The kimono is full of strange charms;
A phantasmagoria of colors,
A flamboyancy of patterns,
The gloss and fineness of silk;
Its gossamer-like tissues
Veil the bodies of the women of the East.
It’s a token of love,
Tender love; burning love
Is shrouded in the flaming red juban
And lurks behind the neckband,
Sleeves and hem.
Ah, lovely kimono! Symbol
Of Japanese women!

. . . In this little brochure I shall try to show the very important part that the kimono plays in Japanese life and the importance of knowing something about it in order to understand the Japanese people and their life.

The beauty of Japanese women is partly attributed to the kimono. They look their best, and re in their element when they wear the kimono which is so much in keeping with the spirit of the Tea Ceremony and Flower Arrangement and with the beauty of the Japanese dance. . .

The Japanese today should be proud of their own art and crafts and of their many artists and artisans who created the genuine Japanese arts. The warm touch and sheen of Japanese lacquer which defies modern industrialism, the beauty of Japanese pottery, the delicate mellowness of Japanese hand-made paper, silk cloth so soft and glossy, silk fabrics with gorgeous patterns, and embroidery on rich silk grounds, all these are masterpieces of Japanese craftsmanship. It may not be too much to say that the old traditions of the Japanese are preserved in the graceful kimono as well as in those other fine art products…

The style of the kimono now worn by Japanese women dates back about 200 years. It was perfected then and it is not antiquated even today. It is my intention here to deal with the modern kimono, and not to write a sartorial history of Japan.

It must be a great surprise to the foreigner when he sees for the first time so many Japanese wearing some sort of foreign dress or other. Nine out of ten Japanese men wear foreign clothes, while fifty per cent of the Japanese women dress in the western style. But at heart the average Japanese the average Japanese regards foreign clothes as garments for office wear more than anything else. In other words the world of the kimono has not entirely gone out of existence.

When the Japanese returns home after his days work, no matter what type it may be, he at once discards his foreign clothes and puts on the kimono, in which he feels relaxed and at home for the first time. Without it he is restless, out of his element. Yes, the kimono is the symbol of his home life.

Certainly I must concede that the kimono is not a workaday garment intended for modern efficiency and convenience. It is intended for the quiet hours when we are at home. It would have gone out of existence long ago and no one would have felt sorry, had it been a mere " inefficient house dress."

The kimono is practically a uniform, unlike European clothes which differ so much in cut and style, but it is full of strange charms. It is really impossible to think of a Japanese bride in a kimono without those beautiful long hanging sleeves! The Japanese Tea Ceremony and Flower Arrangement lose half their charms when the performers do not wear the kimono.

So much for the charms of the kimono—at least for the present. Now let us say something about the style.

"A kimono for workaday duties" has long been advocated by our sartorial dilettanti and designers and often by the leaders of the times. " Cut off those hanging sleeves!" or "Remove the Ohashori!" (that bit of surplus material at the waist of the `kimono which is tucked in according to the height of the wearer) have been their byword. But happily, only a few have taken seriously to heart those slogans which are calculated to do disservice to the kimono! The style of the kimono which has outlived 200 long years of vicissitudes is well established, and not likely to undergo a fundamental change in the future. And so long as Japanese life does not undergo a great upheaval so long will the kimono remain unchanged. Perhaps when the Japanese has outlived the custom of sitting on the tatami (Japanese that) or of eating with the hashi (chopsticks), it may be time to make of the kimono a beautiful museum-piece.

Takasawa, Keiichi. Kimono: A Pictorial Story of the Kimono. Tokyo: Japan Travel Bureau, 1948; 3-7.