Monpe

Hilton, Elstner, (1915) Woman in Kimono and Monpe with Basket

Monpe (もんぺ /モンペ)[1] otherwise called moppe or mompei, and in Korean, ilbaji (see Baji),[2] is an umbrella term used for the traditional style of loose agricultural work-trouser in Japan. It is most commonly worn by female labourers, especially farm workers in agricultural and mountain villages.[3] A traditional pair of monpe is recognised by having a loose waistband and a drawstring hem around each ankle. The garment is historically thought to have descended from the traditional court trousers, Hakama because of the loose shape of the trouser leg and how the piece of clothing is designed to also be worn over kimono. This style is sometimes referred to as yamabakama (lit. hakama for mountains) or nobakama (lit. hakama for fields).[4]

Monpe was popularised as an informal uniform in Japan during the 1930s and 1940s, and Pacific War, because it used existing materials within the home and could be easily altered and repaired, and this was a necessity in wartime. However, as it came to be worn by the majority of urban working-class women, it transformed into a symbol of Japan's wartime deprivation.[5] It was also criticised for its unfeminine qualities, in comparison to kimono or Western-style clothing (yōfuku), deemed "too frivolous" in wartime.[6]

Geographically, it has been associated with Japanese women living in the Northeastern Japanese farming countryside, such as Yonezawa, although this specificity has been questioned by historians.[7] It is actually thought that women have been wearing variations of monpe across many areas of Japan, particularly in the Tohoku region, for centuries.[8]

  1. ^ Smith, Bonnie G., ed. (2008). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History. Oxford University Press. p. 648. ISBN 9780195148909.
  2. ^ Soohyeon, Rhew; Juhyun, Ro; Jaeyoon, Yi (June 2017). "Monpe Workpants and Their Memetic Derivations". International Journal of Costume and Fashion. 17 (1): 73. doi:10.7233/ijcf.2017.17.1.073. ISSN 2288-7490.
  3. ^ Havens, Thomas R. H. (October 1975). "Women and War in Japan, 1937–45". The American Historical Review. 80 (4): 931. doi:10.2307/1867444. ISSN 0002-8762. JSTOR 1867444.
  4. ^ "Monpe (womens work pants) (もんぺ)". Japanese Wiki Corpus (in Japanese and English). National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT).
  5. ^ Bae, Catherine (2012). "War on the Domestic Front: Changing Ideals of Girlhood in Girls' Magazines, 1937–1945". U.S.-Japan Women's Journal (42): 114. JSTOR 42771878.
  6. ^ Molony, Barbara (2007). "Gender, Citizenship, and Dress in Modernising Japan". In Roces, Mina; Edwards, Louise (eds.). The Politics of Dress in Asia and the Americas. London: Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 9781845191634.
  7. ^ Gordon, Andrew (2012). Fabricating Consumers: The Sewing Machine in Modern Japan. London: University of California Press. p. 147. ISBN 9780520267855.
  8. ^ Nickerson, Rebecca Ann (2011). "Imperial Designs: Fashion, Cosmetics, and Cultural Identity in Japan, 1931–1943" (PhD): 41. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)