History
The history of the industrial development of Japanese denim is shared between the artisans in Okayama. The local industry has been developing it from the Edo period (beginning in the early 15th century) until today.

Admiration of American culture 
During the 1960s Japan experienced a period of high growth highlighted by the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 1964. At the same time, the younger generations who were able to support themselves began admiring the American lifestyle and especially fashion statements such as jeans. As the desire to look cool by wearing jeans, just like their on-screen heroes James Dean or Keiichiro Akagi did, the youngsters invaded second hand shops looking for their very own pair of jeans. Meanwhile, the Japanese clothing industry began producing domestic jeans in order to capitalize on the increasing demand of denim. Yet, Japanese jeans still lacked the status of what was considered to be the genuine American denim.

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