Japanese Kimono

Archive for April, 2009

Question: Apperance-wise, what is the difference between a kimono and a yukata?

men's and women's.

Answer: Mostly the fabric, the way the pattern is laid out, and the accessories.

Fabric -- Yukata are made of cotton and are not lined. Other kinds of kimono are typically made of silk, wool, or polyester, and may be lined or unlined depending on the season (lined in winter, unlined in summer and parts of spring and fall. There are also special summer weaves called ro and sha).

Pattern -- Most yukata have an all-over pattern that repeats several times. Think of quilting fabric. It's the same kind of concept, though of course yukata patterns tend to be bigger. :p There are some kinds of regular kimono with all-over patterns (usually called komon, roughly meaning small pattern), but for the most part the pattern on a non-yukata kimono will be laid out in specific areas (across the hem, on the sleeves, on the shoulders). On some kinds of kimono, the pattern will be laid out in such a way that you have an actual scene, not just a bunch of pretty things. For example, I have a houmongi that has a scene of Heian-era nobles writing poetry by a river on its hem. Now, there are some exceptions. For example, I have seen dancing kimono with very komon-like patterns, but in those case there's usually some other clue that the aren't komon or yukata (like a padded hem). Non-yukata kimono may also come in one solid color, with any pattern woven into the fabric rather than painted/dyed/embroidered on. Those kinds of kimono are called iromuji.

Accessoris: If someone is wearing a non-yukata kimono properly, they will ALWAYS be wearing a juban underneath it, and you will be able to tell because you will be able to see the extra collar (the kimono's collar is arranged so that you can see the juban color at the front) and, if you get a good look at the backs of the sleeves, you might catch a glimpse of the juban sleeves tucked inside. They will also probably be wearing tabi socks and zori. In contrast, yukata are usually worn with wooded get and no socks. If the person in question is a woman, she will also be wearing an obi age and obi jime with her obi, and these will have a function. If you look closely at the back of her obi, you should see both the obi age and obi jime disappearing into the bow. They help hold the whole thing together. A woman wearing a yukata might wear decorative items that look like obi age and obi jime, but they are purple decorative and don't serve a function.

Other clues -- if it's not summer, it's probably not a yukata. For a woman, if the sleeves are really long (like...ankle-length) it's also probably not a yukata. Furisode-style yukata DO exist, but they're very rare. The specific patterns aren't much help here because summer patterns appear on all different kinds of summer kimono, and yukata often have patterns that wouldn't normally be seen on summer kimono. For example, I have two different yukata (so clearly summer wear) with patterns that would normally only be seen in spring. It's the fact that they're yukata that makes it okay to wear those patterns in the summer.

Mens kimono