Denim jeans were introduced into Japan after World War II, by the American occupation forces. In 1947, in the post-war chaos, the US army surplus clothing store, Tsunemi Yonehachi Shoten was established. It was also the year that Edwin's current president Shuji Tsunemi was born as the second son of the family that owned that shop. He advanced to university while helping his family business and went to America to obtain a master's degree at Washington University.
Having had the taste of genuine American jeans it is here that he decided ta amass second-hand jeans from all over the USA. There was a custom in America of donating old jeans to church, so he bought massive quantities of these old jeans that the churches sold to second-hand clothing shops and shipped them to Japan.
In 1961, after taking over his fathers shop, Tsunemi changed the company's name to EDWIN. (reated by rearranging the letters of the word DENIM and flipping the letter M to W. Tsunemi says: " Japan was the first to teach America about washing jeans. America is the mother of jeans but she is not the foster parent. It was only by chance that we came up with the idea of washing jeans. In the first place, second-hand jeans were very soiled unless they were washed. That is the only reason we washed them. That idea changed the history of jeans. To begin with, the indigo dye fades. We developed Old Wash with the idea that we could provide jeans that have been pre-faded to a certain shade. Looking back on it now, for 100 years, Americans didi not wash their jeans. They sold them as they were. That is why surprisingly, the Americans did not know the characteristics of jeans that well. Jeans change as you wear them and because they do, you never get tired of them."
Edwin Jeans successfully developed revolutionary washing processes ahead of the rest of the world: One Wash in the early 60's, Old Wash in 1975, stonewash in 1980 and chemical wash in the 1980's.
Edwin's fastidiousness towrads denim, starting with prototype development, became the basis of its product creation by analysing the entireprocesses of cotton selection, cotton spinning, dyeing, and fininshing. The credibility of product and spirit of craftmanship is what Edwin jeans has always been about.
Tsunemi did not satisfy himself with importing American born jeans but redefined and evolved jeans in his company's own way. The company's ethos is to enjoy change rather than be afraid of it.
