The shishu ladies of Hilo : Japanese embroidery in Hawai'i / Shiho S. Nunes and Sara Nunes-Atabaki.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nunes, Shiho S., 1917-

Contributor:

Nunes-Atabaki, Sara, 1957-

Series:

Extraordinary lives

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women artisans--Hawaii--Case studies.

Women artisans.

Japanese American women--Hawaii--Social conditions.

Japanese American women.

Embroidery--Japan.

Embroidery.

Social conditions.

Japan.

Hawaii.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

xiv, 141 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 28 cm.

Place of Publication:

Honolulu : University of Hawai'i Press, [1999]

Summary:

In the 1930s Ima Shinoda began teaching groups of predominantly nisei women in and around Hilo the centuries-old art of Japanese embroidery known as shishu. Trained in Japan, she combined her talents for teaching and stitchery to inspire and instruct a new generation in the demanding art form. Together with her husband, Yoshio, who created the distinctive, eye-catching designs used by her students, Ima Shinoda was responsible for not only furthering the practice of shishu in Hawai'i but insuring its existence as a vital link for many nisei to their cultural past and its traditions.

The Shishu Ladies of Hilo is in part a loving tribute to Ima and Yoshio Shinoda, written by their daughter, Shiho Shinoda Nunes, and granddaughter Sara Nunes-Atabaki. But what began as a family history and catalog of Yoshio Shinoda's shishu designs evolved into a carefully documented and illustrated account of the stitching community created by the Shinodas and their pupils on the Big Island from the mid 1930s to the late 1960s. This book traces the teaching of shishu in Hawai'i and describes in detail the modifications made to traditional motifs and materials. It is, however, much more than a historical record of a textile art form. It raises questions about the relationship between these women, their ethnicity, and their needlework -- in short, the role of art in achieving ethnic identity.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 139-141).

ISBN:

0824821289

0824822358

OCLC:

41223929