Kimono in a Mono Cultural World

The kimono is Japan. At least it is one part of Japan the West instantly recognizes. The kimono is mostly relegated to special occasions like weddings, funerals, coming-of-age days, and tea ceremonies. Kimono provides a contrast to the sharply westernized modern lifestyle of women and men.

Originally the word kimono meant “a thing to wear.” The word was pulled into English during the recent Meiji period (1868-1912) when Western clothing entered Japan. During this time, the Japanese felt the need to name their native dress (wafuku) to contrast it against the western styles (yofuku). 

The kimono became the representation of Japanese tradition during the Meiji period.  However, wrapping women in “Japanese culture” began as far back as the Tokugawa period (1600-1867) where the ideal Japanese woman began to form in cultural consciousness. This development solidified in the Meiji period almost as a response to the need for Japanese men to fully embrace westernization to succeed economically.  The slogan for Japanese women ryosai kenbo, “good wife, wise mother” was coined in this era. Men were defined as rational and active in their gender role. Their role was represented by the Western suit.

Since World War II, Japan has celebrated the coming-of-age day as a national holiday. January 15th marks the day schools and other institutions hold seijin shiki to honor all who will turn 20 that year: legal adults. Guys are required to put on a Western suite while women wear kimono. The contrast is interesting to consider. The Western suit represents the guy’s fate to be a salary man. Women can take off the kimono and don a suit; guys can only change the color of their ties based on occasion. White ties for a wedding; black ties for a funeral. The contrast in formal wear draws a firm distinction between what is Japanese and what is not.

A woman doesn’t wear a kimono. She must be molded to fit the kimono and the aspects of Japanese culture it represents. This requires imperfections to be fixed: boobs are wrapped flat, shoulders straightened, and posture forced to be just so. The kimono forces a woman to walk in a certain way. Sometimes the daughter is wearing the same kimono her mother and grandmother wore. It is a connection to previous generations.  Of course, the kimono also is associated with the geisha. The geisha are the living embodiment of Japan: a living book of Japanese arts, music, etiquette and mystery.

Kimono can expensive and show off the success of a family.  A family can go as far as to send their daughter to kimono academy and finishing school. At such schools she learns how to properly wear a kimono. This involves certain etiquette. One such school in 2008 cost 200,000 yen + a membership fee for a six month course held twice a week. New kimono can cost at least 1,000,000 yen. For women in poor families, they can rent kimono or use heirlooms. Those who don’t have those options often don’t attend their seijin shiki. Rentals can cost at least 75,000 yen.

Dressing in a kimono is even an expression of Japanese female ideals. The process requires gambaru (patience) and gamman (endurance). The dressing process is thought to be a way of elders to ritually pass on the ideals of Japanese femininity. Unlike Western dress, the kimono becomes a part of one’s skin because of the different feeling and motion the garment forces on a woman. Some of this has to do with Japanese advertising emphasizing the “natural” desire of girls to wear a kimono (this is called akogare).

To many of us in the West, the kimono is exotic and instantly recognizable as Japanese. This is the goal of the kimono. To some, the kimono may seem overly suppressive and even show male dominance over women. However, in many regards the kimono is a representation of female freedom. Women only where the kimono on special occasions and festivals. Guys are expected to wear the Western suit everyday.

Finally, the kimono is a way of preserving many aspects of Japanese culture that could be lost. The art of wearing a kimono encompasses many arts and traditions that have no other way of being passed down. Kimono kitsuke preserves etiquette and traditions that only the geisha would otherwise protect.

Deciding not to wear or how to wear a kimono is an expression of how one views tradition and national identity. Kimono can be personalized or traditional.

What do you think of kimono? Have you had the opportunity to wear one?

References

Assmann, S. (2008). Between Tradition and Innovation: The Reinvention of the Kimono in Japanese Consumer Culture. Fashion Theory. 12[3] p. 359-376.

Goldstein-Gidoni, O. (2001). Kimono and the Construction of Gendered and Cultural Identities. Ethnology. 38[4]. p. 351-370.