The is a traditional
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese hip- or thigh-length jacket worn over a
kimono
The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono ...
. Resembling a shortened kimono with no overlapping front panels (), the typically features a thinner collar than that of a kimono, and is sewn with the addition of two thin, triangular panels at either side seam. The is usually tied at the front with two short cords, known as , which attach to small loops sewn inside the garment.
During the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
, economic growth within the wealthy but low-status
merchant
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...
classes resulted in an excess of disposable income, much of which was spent on clothing. It was during this period that, due to various
edicts on dress mandated by the ruling classes, merchant-class Japanese men began to wear with plain external designs and lavishly-decorated linings, a trend still seen in men's today.
During the early 1800s,
geisha
{{Culture of Japan, Traditions, Geisha
{{nihongo, Geisha, 芸者 ({{IPAc-en, ˈ, ɡ, eɪ, ʃ, ə; {{IPA-ja, ɡeːɕa, lang), also known as {{nihongo, , 芸子, geiko (in Kyoto and Kanazawa) or {{nihongo, , 芸妓, geigi, are a class of female ...
in the of
Fukagawa,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
began to wear over their kimono. had until that point only been worn by men; the geisha of Fukagawa, well known for their
stylish
Stylish is a user style manager that can change the appearance of web pages in a user's browser without changing their content by including user-supplied CSS style sheets with those supplied by the web site itself. The Stylish browser extens ...
and unusual fashion choices, set a trend that saw women wearing become commonplace by the 1930s.
In modern-day Japan, are worn by both men and women.
See also
* , an informal and often padded Japanese jacket
* , a lightweight jacket traditionally worn by shopkeepers or employees as uniform, and commonly worn to festivals in Japan
* , a sleeveless padded outer vest worn by young children over their kimono to outings and on occasions such as
* , a double-breasted Japanese
overcoat
An overcoat is a type of long coat (clothing), coat intended to be worn as the outermost garment, which usually extends below the knee. Overcoats are most commonly used in winter when warmth is more important.
They are sometimes confused with ...
characterised by a square neckline and dual fastenings
References
External links
at the University of Michigan Museum of Art at the British Museum'Behind the Scenes in Conservation: Japanese ' from the Cincinnati Art Museum
Japanese upper-body garments
Japanese words and phrases
Jackets
{{Japan-culture-stub