Full Count (also styled FULLCOUNT) is a Japanese selvedge denim brand founded in Osaka in 1992 by Mikiharu Tsujita — one of the five members of the Osaka 5, the group of Japanese brands that pioneered the global raw denim revival. Full Count is distinguished within the Osaka 5 by its emphasis on comfort and everyday wearability alongside vintage authenticity: where Samurai Jeans pursues extreme weight and Warehouse pursues archaeological reproduction, Full Count’s founding mission was to make jeans that feel so good you never want to take them off. The brand was the first in Japan to use Zimbabwean long-staple cotton — a material choice that became foundational to the entire premium Japanese denim industry.
Key Facts
- Founded: 1992 (production began 1990)
- Founder/Designer: Mikiharu Tsujita (born Osaka, 1966)
- Headquarters: Osaka, Japan
- Industry: Premium Selvedge Denim, Heritage Menswear
History and Innovation
Tsujita had collaborated with Hidehiko Yamane during the early stages of Evisu before departing to pursue his own vision. His research into vintage Levi’s was extraordinarily detailed: he literally dismantled vintage pairs thread by thread, studying individual cotton fibres under magnification, eventually discovering that vintage American denim used cotton with a much longer staple length than anything commercially available in the 1990s. His search for a replacement led him to hand-cropped Zimbabwean cotton, which he became the first Japanese denim maker to use. This discovery — and his willingness to share the knowledge — transformed the whole Japanese denim industry; today Zimbabwe cotton is standard across premium Japanese selvedge.
Tsujita reported selling 100,000 pairs of Full Count jeans in 1996 alone, at the height of the Japanese vintage denim boom — a staggering figure for a brand built on slow, artisanal production. The brand also pioneered loopwheeled (tsuriami) sweatshirts made on gravity-powered machines in Wakayama, Japan, producing a lightweight, airy fabric with an unmistakably vintage hand-feel. Full Count celebrates its 30th anniversary collection with particular critical acclaim.
Product Range
Full Count produces raw selvedge jeans in a wide range of cuts — straight, slim, wide, bootcut, and flare — in weights from 11.5oz to 15.5oz, offering significantly more variety than most Japanese denim brands. Core models include the 0105 (wide, based on 1953 501XX) and the 1108 (slim straight for daily wear). The brand also produces work shirts, chambray shirts, loopwheeled sweatshirts, and accessories. Stocked by Redcast Heritage, Snake Oil Provisions, Okayama Denim, and specialist global retailers.
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