According to ‘The History of the Meriyasu (stocking stitch) in Japan’ , quoted by Mr Matushita, the hand knitted gloves were generally white (rarely indigo) and were sewn together with several cotton threads. The sword accessories were knitted with silk threads, usually in light brown, dark brown or indigo blue. Juban (kimono underwear) was knitted with natural white cotton, very occasionally in indigo. Sometimes indigo and white were combined to make patterns. The Samurai knitters were paid comparatively well, which suggests the techniques were not widely known.

The arrival of the Meiji period in 1868 led very quickly to the demise of the samurai as part of the ruling class. The Shoguns, their patrons, grew weaker and a civil government, modelled on European lines was introduced, with the Emperor as head of state. Many samurai were now totally unemployed, and some began to knit full-time for their living. Even this was short-lived. The Meiji government realised that to survive Japan needed an industrial revolution, so they decided to make one, buying in European machinery, including knitting machines and other textile equipment.

The samurai were now completely redundant, obsolete in every way, and Japan was about to enter a very different world from that which had prevailed for so long.

©Yoshimi Kihara, 2002