The smell of Shōwa: Time, materiality and regimes of value in Japan’s second-hand kimono industry

Abstract

This article maps the way second-hand kimono pass between different regimes of value as they move out of people’s homes and into second-hand shops. Joining recent calls for a greater anthropological focus on the processes of divestment and disposal, the author highlights how kimono move from the inalienable space of the domestic sphere and into the alienable domain of retail, and considers how their materiality – worn fabrics, dated aesthetics and musty smell – is an active agent in the transformation of value. When initially purchased, the symbolic and economic values of kimono are congruent. But with the passage of time and the deterioration of materials and fraying of kinship bonds, the value of kimono as treasured family possessions is diminished. Yet the very materiality that caused their loss of economic and symbolic value, their undesirable smells, colours and designs can cause them to enter a new regime of value as vintage fashion supported by fashion magazines. By rethinking Arjun Appadurai’s regimes of value with a greater focus on material properties and qualities, this article aims to link cycles of divestment and consumption practices with the generation, loss and re-creation of value.