Up for sale here is a chore jacket from Japanese label Sugar Cane. Sugar Cane, in case you were not aware, is a part of a number of labels manufactured by Toyo Enterprise, a pretty big name in the Japanese workwear world. Other Toyo labels include Buzz Rickson, Sun Surf, Tailor Tokyo, Indian Motorcycle, and several more. Sugar Cane themselves manufacture the Mister Freedom label as well. This jacket is in fact made from one of Sugar Cane’s signature fabrics, a 50% cotton and 50% sugar cane fiber material that Mister Freedom refers to as “Okinawa” denim. It’s a completely unique material, giving the fabric quite a bit more depth than you see with standard cotton products.
Sugar Cane’s Okinawa products are already pretty rare. They’re produced in small quantities and pretty hard to come by outside of Japan. It is even rarer to see the same fabric used in a jacket, as you see here. This jacket is doubly interesting given the dye job as well, where they opted for a nicely uneven gray color. Sugar Cane often uses unique dyes with their Okinawa fabric pieces such as persimmon and hank-dyed indigo. I’m not 100% sure in this case, but I believe this is a sulfur dye, the sort that will have similar fading properties to jeans. The pleasantly uneven color creates a nice contrast if you’re going to wear this with jeans. This is definitely a premium Sugar Cane product.
Aside from the dye and fabric, there are a good number of details incorporated here. Silhouette is a cross between a blazer and a traditional chore jacket, with a four-button closure. Cuffs have slanted diagonal buttons. Pockets are lined in a nicely contrasting orange cotton canvas fabric, which also lines the waistband on the rear. Interior has contrasting black bobbin thread thrown in for good measure. Special “sugar cane fiber” (砂糖黍) tag is included at the neck.
Size is labeled medium and fits true. I measure the chest at 21” / 54cm, shoulders at 17” / 44cm, length at 27” / 72cm from the base of the neck, and sleeves at 24” / 64cm from the shoulder. The jacket comes in lightly used, very good shape with no holes, tears, stains or obvious signs of wear. Made in Japan.
Shipping from Japan to anywhere will be $30.