:  Hakatsuru Sake sponsor logoKirin sponsor logo

Barbara Kawakami Collection

2010年02月28日-08月22日

Japanese American National Museum

Barbara Kawakami Collection

In 2004 the Japanese American National Museum received for its permanent collection the beautiful and unique plantation-era textiles and clothing from scholar and author, Barbara Kawakami. As a dressmaker and seamstress from Waipahu, Hawai‘i, Kawakami painstakingly began collecting these textiles in the 1970s. Through her intimate conversations with Issei women, Kawakami’s research led her on a captivating journey from the villages of Japan to the plantations of Hawai‘i, and illuminated the complex relationship between old traditions and new plantation culture.

To protect their bodies from the unrelenting sun and sharp sugarcane leaves, some of the Issei women, who had brought with them their knowledge of traditional fabric making and sewing, were forced to refashion their prized kimono into “plantation clothing”—a melding of Japanese, Portuguese, and Chinese styles. Others, who had the means to bring other clothing, wrapped and stored their handmade kimono as treasured belongings.

Through Textured Lives, the National Museum is able to celebrate the textiles themselves as a unique part of our history, and also give a voice to the unknown stories that the textiles embody—the innumerable hardships, ingenuity, and adaptability of the early Japanese immigrants to Hawai‘i.

 

Major support for this exhibition is generously provided by: 

The Hiroaki, Elaine & Lawrence Kono Foundation

Additional support from Aratani Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Nippon Foundation, UCLA Paul I. & Hisako Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, and Members and Donors of the Japanese American National Museum.

Media Sponsors:  KSCI sponsor logo for Textured Lives exhibit  LA Downtown News sponsor logo Rafu Shimpo sponsor logo

Reception Sponsors:  Hakatsuru Sake sponsor logoKirin sponsor logo

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