Boro: Rags and Tatters from the Far North of Japan

Boro: Rags and Tatters from the Far North of JapanA visual and written documentation of the collection of Chuzaburo Tanaka, who "virtually alone walked the farming and fishing villages of Aomori from the mid 1960s, searching out these traces of the locals' love of fabric known as 'boro'." Beautifully photographed blankets, coats, and other remnants of the impoverished history of Japan's far north are accompanied by contextual anecdotes giving dimension to the fabric and the local area where it was

A visual and written documentation of the collection of Chuzaburo Tanaka, who "virtually alone...walked the farming and fishing villages of Aomori from the mid-1960s, searching out these traces of the locals' love of fabric known as 'boro'." Beautifully photographed blankets, coats, and other remnants of the impoverished history of Japan's far north are accompanied by contextual anecdotes giving dimension to the fabric and the local area where it was collected.

Edited by Yukiko Koide & Kyoichi Tsuzuki; photographed by Kyoichi Tsuzuki; designed by Yasuko Aoki; translated by Alfred Birnbaum; published in Japan by ASPECT Corp (2008). 17 x 20.5cm (6.75 x 8in); 128 pages; full color images; English & Japanese text. ISBN 9784757215962.

You can learn more about boro by watching Yoshiko Wada and Kim Schuefftan's "show and tell" video here: http://vimeo.com/13960811