* An admission fee every Saturday is charged for exhibitions in the main building. More information.
* Admission is free for elementary, junior high school, and senior high school students.

In these days of rapidly advancing globalization, most of the clothing people wear worldwide is shifting from traditional clothing with regional and ethnic origins to Western clothing such as blouses, pants, and skirts. Yet, in Southeast Asia today, many people carry on traditional fashions as everyday wear and cover their bodies with “square cloths” or wear “tubular cloths,” where both ends of a piece of square cloth are sewn together. There is a tendency to view both “square cloths” and “tubular cloths” as traditional dyed and woven textiles that have continuously been made by the various peoples of Southeast Asia, but in the latter half of the 20th century there have been great changes in the material used for the fabric and the techniques for spinning and dying the thread and cloth.

In this thematic exhibition, we will display daily wear, such as “square cloths” and “tubular cloths,” that were collected in 2009 in the markets and production villages in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Indonesia, along with data on the collection sites, manufacturing sites, fiber materials, weaving and dying techniques, use, price, as well as photographs taken in-country. We will also present the current condition of traditional Southeast Asian fabrics, which are being transformed as globalization advances.

Also, in this exhibition, we will set up a dress-up corner. Here, you can see, feel, and wear “square cloths” and “tubular cloths” and fully experience traditional Southeast Asian fashion styles.

Following are the dates that you can try on the clothing. [As of September 7, 2010]
* The dates that you can try on the clothing will be updated as needed.
* You cannot try on the clothing when marked as “Closed.”

• Commentator: YOSHIMOTO Shinobu (Professor, National Museum of Ethnology)
• Date and Time: August 3 (Tue) 2:30 p.m. – 3: 30 p.m. / August 24 (Tue) 2:30 p.m. – 3: 30 p.m. / September 7 (Tue) 2:30 p.m. – 3: 30 p.m.

• Date and Time: July 25 (Sun) 2:30 p.m. – 3: 30 p.m.
• Speaker: YOSHIMOTO Shinobu (Professor, National Museum of Ethnology)
• More information.