Book excerpt: A lasting contribution to the study of Japanese textiles and to the cultural history of the Inland Sea region, this volume presents a historical ethnography of the fishing villages that produced the sashiko no donza, or fishermanÕs coat. It provides as well an in-depth analysis of regional textile production, the sashiko tradition in the village of Hokudan, and the iconography of the eloquently stitched designs that appear on the coats. Sharon Sadako Takeda is senior curator and head of the Department of Costume and Textiles at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Luke Roberts is an associate professor of Japanese history at the University of California, Santa Barbara.