Japanese Cotton

In the article, "Art in Review; 'Japanese Country Textiles'", the author describes textiles that were produced pre-World War II. The textiles are work coats, jackets, and futon covers, that were used by famers, fishmen, and workers. The textiles are made from cotton, a scarce item in Japan. Since cotton was a scarcity it made the common everyday coats and jackets, that common everyday people wore, into items worthy of show. As we learned in class, a good is scarce if it takes time, energy, or money to acquire it. In Japan, it is very hard to acquire cotton, it requires all three aspects; time, energy, and money, making it a scarce good. The textiles were mended to extend the wear, and used to their full extent, but even so, they are an item worthy of show. Ater World War II, trade with America, opened new doors for Japan. They now had acess to cotton, and the good was more readily available. Since cotton was now available, anything made after World War II is not valued nearly as high as the pre-World War II textiles. Cotton became less scarce, and changed the way that the country vauled the textiles. The new acess to cotton significantly lowered the value of any cotton textile produced after World War II.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980CE2DC1E30F937A15751C1A9629C8B63