FASHION = AgriCULTURE.
FASHION is folklore—a way of life.
AgriCULTURE is how we live.
When spring comes to Nagano, the neat rows of young rice seedlings in our paddies end up broken.
Sika, Japanese deer coming down from the mountains eat them.
Ezo sika devour crops with frightening appetite.
The meat of culled Ezo sika becomes gibier, and their hides become leather.
I take that leather, develop it from the structure of traditional Hyakusho’s workwear, and create “NORAGI” clothing that lets us enjoy AgriCULTURE.
I serve as a dancer of SHISHIMAI, the lion dance at our village’s offering festival.
The female OSHISHI I perform is a being that celebrates the harvest and drives away evil.
Her dignified, battling figure is a kind of salvation for Hyakusho.
Wishing to embody that same strength, I expressed my NORAGI together with the sacred OSHISHI.
Sika themselves are not evil.
What is evil is failing to consider how we might live with the sika.
That is the evil I wanted to dispel.
Hyakusho is AgriCULTURE.
Hyakusho honor what dwells like a soul and live alongside it.
In the not-so-distant future, FASHION will become Hyakusho.
Material：Ezo sika leather, B-grade textile (100% cotton), Recycled polyester
Supported by: Ito Sangyo Co., Ltd., Furuhashi Weaving Co,Ltd, MoonStar Company, Seiko Epson Corporation, Goldwin Inc., YKK Corporation, STYLEM Takisada-Osaka Co., Ltd., Nagano City Museum, SOKA LEATHER, Hokkaidou Ryouyuukai [Hunters’ Association]
Photography by YASUNARI KIKUMA / ©︎ FASHION FRONTIER PROGRAM
When he spoke the word “HYAKUSHO”(Japanese peasant) in his lifetime, it carried the weight of those who, though tossed by the hardships of their lives, cherished people, nurtured life, and stood resilient with quiet pride and unshakable conviction.
My fashion is 農(Knoh: agriculture).
Agriculture has long been overlooked, despite being the foundation of our existence. Without it, we cannot live.
Agriculture was once our way of life—our thread of connection.
Agriculture is more beautiful, more resilient, and more interesting than you imagine.
In the mountain villages of Nagano, the “agriCULTURE” inherited across generations is more than farming.
It transcends mere sustenance—it is a form of design: not just “fashion design” in the sense of garment, but the design of how we live as human beings.
The NORAGI of the past and today’s workwear—both are garments made for the act of farming, for living on the land.
I believe that when new garments for farming is born, it will give rise to new ways of farming, and with it, new ways of being human.
As peasants once did, I create with my body. That is the best contribution I can make, as a peasant living in the present.
To the peasant of a century from now.
Material：Blue Sheet Filament, Blue Sheet, B rank Woven Fabric (Cotton Bamboo Mixed Weave, Cotton)
Photography by YASUNARI KIKUMA / ©︎ FASHION FRONTIER PROGRAM
Instagram：@mitsukimurata
