Today I would like to talk about a certain type of kimono called "Junihitoe", which was
the formal costume for women in royal court of Japan centuries ago.
These are pictures of dolls in Junihitoe kimono, which you can see in girls festival season in Japan.
The reason I chose this topic is because there is a TV drama going on in Japan (#nhk_hikarukimie), and it is based on a true story of a court lady in the late 10th-early 11th century. Her name is Murasaki Shikibu.
She is the author of "The tale of Genji".
She was a highly educated person and served as lady in waiting for one of the wives of the emperor.
In this TV drama people often wear formal costumes of that era, which was "Junihitoe" for the women.
Junihitoe is said to have double meaning; 'twelve' and 'more than enough'.
So basically, after putting on the white top part and scarlet bottoms, you wear layers and layers of wide and long sleeved kimono in different colors.
They are not exactly 'twelve' layers of kimono. At one time the fashion got too far and in some cases there were ladies who wore over 20 layers! That overuse was settled in time.
People expressed their sense of fashion and the beauty of seasons by the color variation they chose to wear.
They didn't only enjoy it for one's own fashion, but it also served as display and decoration for the court itself.
it's made of silk,
it's fabulous,
it's colorful,
but here is my point:
It was unbelievably heavy!!
It could sometimes weigh up to 20 kg.
Court ladies served and in some cases presented dances to the emperor in this outfit.
Can you imagine that?
In those days it was uncommon, or even taboo, for women to show their face in public, so women's beauty was assessed by sense of fashion of these kimono, how long and beautiful their hair is, poetry and handwriting, how sophisticated and elegant they were.
That was ok in those days, I can understand.
I think it is well acknowledged that there were many cultures in history of the world where women were forced to be submissive, to be treated lower or weaker. So one aspect to this Junihitoe is that,
although it's beautiful and need abundance of wealth to create it too,
it physically forces women to be submissive.
You can't even walk around quickly wearing a 20kg clothes, can you?
Anyway, today we can enjoy it as fashion and it's pretty to look at, so it's fine!
Thank you for reading.
I hope you found my story of this unique and interesting kimono as much as I did.
Today we can see this Junihitoe kimono mainly in girls festival dolls and in some ceremonies for the emperor of Japan, like the wedding or enthronement ceremony.
There are some places in Kyoto where tourists can enjoy wearing this Junihitoe kimono.
Do you want a try?
#japan
#girlsfestival
#kimono
#junihitoe
#murasakishikibu
#光る君へ
#紫式部
#十二単
#英語で日本を紹介
#cambly
