Table of contents : List of Illustrations vii Notes to the Reader ix Timeline xi Maps xiii Introduction by Rieko Wagoner xv 1 Kasuri Mattress Cover from Home 1 2 Koshimaki Petticoat of Eighty-Three Patches 5 3 Echigo-jishi Costume for Boy Dancer 9 4 How Many Diapers? 15 5 Two Hanten Field Jackets 21 6 Okiboda, the Pride of Women 25 7 My Teacher’s Sunday Best 29 8 A Weighty Quilt 33 9 Life with a Mosquito Net 39 10 A Bed of Wood Shavings 43 11 The Meisen the Girl Could Not Wear 47 12 Dead Horse 51 13 Female Coal Miners 53 14 Aunties and Uncles 61 15 Rich and Poor 65 16 A Beggar Girl 69 17 Noble-Minded Ladies 73 18 A Gown of Leaves for the Dead 79 19 Katatsuke-gasuri 83 20 A Lady in a Dilapidated Mansion 89 21 Female Workers in Textile Mills 93 22 Forbidden Tears 97 23 The Thousand-Stitch Waistband 101 24 The Rising Sun Kimono That She Wore 105 25 Gifts from My Mother 109 26 Akemi’s Song 115 27 Military Uniforms and Shoes 121 28 What Mompe Trousers Symbolized 129 29 A White Chima Jeogori 133 30 Sarasa Print Bed Quilt 137 31 Hanten Story 141 Afterword 157 Acknowledgments 161 Glossary of Clothing Terms 163 Selected Bibliography 169 Index 173 About the Author 179