A Vintage Cotton Kendogi: Heavyweight Jacket

mid twentieth century
32" x 46", 81.25 cm x 117 cm
dimensions listed are shoulder to hem x sleeve tip to sleeve tip

This is a well-used, commercially manufactured, indigo dyed cotton jacket called a kendogi. It was used to practice kendo, the Japanese martial art that uses bamboo poles as a form of swordsmanship.

The jacket is heavyweight and is woven in such a way as to mimic sashiko stitching.

As can be easily seen by the fading patterns, the wear, the tear on the back of the armhole of the proper left sleeve this jacket has been well-worn--and it is still very much in good, wearable condition.

Its label says that it was made in Osaka and the machine embroidered kanji or Chinese characters tells us this belonged to someone named Murata.