Clothing

When the issei came to work in Hawaii, they struggled in the cane fields because of the hot sun, where the sharp cane leaves would cut their exposed skin.  When they first came the Japanese wore their simple kimonos to work.  They used their ideas and blended them with others to make a different but creative clothing called the kasuri, which were jackets, cumberbund like sashes, and skirts made of Indigo dyed fabric and woven or straw lauhala hats.  Everyone there did not have much money, so the things they used and made were out of the materials they had or borrowed from their neighbors.  By incorporating the tools, clothing, and materials of other ethnic people, they were able to create more functional tools and clothing with what little money they had.

Back