Images(4)

Chijiri Robe

Datelate 19th–early 20th century

PeriodMeiji period (1868-1912)

CultureAinu (Japanese)

MediumCotton fabric, cotton and silk embroidery

ClassificationTextiles

Credit LineMuseum purchase from the David J. Patten Asian Art Fund, 2021

Object number2021.47

Chijiri robes, made by Ainu women for members of their family, are made from indigo cotton trade cloth decorated with embroidery. This example may have been remade from a yukata, a casual summer kimono, imported from mainland Japan. The plain ground and absence of appliqué give the maker the opportunity to show off her needlework skills. In this example, the embroidery is especially elaborate, and covers much of the fabric surface. It is composed principally of bracket-shaped (aiushi) and diamond-shaped (siki) elements — the main units of Ainu textile design — in triple lines of chain stitch, as well as more individualistic flourishes, such as the feather-shaped terminal motifs and a starburst-shaped mend on a hole. The Ainu are an indigenous people of Hokkaidō in northern Japan and eastern Siberia. With a culture built around hunting and gathering, the Ainu traded fur, fish, textiles, live birds, and feathers with peoples living along the Kuril Island chain, continental Asia, and mainland Japan. The Ainu occasionally came into conflict with neighboring groups, including the Nivkh people of Sakhalin, the Mongols, the Ming, and mainland Japanese, as they sought to expand and defend their lands. During the Edo period (1615–1868), officials from mainland Japan exercised control over Hokkaidō. Seeking access to natural resources, they encroached upon Ainu territories, and exploited the Ainu through unfair trade, forced labor, slavery, and rape. In the Meiji period (1868–1912), Japan adopted a formal policy to assimilate the Ainu, resulting in the loss of native languages and cultural practices. Ainu in Russia also experienced displacement and have tended to assimilate with other Siberian minority groups, such as the Kamchadal. Today, between 20,000 and 200,000 people identify as Ainu (estimates vary by source). While discrimination persists, and Ainu lack indigenous land rights and other legal protections, various initiatives since the 1950s have sought to advance knowledge and appreciation of Ainu culture and revive Ainu language. In 2019, the Ainu were legally recognized as the indigenous people of Japan.

On View

Not on view

Collections