Kimono

What it is

The word kimono means 'thing to wear'. It is a robe cut from one narrow bolt of cloth, called a tanmono, and its shape is simple: square sleeves, a straight body, and a front that crosses over. The wearer closes it with a sash named the obi. The parts are sewn in a set way, so a kimono can be unpicked and remade. Types differ for women, men and children, and they change with the season, the occasion and the wearer's age. Zōri sandals and tabi socks often complete the outfit. The skill of putting one on is called kitsuke, which means 'dressing'.

Origins and history

Early Japanese dress drew on clothing from China, brought by envoys and settlers during the Kofun period, and Tang styles became popular at court. A legal code issued in 718 required robes to close with the left side over the right, a rule that still shapes how a kimono is worn. After Japan stopped sending envoys to China, court dress developed on its own, producing layered styles such as the jūnihitoe. The kosode, once underwear, became outerwear by the Muromachi period and is the direct ancestor of the kimono. Its basic shape has hardly changed since the Edo period.

Types and occasions

The yukata is the lightest kind, worn at summer festivals. Formal kimono appear at weddings, funerals and graduations. A woman's kimono may have short or long sleeves, and unmarried women traditionally wore the longer ones. Bridal kimono and the trousseau that accompanies them were set down in the Taishō period. Geisha and maiko wear kimono as part of their profession, and rikishi, or sumo wrestlers, are required to wear one whenever they appear in public. Children wear kimono too, often for festivals.

Cloth and craft

Kimono are usually cut from a tanmono, a single long bolt of cloth, though Western bolts are sometimes used. Silk has been the main material, alongside ramie and satin, and wool became common for casual wear before the 1960s. Dyeing and weaving carry much of the meaning: shibori tie-dye, rinzu damask, the older tsujigahana technique, and ikat, known in Japan as kasuri, where threads are patterned before they are woven. Meisen kimono, made from waste silk, were cheap and brightly coloured, and their designs often followed Art Deco.

Today and change

Few people now wear kimono every day. The garment lost ground from the Meiji period, when Western clothing was taken up for police, postal work, railways, schools and the court as a mark of modernity. Empress Haruko issued a matching edict on women's dress in 1877, and girls' school uniforms changed over during the 1920s. Yet the kimono has returned in waves. Ready-to-wear meisen sold widely after the 1923 earthquake, and today designers and young wearers treat the kimono as fashion again, not only as formal dress.

How Kimono is kept

Putting on a kimono follows a sequence with names. The wearer brings the left front panel over the right, then ties the obi, the broad sash, around the waist, sometimes over a stiffened weave and finished with a knot. Zōri sandals and tabi socks go with it, and accessories vary by formality and season. The whole process is called kitsuke, literally 'dressing'. Geisha and maiko, and sumo wrestlers in public, do this daily as part of their work. For most other people it is occasional: a wedding, a funeral, a graduation, or a summer festival where the light yukata is usual.

When and where

The kimono has no fixed date. It belongs to occasions: weddings, funerals, graduations and other formal events, and summer festivals, where the yukata is the common choice. Geisha, maiko and sumo wrestlers wear it as part of their working day. A small number of people still choose it as everyday dress.

Japan is its home, and the kimono is the national dress. It is strongest in cities with long textile and performance traditions, such as Kyoto, where maiko and geisha wear it, and Nara, where the Shōsōin temple keeps ancient dyed fabric. Cheap meisen kimono sold widely across the country in the 1920s and 1930s.

What Kimono means

Kimono carry meaning in how they are worn. Right over left is kept for the dead, so the living always wrap left over right. Sleeve length, colour, fabric and pattern speak of age, season and formality, and a family crest may appear on formal dress. In the Edo period, merchants used costly dyeing to show their wealth, and the shogunate answered with laws limiting certain colours and techniques. That tension fed an aesthetic of quiet, almost plain elegance which still influences design.

Questions people ask about Kimono

See also

PretaOfferings and rites for spirits enduring deep hunger across Asian traditions.Chinese knottingA folk craft of cord tied into lucky shapes, made in China and given as charmsIkatA resist-dyeing craft from Southeast Asia, where yarns are tied and dyed before weavingLion danceA dynamic ritual dance featuring costumed lions, drums and martial acrobatics

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle
• #KimOhNo: Kim Kardashian West renames Kimono brand amid outcryThe Guardian, Article
• Kimono · V&AV&A, Article
• #KimOhNo: Kim Kardashian West renames Kimono brand amid outcryThe Guardian, Article
• Kimono · V&AV&A, Article

• Kimono on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.