Hisashi Morishima Story

Since elementary school, I've always loved Made in USA products.
When I heard that there was a shop importing American goods in Amerikamura, even though I couldn’t go to America, I wanted to experience American products!

So whenever I had free time, I would ride my bike there.
Back then, Amerikamura just felt like the outskirts of a busy area with hardly any shops, not really a place for elementary school kids, but still, I was excited about the few import shops there.

There was a second-hand shop among the import stores, and with second-hand, high-quality items were affordable on my allowance!

I became fascinated with these 'vintage' items.

It was the heyday of surfers and hippies in the 70s.

Bell-bottoms like the 646 and boot cuts like the 517 were in fashion at that time, so the straight 501s weren’t popular, and I could buy them very cheaply.

The first denim I ever bought with two friends in Amerikamura was a pair of 501 XX from the 50s.

After purchasing, I noticed that mine was slightly different from my friends' denim.
The fabric was stiffer,the color was darker,and the red tab on my 501 had a capital 'E'.

It had hidden rivets on the back pockets,and at the time, I didn’t know what they were and thought,'Are these thumbtacks?'

However, once I realized they were Levi's 501 XX from the 50s, I became deeply interested in the fine details and fabric feel of jeans.

I liked that 501 XX so much because it was nearly new when I bought it and wore it every day,but eventually, it tore in various places from being worn too much,and I cut them off into hot pants.

Back then, there were no shops that did repairs, so there was no helping it, but I would love to shout to myself back then,'Don’t make them into hot pants, middle school me!' hahaha