To celebrate Levi’s® Vintage Clothing’s historic Shrink-to-Fit fabrics being produced in Japan, we made 501 hand-numbered pairs of our 1947 “Japan” 501®.

These 501® Jeans are made in Japan from Japanese selvedge denim, and feature every single archival detail—back patch, Red Tab™, rivets, packaging, even the stamping on the buttons—translated into Japanese.

The year was 1947 and although the war had ended, the nation was much changed—and so were 501® Jeans. The end of rations allowed for the return of some familiar 501® features, like the watch pocket rivets. But it also ushered in some updates in response to the changing time and emerging middle class, like a modern, slimmer fit and the removal of extraneous details like the cinch and suspender buttons.

And while the back pocket arcuate was no longer applied with paint as it was during the war, it had certainly changed. Thanks to new double-needle technology, the famed double-arched stitch could be mass-produced in uniform size and design, no longer subject to the sewing skills of the individual worker.

Today, we reproduce all of these details using the same 12 oz. red line selvedge denim.

• An archival reproduction of our 1947 501® Jeans and a reflection of the changing times
• Designed with a post-war, slimmer fit
• Made with watch pocket rivets for the first time since the start of the war
• Features uniform arcuates on the back pockets, facilitated by double-needle technology
• Crafted from mid wash denim with a clean finish
• Constructed with two back pockets with concealed rivets
• Finished with a big “E” single sided Red Tab™ and Two Horse Pull leather patch