Profile of Japanese high-end denim in the NY Times: Out-Levi-ing Levi Strauss.
This is the kind of thing that is emblematic of Japanese kaizen: attention to detail, interest in authenticity/history, making the item even better than the non-Japanese original. Considering how much time I spend in denim, I do want to check out Hinoya Plus Mart.
One small quibble with the article—it says of these Japanese jeans “…Aware that the Japanese version of the homegrown product is far finer than anything similar now being made in America…”
Levi’s haven’t actually been made in the US since 2004:
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/Southwest/01/08/levi.s.closing.ap/
Walmart forced them into transferring all manufacturing to China. ( http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html )
Uniqlo was actually selling narrow-loom denim jeans a while bach – they looked good and broke in really nicely. They were something like thirty bucks a pair.