A Heavily Layered Boro Noragi or Work Coat: Flannel Patches

ca. mid twentieth century
33" x 45",  84 cm x 114.25 cm

This is a noragi,or a traditional work coat.  It is very patched and layered, the layering is done mainly with a variety of indigo dyed cotton patches.  It has been used hard, and judging from the amount of patches and repair, it seems that it has been used for many, many years.

It is a heavy coat, and looking at the accompanying detail photos you can see evidence of this, especially on the sleeve areas.  On this post we are highlighting the proper inside of the jacket in order to show its variety and quantity of patches.

Interesting to note are the two, orange/red colored patches which are cotton flannel; flannel was first imported to Japan in the late nineteenth century, and because it was foreign, it was considered a luxury cloth.  By the time this jacket was hand stitched in the twentieth century, flannel was more commonly used in clothing.

Note a hole to the noragi, shown in photos.

A really wonderful, scrappy and very layered old work coat.

Recommended.