Up for sale here is a shirt from Mountain Research, one of those cult labels that doesn’t get the exposure it deserves outside of Japan. Before getting into the specifics of this piece, first some background on the label. Mountain Research is a line of “….. Research”, designed by Setsumasa Kobayashi, and started in 2007. Before …… Research, Kobayashi was the designer for a label called General Research, also very much a cult label in Japanese streetwear, very much a peer of Undercover, Bathing Ape and the like. General Research ran from 1993 to 2006.
With Mountain Research you essentially have the combination of a very forward-thinking punk aesthetic with more traditional outdoor wear. Kobayashi and Mountain Research have a lot of similarities with Undercover actually, where they’ve both got a pretty strong punk influence that they often apply. The idea here is to tweak classic outdoors wear to a more modern fit, often with interesting details and quality materials.
This shirt comes from the spring-summer 2016 collection. It is called the “sound of mountain” tee as you can see on the label. The shirt is a solid white in cotton, with a Japanese graphic print on the front. The print reads “山の音”, which translates to “mountain sounds” or “the sound of the mountain”. Other details include a custom tag at the bottom of the shirt, logo stamped on the neckline, and additional interior tags.
Like many of these smaller Japanese labels, Mountain Research produces in very limited quantities (they only have one shop in a residential Tokyo neighborhood). This particular model is now long gone. Japanese retail was around $100. Availability is even more limited outside of Japan, and it definitely would have run quite a bit more if you could find it.
Size is a medium and fits true. I measure the chest at 20” / 51cm, shoulders at 18” / 46cm, and length at 25” / 64cm from the base of the neck. The shirt comes in lightly used, very good shape with no holes, tears or stains. Made in Japan.
Shipping from Japan to anywhere will be $24.
