Asamerry celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2023. Its name comes from "linen processed knitted fabric." Development began with the desire to "make comfortable underwear" using cotton as the raw material and "make knitted fabric with a crisp feel like linen." This time, we will focus on knitted fabric, or knitwear, and take a look at its history.
Historically, knitwear first appeared around 1450, which would be the middle of the Muromachi period in Japan. It is said that knitwear originated on the British island of Jersey, known as the birthplace of Jersey cows.
Until then, clothing was made from woven fabric, which was made by tightly intertwining warp and weft threads. On the other hand, knitting is made by intertwining a single thread with itself, resulting in a soft cloth. It began when women on the island of Jersey knitted warm shirts that were easy to move in for their husbands who worked in the cold seas.
When it eventually made its way to mainland Britain, it was given the name Jersey, after the place where it originated. The soft material, which is completely different from woven fabrics, was soon mass-produced.
The word "meriyasu" first appeared in Japanese literature during the Enpo era (1673-1681) in the Edo period. There is a passage that reads, "In the cold countryside of the Chinese, the tabi socks are cold." The word "meriyasu" is derived from the Spanish word "medias" or the Portuguese word "meias," both of which refer to socks.
According to the mid-Edo period astronomer Nishikawa Nyoken's record of his experiences, Nagasaki Yawasou, knitting manufacturers appeared in Nagasaki in 1688. However, the majority of production was still done by samurai as a side job. Items such as gloves, loincloths, undershirts, seal cases, and inro strings were hand-knitted using iron knitting needles. Tokugawa Mitsukuni, known as Mito Komon, was also a fan of knitting. He is said to be the first person in Japan to wear socks, and a pair of his favorite socks are preserved at the Tokyo National Museum.
It was around the end of the Edo period that the characters for "meriyasu," which had been written as "meriyasu" or "meriyasu," began to be written as "mokkodaisho." Mokko means "nothing," and mokkodaisho means "clothing that fits the body without being too big or too small." At some point in the world of Kabuki, Nagauta pieces that can be played with flexibility to match the actors' movements came to be called "meriyasumono."
In the early Meiji period, Western clothing began to spread in Japan. Until the prewar Showa period, the general style was "Western clothing on the outside, Japanese clothing on the inside," but Western-style underwear was a symbol of a free and active lifestyle. It became an object of desire, especially for women. Also, for men who wore uniforms, such as soldiers and government officials, Western-style underwear, which was easy to move in and warm, was probably something they couldn't let go of once they tried it on. It is not known what proportion of underwear at the time was made of knitted fabric, but it gradually became more prevalent.
Around this time, in 1894, Yamamoto Hatsujiro Shoten, the predecessor of Angle, was founded. The business was the production and sale of knitwear. At the time of founding, Yamamoto Hatsujiro set a major goal: "We seek high-quality, uniform raw materials and create high-quality products through new, advanced technology and thorough quality control." In 1908, the Yamamoto Knitwear Tamatsukuri Factory was opened. It is said to be Japan's first full-scale knitwear production facility, and was also the first factory in Japan to implement thorough quality control.
The quality of the products even surprised Britain, a country with a strong knitwear industry. Later, during the war, restrictions were placed on the use of natural materials, but Ingres' passion for high-quality materials never faded. To this day, and of course in the future, we continue to move forward toward the goal set by our founder: to provide our customers with high-quality products.