Before Japan became diplomatic and took in some western clothing like T-shirt and pants, Japan had unique clothing called Kimono. There are relax and light-weight versions of kimono but I will introduce the real Kimono because it is more gorgeous on women and elegant on men.
Woman's Kimono
This clothing is a Furisode (Formal version of woman's Kimono), a kimono with long, flowing sleeves.
These are traditionally worn by young, unmarried women on special occasions. (such as 成人式 *1)
They are often made of brightly coloured and extravagantly patterned materials.
Man's Kimono
This clothing is a Hakama (Formal version of men's Kimono). A man's kimono is shorter than a woman's. It also allows greater freedom of movement than a woman's.
Unlike the women's kimono, the men's is in two parts. The two parts together are called Hakama.
It also has a long loose jacket, plain apart from the family crest embroidered in white.
Kimono which is worn today first appeared in the early 800s. Before that, Japanese were wearing similar clothes to the Chinese and Korean traditional clothes. But in the late 700s, when they stopped travelling to China or Korea on official diplomatic missions, Japanese made original clothing for use only in Japan.
In the 1600s, under the stable samurai government, feudal lords all over the country were given territories, and a feudal domain system was put in place. The clan uniform is a generic term for jackets and hakama, in which hemp cloth is hardened with a special glue, and the shoulders protrude. With the development of these "samurai uniforms," the technology of the entire kimono has expanded dramatically, and the kimono itself has increased its value as an art and craft. Therefore, the custom of passing on kimonos from parents to children became traditional.
In the end of 1800s, Japan was westernised and people started to use western clothing (like suits). And they had to wear westernised clothing for important meetings or diplomatic occasions.
Now, we don't often wear Kimono as previously but we sometimes wear it on special occasions. You can rent kimono from rental shops in Japan!
Kimono rental shops and photo shoots in Tokyo
Kimono rental shop and photo shoots in Kyoto
Hope you find this interesting!
K. F
*1)成人式(seijinshiki)
Coming-of-age Day on 15th of January and celebrates the people who became adults (age 20) that year. In Japan, the illegal drinking and smoking age is 20. In the old days, the age of starting to vote was 20 too. (It changed recently and it is 18 now)
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