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My Jacket Shares a Name with a Restaurant?!
The reason I’m so excited to write this article today is because the brand of this jacket is Momotaro, and in Clark, New Jersey, there is a restaurant called Momotaro. This restaurant has some of the worst reviews I have ever seen, such as: “Literally the worst service and place I’ve ever witnessed.
Don’t come here unless you want to feel rushed.” “This establishment, as other reviewers pointed out, has piss-poor service. This is a no-no-taro for me, no more.” “You seriously need courage to call the restaurant and place an order.”
That’s exactly what I hope I have in one second as I call and place this order. I would feel really mean saying that about a restaurant, but since the reviews are public and if you looked up this place anyway, you’d see them so I thought it’d be fine. Anywho, let’s check out the best alternative to Japanese selvedge denim.
Quick History Lesson: What’s Momotaro Anyway?
Okay, so real quick, before I call Momotaro – the other Momotaro is really cool, and just so we’re on the same page, it’s basically one of the first Japanese denim brands ever and arguably one of the best. But Momotaro translates to “peach boy” in English. It’s one of the five main Japanese folklore stories.
I think we’ll go over the history in a different article, but all you need to know is that Momotaro translates to peach boy, and in the folklore, this boy is born from a peach, and he lives with this elderly couple and basically makes them feel young again and encourages them to follow their dreams. So that’s pretty cool folklore.
Article Outline & Restaurant Adventure
Also, before we call, a quick outline of this article: One, this is called the Sashiko jacket, a Sashiko type 2. I don’t think that’s correct. I don’t know why it’s called Sashiko – if anyone does know, please tell me, but I will tell you why that’s not what I think it is. Two sizing – how does this fit? Good? Third, what do the armbands mean, and what makes this jacket special besides the armbands? And number four, my biggest regret in life.
Alright, I called the restaurant and placed my order. Nothing bad to report. Maybe this will help Momotaro restaurant if someone sees this in the New Jersey area, they’ll think, “Oh, I should go there,” but I don’t know, we still have a lot to see.
Through the magic of editing, I have just picked up my food. The guy was nice, and we chatted about my jacket. So I forget all those reviews – five out of five, great! I love it there. I’m gonna go there every single day for the rest of my life. That was nice, and the food looks good, not sure what all the hubbub’s about.
The Truth About Sashiko: A Deep Dive
Onto the actual article – number one: The biggest point here is, like I said, this jacket is called a Momotaro Sashiko jacket, but it’s not Sashiko as far as I can tell.
I can’t find anything online that says Sashiko is an actual fabric. So, Sashiko is an embroidery technique or an embroidery style that came about in Japan in the 1600s, the Edo era.
So invented in the 1600s, it’s characterized by a very thick white thread, and it’s done in all these beautiful ways. It looks great; it’s an embroidering technique, and it came into popularity for three very cool reasons, so I’ll share those with you quickly. One, it’s just beautiful, so people did it to their clothes and it looked amazing.
The next two are the cool ones: Two, it added durability to the garment because if you think about it, if you are embroidering and there’s basically a thin layer of embroidered thread above the actual garment, that thin layer is going to get worn down and scraped or rubbed against things first before the fabric, so it would protect the fabric.
And the reason that was so important is that at that time in Japan and really just, I guess, the world at that point, industrial fabrics were really hard to come by, expensive, rare – kind of synonyms there – but they’re hard to come by, so you had to protect your garments and make sure that they would last.
And then another thing is since they were hard to come by when it got colder, there wasn’t a winter jacket or a winter version of your clothes, so Sashiko came in handy because people would basically quilt onto their clothes or different scraps of fabrics to just make it a heavier garment, and they attached that quilt work by Sashiko, and that is called Boro.
And then the cool fun fact here is that Japanese firefighters from that era used Sashiko when they were firefighting because they would have these big firefighter coats.
They would basically Sashiko on a patch, leave a little opening, stuff it with something, and then close it. And then, when there was a fire, they would soak their jackets with what I read up to 70 pounds of water, and then they’d just go into the fire.
Sashiko’s really cool, but the one thing it’s not is a fabric, so I was like, “Why is this called a Sashiko jacket?” And then it dawned on me, and here’s what I figured out: So there are three main types of weave – there’s twill like jeans, there’s satin like silk, I believe, and then there’s plain weave like this jacket.
So I was like, okay, that’s not Sashiko; there’s really no such thing as a Sashiko fabric or Sashiko weave, but during that era, the firefighters’ coats and gis that are used in martial arts and basically a lot of clothes, they used the plain weave and the plain weave was conducive to Sashiko embroidery. This is the best alternative to Japanese selvedge denim.
So when you’re buying this jacket, they’re not saying this is a Sashiko jacket, they’re saying this is a plain weave jacket that was often times Sashiko’d. That’s why it’s called the Sashiko jacket. It took me so long to realize that.
Let’s Talk Sizing: Real World Experience
So real quick, if you want this jacket, it is available on Blue Owl today, like right now. It’s probably sold out by now. This article isn’t sponsored by Blue Owl, but the guy who runs the company is insanely nice.
I was looking at the spec sheet for this jacket on Blue Owl. I don’t know if this was because it got imported from Japan to the US, so they had to make some changes – well, I guess there’s really only one thing I don’t think is right in the description, so I’ll clear that up.
Okay, so first things first, the size – I’m 5’9″, 150 pounds, and I usually wear a 38. I got a 38 in this, it fits great, it’s based on the original Levi’s type 2. It’s a little bit more heritage cut.
I’m wearing a base layer sweater, and my arms were basically bulging out of the jacket but the chest fit pretty well.
I would stay true to size. I don’t think this is slim, I don’t think it’s wide or bulky. I say this in every article but I probably, if I could have gotten this again, would have sized up.
I always want to get a size bigger because I like that look, but I’m so scared it’s going to be too big.
Okay, so anyway, really, the only inconsistency I saw between Blue Owl and the jacket itself is that Blue Owl says the leather patch in the back is made of deerskin. The Momotaro jacket’s little care tag says it’s made out of sheepskin.
I think it’s sheepskin, but maybe if the jacket had to get imported to America they had to switch it out for whatever reasons. I know leather crossing borders is not always easy, so who am I to say? I don’t know. Anyone? Is this thing on?
Construction Details: More Than Meets the Eye
Okay, so kind of going off of the size, you’ll notice that there are pleats in the back of the jacket that make it puff out a bit. It’s not straight like it doesn’t go flat against your back, it kind of bulges out.
That’s because there are two pleats, just like on a regular original Levi’s type 2 denim jacket, and that’s so you have more flexibility and more movement. The downside is if you don’t like looking like you have a turtle shell on your back, then you have an issue.
I think it looks pretty good. I go back and forth between liking a straight denim jacket back or a pleated one. The fronts also, since this is more authentic based, are pleated, and they do have some stretch, and they’re boxed stitched.
Some pleats on jackets are just stitched down on the construction, so they’re not actually real pleats, but these are box stitch that serves the purpose of if you’re gaining weight or if you’re bulking up for the winter with big sweaters and stuff, you can slice the box stitches and the jacket will open up a little bit more and then when it gets warm just restitch the box stitches.
It’s as easy as pie in as simple as cake, Dre get on the mic, make them dribble and shake.
This brings me to the main point of this jacket – it is indigo-dyed Sashiko, but normally, things like this are raw, or they’re rinsed once, so they’re basically raw. I think this jacket was pretty heavily washed because it’s a pretty medium light blue.
It looks like a pair of jeans that got washed three or four times. It’s that shade of blue, and the edges are a little bit more worn down which makes me think that’s from being in the machine when it was getting washed.
I didn’t see it mentioned by Okayama Denim or Blue Owl, so maybe that’s wrong, but it really looks washed, and if you look at the battle stripes, you’ll notice that the fabric is actually starting to come through the screen printing which you usually see with more wear.
The Battle Stripes Story & Hidden Details
What makes this jacket special and one more hidden detail, and what makes Momotaro so incredible? Then we’ll finish up with the worst mistake that I’ve ever made in my entire life. If you look at the left sleeve, you’ll see those two stripes.
I’m just gonna quote Motero just because it’s phrased better than I could ever phrase it, but here’s the skinny: The going-to-battle stripes are a symbol of Japanese tradition representing honor and strength. The warrior stripes have been used in many contexts in Japanese history and culture.
One of the most well-known associations is from the Japanese folklore story of Momotaro, who carried a flag with two white stripes as he left to battle a band of Oni. I love it when companies are just so integrated like that. It’s so cool.
And you might be thinking, “Wait a minute, there’s another denim company called Oni, and that means ogres in Japanese?” Yes, it does, I know it’s insane, really. So that’s what the battle stripes are, and that’s a huge reason why I love Momotaro. They do all these really cool details like the inseam is a pink thread, and I love that.
I think that’s so cool and it represents the peach again because peach boy. I don’t know if they do that on their type 2 jackets – if they do, I should really buy one. I think if they do it’s on the side seams pink thread going to battle stripes.
That stuff is super cool, but the other hidden thing on this jacket, which is not really hidden, but on the top of the booby pocket flap, you’ll notice it’s lined in the same material that is lining the pocket bags, which is great. I love that detail. I can’t say it enough; this is the best alternative to Japanese selvedge denim.
Watch This Review
The One That Got Away: My Biggest Denim Regret
Little change in pace here – I want to talk about the biggest mistake that I ever made in my life. I had most definitely the coolest denim jacket ever in existence. It was the BOM-012 BJ. I know, I know, BJ ha ha ha. That is the coolest denim jacket I have ever seen or interacted with, and it’s gone, and I’ll tell you why.
But before that, I had taken some pictures of Taylor modeling it and when I was going to look up something a while back, I noticed that if you search BOM-012 BJ, Taylor was the top result. Whoa!
Let me just read to you how cool this jacket is: Built from the brand’s 10th anniversary 15.7-ounce slub selvedge denim. The jacket has been dyed using the previously discontinued grand indigo dye. Known for its distinctive color, the grand indigo was widely praised as one of the best fading dyes in the world.
It has iron oxide dyed pocket bags, which iron oxide rust so like they’re very light pink. They look incredible. It came with a commemorative bandana that I have hanging in my room. I don’t know why I sold it, either.
One day, I just looked at it, and I was like, “Let’s see what happens if I put that online,” and within like two seconds, someone messaged me and bought it, and then it was gone forever. Anyway, that’s about it. Thank you so much, as always!
This article was adapted from Michael Kristy’s video on The Iron Snail, with edits from FashionBeans, and was reviewed by Michael to ensure the integrity of his original content. Watch the full video here.
The Iron Snail is a men’s fashion vlog (and now article series!) starring a young man named Michael and featuring a snail no bigger than a quarter. The two are set on taking over the world of fashion by creating a clothing line to end all clothing lines. Until then, we’re here to tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about the best clothing out there, from the highest quality raw denim jeans to the warmest jackets to the sturdiest boots…the Iron Snail has got you covered.
