Kimono SHop Daikokuya

Kimono Shop Daikokuya presents the interior or facade of a traditional kimono merchant's establishment — the kind of textile shop that had been central to Edo and Meiji commercial life and that represented both the artisanal richness of Japanese textile culture and the social institutions through which it was distributed. The Daikokuya was a named establishment, giving Mori's genre subject documentary specificity — this was not a generic kimono shop but a particular place in Tokyo's commercial landscape, its specific character worthy of individual commemoration. The display of bolts of fabric and the interactions of merchant and customer created a scene of considerable visual and social interest.