“Hare” to “Ke” (ritual and mundane): This is a study in traditional Japanese folklore. It is a construct for illustrating a fundamental a traditional Japanese worldview. A hare day was a special day for public rituals that is open to all community members. Ke refers to days that are mundane, routine, and when things do not go smoothly. Hare was initially a concept indicating an important moment or milestone. Japanese people would traditionally make decisions on food, clothing and housing as well as activities and phrasing depending on whether the day was determined to be hare or ke. Even today, the Japanese use the hare concept in words such as “Haregi” which means “festive dress.” Ke, having the opposite meaning, has gradually disappeared from use since the Meiji era. Nevertheless, hare and ke remain important to an understanding of Japanese life and tradition.

We developed original shirts in two styles, the dress shirt and the T-shirt. These represent the hare and ke concepts, respectively. With this fashion, we aims to bring traditional concepts into the present day. You will enjoy how each artist from different genre uses the traditional worldview to create their own, original shirt by mixing in their technical expertise.