kimono【着物】

The word kimono (literally, “clothing”) is usually used in the narrow sense for the traditional Japanese wrap-around garment, worn by both men and women, with rectangular sleeves, and bound with a sash (obi). The word is occasionally used in the broad sense as a term for clothing or for the native dress in general as opposed to Western-style clothing (yōfuku). The predecessor of the kimono is the kosode (“small sleeves”), which was worn as an undergarment from about the Nara period (710−794) and as the everyday outer garment from about the mid-16th century. The term kimono gained favor over kosode only in the 18th century (see also clothing).

In the Meiji period (1868−1912) many men began wearing Western-style clothes, reserving kimono for formal occasions or when relaxing at home, but only from the beginning of the Shōwa period (1926−89) did the new style of dress become popular among women. Today most women wear kimono mainly for social and ceremonial events or when performing certain traditional arts. Children and young men and women may wear kimono for such occasions as New Year, the Shichigosan festival, Adulthood Day (see gempuku), graduations, and weddings.

Kimono may be unlined (hitoe), lined (awase), or cotton-quilted (wataire). Unlined kimono are worn from June through September; for everyday wear, stencil-dyed cotton yukata are most common. For street or formal wear, materials such as silk gauze (ro and sha) or fine linen (jōfu) are used. Lined kimono are worn from October through May and are mainly made of silk or wool. Today synthetic materials are often used, and one-layer wool kimono are often worn in winter. Cotton quilted kimono, or cotton-quilted robes called tanzen worn over kimono, are for midwinter at home.

The ceremonial kimono for men is made of black habutae silk and decorated in several places with the family crest (mon; see crests) in white. Women wear different types of formal kimono. The dazzling wedding costume consists of a white or red silk kimono with embroidery or brocade. Married women wear dark-colored silk, with a lighter design, for festive occasions and black silk, without a design, for funerals.

Generally when dressing one first dons tabi (socks); top undergarment and wrap-around underskirt; and then the underkimono (nagajuban), which is tied tightly with a wide belt (datemaki). The nagajuban has a collar (han'eri), usually white, which should show about 2 centimeters (1 in) above the collar of the kimono that is worn over it. The left side of the kimono is lapped over the right in front; the opposite is done only when dressing a body for burial. The technique of donning kimono and obi was traditionally passed on from mother to daughter, but today women often go to a special school to learn how to achieve the correct effects.

A silk kimono is usually not cleaned as a whole unit but is first taken apart along the straight, hand-sewn seams, then washed and laid or stretched out to dry. After every wearing the kimono should be aired. For storage, the kimono is folded in a set order along the seams, wrapped in special paper (tatōgami), and laid flat in a drawer.