Unknown Japanese Brands

[indigoeagle]

Some more here.

https://thedenimhound.com/2017/06/canton-overalls-the-birth-of-japanese-denim-and-the-art-of-imperfection/

 

" In 1963, under a partnership with Canton Textile Mills (USA) & Oishi Trading Company, Maruo Clothing Inc. made the first pair of domestically manufactured jeans."
So Canton was like Cone a US denim mill. Oishi imported the fabric and Maruo (Big John) manufactured them and they were sold in Japan as Canton jeans.

"In October of 1965 Canton dropped the world’s first one-wash jeans (This first ever run of one-washed jeans used several household washing machines to wash).

*This info is disputed by the denim brand Edwin, who claims to have made the first pair in 1961.

In 1967 Maruo Clothing created its own denim brand “Big John”. Big John began manufacturing jeans using Cone Mills denim starting in 1968. In the early 70’s, Big John would be the first to use Japanese denim (AFAIK from Kurabo Mills) in it’s production of jeans.

Canton Textile Mills closed down in 1981. Oishi Trading Company had to produce Canton jeans using different workshops such as Takahata. Eventually, Oishi Trading Co. decided to stop producing jeans under the Canton brand in 1983. The son of the founder of Oishi Trading Co. went on to create Oni Denim."

[Double 0 Soul]

Anyone know anything about these?.. they're tagging SC-43s and CSF in the header

Kiwami Taisen model KIWAMI OVERALLS .. Yahoo is currently awash with them, they look shonkily decent

..all the deets which we'd expect.. albeit, exaggerated SC-MIUSA esque

https://jp.mercari.com/item/m66131642795?srsltid=AfmBOopDFazK3CJXGwprqvtY9MQregkmRM9UcAKC3DfDuM4e0yA1WcrA

Love the sleeve blowout.. a'la CSF

.. or these Muramasa & Co, which (red tab aside) look like they've rolled off the same production line

https://zenmarket.jp/auction.aspx?itemCode=d1155365563

https://zenmarket.jp/auction.aspx?itemCode=l1154932461

https://zenmarket.jp/auction.aspx?itemCode=m1154918146

https://zenmarket.jp/auction.aspx?itemCode=v1155361817   ect ect ect.. 1¥ start

The old me would have put some effort in and researched the hell out of these

Edited October 3 by Double 0 Soul

[Broark]

I've seen both of these flooding Yahoo for the last week or so, something seems a little off to me.

[Double 0 Soul]

Chinesey?

[Broark]

Yup that's a possibility, Taobao seeping into Yahoo.

[Double 0 Soul]

I wasn't sure, i don't do insta, which seems to be the new denim springboard, if they haven't surfaced on there then it does seem fishy..  it's hard to say if they're made of Chinesium but the chainstitch on the hem certainly looks Union Special, just shonky af!

edit- also sizing is mainly 37w which seems odd for a new brand

Edited October 3 by Double 0 Soul

[Broark]

There's a very small IG account for Muramasa, no new posts in over a year.
Nothing to be found about Kiwami, other than an account created last week with one post and no followers. This one seems super fishy to me.

Also, the w37 notation might be a translation thing. I've noticed this before, but when searching Yahoo for jeans for jeans by size categories on Buyee will go from w36 to w37.
But when you look at the actual search results in the w37 category there's a bunch of w38, w40, w42, etc., so perhaps it just is meant to house anything larger than w36?
Just guessing here, I know zero Japanese.

[Double 0 Soul]

Both brands are defo affiliated.. they've used the exact same blurb..

 

"This model is from 1943, the year of World War II, when the US domestic industry was under the harshest control of materials due to the situation, with extremely rough denim fabric with strong unevenness, military-use doughnut buttons, iron rivets, and all -yellow stitching. The rivets on the coin pocket are omitted,
and the concealed rivets are not plated but left in the color of the iron. In addition, flannel is used for the bag,
clearly embodying the reduction in cotton. Also, due to a lack of skilled workers, the stitching is very rough, the width of the stitching is not uniform,
the stitching at the center of the back yoke is misaligned, and the seam allowance on the left side is hemmed with one side turned down, so
it is of a level of finish that would be rejected under normal circumstances.

[Details]
The sewing thread is of two different thicknesses that are similar to the vintage version,
the main button is a doughnut button, and the rivets are plain copper-plated iron. The back of the rivet is engraved with the brand name, making it an item with a very high level of reproduction"
 

 

 

[Maynard Friedman]

Denim looks streaky af - like those old Eternals, can’t remember the model. Like denim flames! 🔥 

In conclusion, I don’t think they’re legit.

[Double 0 Soul]

Thanks for that multifaceted analysis Martin

[beautiful_FrEaK]

This design of tigers tearing on a pair of jeans looks so familiar...I know I have seen it before but can't remember right now. Will dig  

 

Edit: @Double 0 Soul by the way those jeans are 1:1 copies to the Sugar Cane 1943 models (jeans and jackets) which were released this spring. SC49009 and SC19008

[beautiful_FrEaK]

9 hours ago, Broark said:

Kiwami

Neat Style calls their rougher WW2 models also "Kiwami". So maybe they just used the word as a reference and it's no brand or such.

[Double 0 Soul]

18 minutes ago, beautiful_FrEaK said:

This design of tigers tearing on a pair of jeans looks so familiar...I know I have seen it before but can't remember right now. Will dig  

 

Edit: @Double 0 Soul by the way those jeans are 1:1 copies to the Sugar Cane 1943 models (jeans and jackets) which were released this spring. SC49009 and SC19008

Yes I’ve seen em.. I was saying to @MJF9 a few months ago during my hiatus that I fancied a pair.. they’re what I was looking at on Yahoo when I spotted these.. now the hype is dying down, they’re popping up on the auctions for reasonable prices.

Same re tiger patch.. what was it?

[beautiful_FrEaK]

Ah okay. I saw you writing SC MiUSA and thought you have the other ones in mind. Reasonable prices really? Haven't seen those yet

 

The SDA D1708 has a similar design but with 2 pigs of course. Still I think there is a version with 3 tigers as well.

[Double 0 Soul]

The pair I was looking at yesterday was £250 gbp NWT in my size.. so not really ‘reasonable’ but a lot more reasonable than the £375 hyped up prices.

SCMiUSA in regards to the ridiculous run off 😆

[Maynard Friedman]

53 minutes ago, Double 0 Soul said:

Thanks for that multifaceted analysis Martin

I wrote that on the train on my way back from my bi-monthly (that’s once every 2 months, not twice a month) trip to the pub, so not the most clear-headed commentary!

[Double 0 Soul]

1 hour ago, beautiful_FrEaK said:

Neat Style calls their rougher WW2 models also "Kiwami". So maybe they just used the word as a reference and it's no brand or such.

I broogled ‘Kiwami jeans’ last night and spotted a pair of Samurai at one of the UK stockists, maybe soas or r+h described as kiwami

[Broark]

Kiwami in Japanese means ultimate / extreme, so I could see other brands using it in their marketing efforts.
I'm only familiar with the meaning of the word from a series of video games.

[julian-wolf]

Anyone familiar with the Homesick label carried by Mirrorball? Really like the look of this shirt in particular https://www.the-rising.co.jp/item/1964/

[beautiful_FrEaK]

On 10/4/2024 at 8:51 AM, Double 0 Soul said:

The pair I was looking at yesterday was £250 gbp NWT in my size.. so not really ‘reasonable’ but a lot more reasonable than the £375 hyped up prices.

SCMiUSA in regards to the ridiculous run off 😆

Just looked at your prices again.

You should have bought at retail then, was roughly 215£ 😅

[Double 0 Soul]

I don't want to buy them at all Tilmann.. for the sake of clarity, MJ asked a few months ago if i wanted to take part in the pizza jeans contest.. i said, 'no i've never even heard of them, if i was in the market for jeans i'd grab a pair of SC-43s' to which he said, yup they're more your thing.. roomier cut.. ok said he, will you be a judge? i said cool but i'll probably never look at the thread because i have zero interest in the jeans.. fast fwd a few months, i was perusing Yahoo, spotted the jeans i posted above while checking to see if the price of 43s had dropped and here we are

[Maynard Friedman]

Neal, if I were a gambling man, I’d say you’re more likely to buy another pair of 47s!

[Double 0 Soul]

Gambling or insider trading? ..

 

[MJF9]

Doesn't your Canes reserves need breaking into next Neal???  Much better worn in well than sold methinks

[Double 0 Soul]

Funnily enough.. I've just sent an old pair of O/W SC47s to soas for a hem..

[TripicalMidbooster]

On 10/3/2024 at 3:25 PM, Double 0 Soul said:

Anyone know anything about these?.. they're tagging SC-43s and CSF in the header

Kiwami Taisen model KIWAMI OVERALLS .. Yahoo is currently awash with them, they look shonkily decent

..all the deets which we'd expect.. albeit, exaggerated SC-MIUSA esque

https://jp.mercari.com/item/m66131642795?srsltid=AfmBOopDFazK3CJXGwprqvtY9MQregkmRM9UcAKC3DfDuM4e0yA1WcrA

Love the sleeve blowout.. a'la CSF

.. or these Muramasa & Co, which (red tab aside) look like they've rolled off the same production line

https://zenmarket.jp/auction.aspx?itemCode=d1155365563

https://zenmarket.jp/auction.aspx?itemCode=l1154932461

https://zenmarket.jp/auction.aspx?itemCode=m1154918146

https://zenmarket.jp/auction.aspx?itemCode=v1155361817   ect ect ect.. 1¥ start

The old me would have put some effort in and researched the hell out of these

so I was curious about this because all these listings use the same pic of a guy in a mask wearing this jacket, so searching the image brings up this IG post:

https://www.instagram.com/takuya.kimura_tak/p/CeTgrw8rPPD/

Takuya Kimura is a famous JPN actor/member of boyband SMAP. This post is from 2022 though. So maybe both brands are copies of CSF/CSF-esque denim pieces made by the same factory to sell online to SMAP fans who want to dress like Kimura...?

https://www.instagram.com/takuya.kimura_tak/p/C0qP6JwLmhf/

he seems to wear CSF-adjacent stuff enough that the listings are using his pics. but idk if they're just copying a scf/sc he wore because I found this:

https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/t1155552342?conversionType=YahooAuction_DirectSearch

which is a non-wonky 507 also made by muramasa and commanding bids. there are bidding wars for most of these muramasa/kiwami pieces so there must be some larger demand beyond SMAP fans. the 507 patch says "East Osaka City, Osaka" so maybe it's just an osaka shop/factory that has no internet presence outside JPN circles but with enough domestic reach for a celebrity to wear it....

[Double 0 Soul]

Wow! thanks @TripicalMidbooster .. steps out of the shadows to show us how it's done

See! so called denim folks.. this^ is what we can accomplish when we're not being so lazy

[willi]

Does anyone know who produces these jeans for black bear:

https://blackbearbrand.com/black-bear-brand-factory-store/the-black-bear-brand-one-front-jeans

It says they are made in Okayama. I know there are other sewing factories there but TCB has done the production for other labels before and the button looks just like the 'catboy' button they use on their leepros.

[NilsLW]

Many styled examples of the new Live's 517 repro here: https://www.instagram.com/live_structure_and_co/

And a proper website here: https://517labo.official.ec/items/all

They look so good imo, a proper 517 repro.

[Lorcan]

Long time lurker first time poster. The Muramasa guy has also listed versions of 1943 jacket with fake Tenderloin patch (well I guess Levis and Sweet Orr inspired with the tug of war design?)

https://zenmarket.jp/en/auction.aspx?itemCode=1159072045

This seems to be the dude https://www.instagram.com/muramasa_glove/?hl=en and https://www.instagram.com/muramasa_jeans_factory/?hl=en

Rakuten store (no jeans for sale on there though, just Mickey Mouse logo'd fake Rolexes and box logo tees) https://item.rakuten.co.jp/royal-west/c/0000000121/

From his Facebook he does genuinely seem to be in Osaka https://www.facebook.com/yuya.shiozaki.5 and likes Triathlon a lot.

 

I think Takuya Kimura comes into it because Kimura seems to wear a genuine obscure Japanese brand called SC Subculture https://sc-subculture.jp.

Some of the Muramasa stuff is also sold with a Subculture patch and pictures of Kimura (eg. https://zenmarket.jp/en/auction.aspx?itemCode=n1159212942)

SC Subculture's boss' instagram posting about Kimura https://www.instagram.com/p/C1vTqR9Pckn/?next=%2Fbluegodzi%2Ftagged%2F&locale=在线定制塔吉克斯坦TEF证书联系{威信%2BTG%2F飞机%3A%40buth2788}sjwNH%3F%3F%3F%3F%3F%3Fѧ%3F%3FƾSwQuO&img_index=1 not sure if Kimura actually talks about the brand on his YouTube or is just wearing Subculture in the video.

I think the Kiwami items are intended to mimic Neatstyle as they have the same blank patch with just WWII and waist size. I find it kind of strange/funny cause you wouldn't think Neatstyle would be big enough to be worth bootlegging. What I do enjoy is that he seems to use a bunch of different red tabs (Tenderloin jacket has IRON'S red tab).

Although it all seems a bit fishy to me, they do seem to sell for reasonable money eg. this used Muramasa jacket on 2nd Street (which also shows inner tag) https://en.2ndstreet.jp/goods/detail/goodsId/2340110413269/shopsId/31327 and some competitive bidding on Y! as mentioned above.