Spotlight: The Obi of Sakkō

On The Twelfth Day of Fun I present... another spotlight! Someone actually did an ask about iconic obi, and to me there's no obi more iconic than those worn during the sakkō period. While the sakkō outfits of each kagai may differ, there's one constant that remains the same: stunning obi with golden threads to celebrate the special occasion. Most tend to have white as a base, but others will incorporate other colors like beige, gold, taupe, or some shade close to gold. In other rare occasions you'll even see bold colors such as green or black; there's no strict rules when it comes to sakkō! Gold is the color of wealth and celebrations, so its abundance is auspicious and a wish for much luck in the future. The motifs on the obi tend to be auspicious as well, with karabana (imaginary flowers) being quite popular as they're both beautiful and unique as no two designs are identical. In some cases certain okiya will use the same outfits specifically for their sakkō periods, so we'll see certain obi used just for this period. Sometimes okiya will even use specific obi for specific naming lines if they have more than one under their roof. Other times okiya will choose their finest obi and pair it with their sakkō kimono. The combinations are almost endless and the traditions are unique from one okiya to the next, even within the same district! Image Credits Koeri (小衿) Mamekinu (まめ衣) Katsuki (勝貴) Fukusono (ふく苑) Kanako (叶子) Tomitae (富多愛)

What’s In a Pocchiri? Part 12

On The Sixth Day of Fun I present... another outfit feature! This is an incredibly unique design with special materials and hides more than meets the eye!

Image courtesy of Yūshinbi Kimono. Materials: Silver, Gold Plate, Jade, Coral, Clear Quartz, Agate, Sunstone, and Diamond Motifs: Butterflies Owned By: Masunoya (桝之矢) in Pontocho In a modernist twist, this pocchiri features butterflies that seem as though they’re flying out of the center diamond and into real life. This perspective is achieved by making the butterflies closest to the diamond small and progressively getting larger as they reach the outer rings. It’s not surprising then that the most expensive materials can be found in the center as well! Besides that massive diamond, the smallest butterfly is made from a dark red coral, also known as Ox Blood Coral, that’s extremely expensive. From there we see a dark pink coral, which is also sought after when it has such a uniform color sch as shown here. From there we see a beautiful grass green jade that must have also cost a fortune. However, the next three materials are quite cheap in comparison, which may be why they were chosen as those stones are quite large. Beside the jade and pink coral rests a very sparkly stone known as a Sunstone. This stone doesn’t actually exist in nature but is instead a man-made stone! Red is the most common color, but it can be found in all colors of the rainbow, especially for crafting beads. Next we have banded agate, which is the red stone with the white stripes. Agate often has bands of colors running through it, but most aren’t as straight as the ones in this piece. Finally there’s clear quartz that appears slightly cloudy due to the silver setting. What’s interesting is that the bottom set of wings for each of the butterflies was once gold plated! You can still see some gold present on the smallest butterflies. The jade, agate, and quartz butterflies, whose bottom wings face outwards, seems to have had the gold rubbed off over time.

Image courtesy of Yūshinbi Kimono.

What’s In a Pocchiri? Part 10

Double digits for another feature! I’ve really enjoyed looking into the materials and motifs that make up the karyukai’s most expensive accessories, and I hope you have too! With that said, let’s look into another piece!

Image courtesy of Exclusive Kyoto. Materials: Gold, Silver, Jade, and Ceramic Motifs: Battledore, Rocking Horse, Sea Bream, Pinwheel, and Soul Stone (Children’s Toys) Owned By: Tama (多麻) in Gion Kobu I chose this one for the sheer amount of symbolism as it’s so incredibly complex and full of wonderful items that it would be a shame to put it off any longer. Just by looking at it you may notice this giant jumble of odd motifs, but in actually they’ve all got one thing in common: they’re children’s toys! Most of these motifs can even be found on junior maiko kanzashi in December as lucky charms too! Looking at this layer by layer, we can see the following: Hagoita (羽子板)/Battledore: A popular game played during New Year’s celebrations. It’s very closely related to badminton as the purpose is to hit a shuttlecock into the air, bounce it back and forth, and whoever misses it and lets it touch the ground loses. It’s quite common to buy luxurious battledore to hang in one’s house during New Year’s as well, often times depicting anything from kabuki to Disney characters!  Mokuba (木馬)/Rocking Horse: A staple around the world, this wooden rocking horse is a popular toy that allows children to experience the thrill of riding a pretend horse. It is often times linked with masculinity. Tai (鯛)/Sea Bream: Another masculine symbol, they are often eaten during momentous occasions for good luck. It’s a very popular dish for misedashi and erikae too! This one appears to be on a small platform with wheels, making it a pull toy known as Taiguruma (sea bream car).  Kazeguruma (風車)/Pinwheel: Another popular toy found around the world, pinwheels can often be found planted in gardens where children watch them spin in the wind. Mitsu Tomoe (三つ巴)/Three Souls: Often used as a symbol of protection, these three commas in a circle are believed to ward off bad luck and help with growth.  As for the materials, they’re a bit easier to identify due to its simplicity. The entire piece is done in silver with gold plating covering most parts. Around the mitsu tomoe rests a jade circle and the sea bream is made from porcelain. In the past the sea bream was likely made from coral as older pictures have shown that it’s definitely been replaced over the years and the previous decoration looked like a coral carving. I admit that I like the new ceramic look as it makes it feel more like a real toy! Other parts were also silver colored in the past, hence why I can conclude that it’s gold plate that was reapplied and not solid gold. Here we can see it being worn by the lovely Mameryū (まめ柳):

Image courtesy of Exclusive Kyoto.

What’s In a Pocchiri? Part 4

I’m trying to cover all of the gokagai before I explore others, so let’s take a look at a new one this time!

Image courtesy of Cliff CLF. Materials: Tortoise Shell, Abalone Shell, Mother of Pearl, Gold, Peridot, Aquamarine, Tourmaline, Sapphire, Ruby, Diamond, and Topaz. Motifs: Modern Art Peacocks Owned By: Yoshifumi (よし冨美) in Miyagawa Cho This one is not only a stunner, but filled with so many layers of ornamentation! First, a look at the motifs! This is really hard to peg down as I don’t think that there is a singular theme here besides it being a creative work of modern art. Miyagawa Cho is known for its unique and modern pocchiri, so this one takes a bit of a spin on that to create this stunner. Looking at it from an abstract point of view it’s possible that the motifs here are peacocks, as the left side looks almost like an Art Deco style arrangement of peacock feathers while the right side takes an even more modern and simplistic take on those same luxurious tail feathers. During the 1980s and 1990s circular peacocks were popular on kimono, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this was based on those! Looking at the materials there’s a great amount of them to unpack here. The base of this piece is made from tortoise shell, as can be seen in the bottom middle where the natural colors of the shell have been left in to show off just how expensive this piece is. Only a handful of artisans can work with tortoise shell in Japan, so their products carry a hefty price tag. From there some shell, likely abalone for the blue and mother of pearl for the white, was inlaid along with beautiful painted gold and lacquer. The gold almost seems 3D in some places and this was likely done to make the piece feel more three dimensional. It’s almost hard to believe that this piece is lacking in depth in real life, but the artistry here speaks for itself! Judging by the small amounts of metal that we can see along the outside this piece appears to be set into gold, so its cost must have been astronomical! In the middle of the tortoise shell we have two different types of geometric patterns made in solid gold, likely 12k-18k, that have many different precious stones set into them! On the left we have repeating circles with pears on the outside that’s broken up by circular bands. On the right we have marquise stones patterned with round stones that feature some slightly squiggly gold lines in between. To the far right there’s simply two lines of simple gold with three round stones as accents. There’s so many different colored stones that the rainbow they produce is what keeps this piece dazzling! Some of the easiest ones to spot are peridot (light green), topaz (brown/orange), aquamarine (light blue), and tourmaline (purple and pink). On the right side we can see a dark blue stone that’s a sapphire, a red stone beside it that’s a ruby, and a few small clear stones that are most likely diamonds. Surprisingly this piece is much larger than the average pocchiri, but to fit in so much detail it kinda makes sense. Here you can see this piece being worn by maiko Fumitama (富美珠):

Image courtesy of Cliff CLF.

What’s In a Pocchiri? Part 1

On The Third Day Of Fun I present... the brand new feature! Pocchiri, the special obidome that maiko wear, are the most expensive piece of any outfit in the karyukai. Centuries ago they actually functioned liked special belt buckles that would lock together to form a motif, but over time became more ornate and adapted to changing times. Instead of having to sew an obijime together with the pocchiri to form a belt the newer versions have loops on the back that now slide onto obijime. The ease in changing the pieces and global trade allowed for them to be made of precious metals and act as a focal point of wealth rather than a simple clasp that helped to keep an obi tied.  Modern pocchiri are made from the materials that make up Shippō (七宝), which are the Seven Lucky Treasures that are spoken of in Buddhist sutras. They include: Hari (玻璃) - Quartz Gin (銀) - Silver Kin (金) - Gold Menō (瑪瑙) - Agate Ruri (瑠璃) - Lapis Lazuli Shinju (真珠) - Pearl/Mother of Pearl Sango (珊瑚) - Coral  Wearing pocchiri made from these treasures is meant to bring good luck, plus it promotes the use of native precious and semi-precious stones and materials. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the first example:

Image courtesy of Onihide-san. Materials: Gold, Silver, Mother of Pearl, Pearl, and Coral Motifs: Butterflies, Canola or Oxalis Blossoms, and Wind Owned By: Fukushima (福嶋) okiya in Gion Kobu This piece was chosen for two main reasons; the first is that we get to see the piece not being worn, which allows us to specifically focus on it and not the entire outfit. The second is that the flower parts are actually a bit debatable! Surprisingly, canola blossoms and oxalis (clover) blossoms look very similar as they both have four heart shaped petals. They’re also motifs found in the spring when butterflies begin to awaken from their winter slumber. However, canola blossoms are yellow whereas oxalis blossoms tend to be white, pink, or purple. But, if I had to choose, I’d actually go with canola blossoms for this one as there is a song/dance in the Inoue repertoire called Nanoha (菜の花), the name for canola blossoms, which is the story of a butterfly deciding which canola blossom to land on. Also, oxalis are most commonly seen with three petals, but since four isn’t unheard of I decided to add it anyway as you can never be too sure. The wind motif that the main motifs rest upon is meant to invoke the image of a slight breeze that moves both the butterflies and flowers around. As a special bonus, here’s maiko Fumino (章乃) wearing this piece:

Image courtesy of Onihide-san.

Random Fact of The Week 24/2

I’m really trying to stay away from facts that you could easily come across as this is the “random” post, but it’s not so easy every week! However, I think I’ve come up with a good one ^^v Most pocchiri, kanzashi, and kanokodome are made from silver and not gold. This is because Japan doesn’t have a native source of gold but it does have silver. Traditionally when a gold colored metal was used instead of silver the Japanese used brass. The native minerals issue is one that the karyukai has always tried to promote. It’s only been within the last few decades that we begin to see pocchiri and kanokodome made with non-native materials, whether that be metal or stone. Native gemstones include: coral, jade, pearl, quartz (many colors), agate (many colors), jasper, and topaz.  

What’s In a Kimono? Part 6

I was thinking of doing this while my normal laptop was off being repaired, but then it was fixed in time so I deferred it until now (I was scared of my old laptop crashing too).

Name: Benisode (紅袖) - Crimson Sleeves Type: Kosode (小袖) Time Period: Bunka-Bunsei (1804 - 1829) - Edo Period Age: 188 - 213 Years Old (Antique) Condition: Very Good - Some Staining Material: Silk Motif(s): Chrysanthemum, Plum Blossom, Bamboo, Plant Stands, Waves Execution and Technique: Embroidery and Real Gold Value: $4,000 - $5,000 USD This is one of those pieces that you’re likely never to see unless you’re in a museum, and I say that lightly. Not only is it incredibly old (that date is very much correct), but it’s special for reasons that I’ll elaborate on later. First up, let’s look at its type. Kosode is usually a very general term referring to kimono that have short sleeves (versus furisode). However, the majority of types that we’re familiar with today didn’t exist back then, so it can only be identified by its sleeves. You may have noticed that the sleeves look very odd too, in that they’re attached to the body of the kimono itself and do not hang separately like modern kimono do. This is an identifier of age as this was a popular way to wear high end kosode during the Edo Period. The silk is actually chirimen (ちりめん), but it’s much thinner by today’s standards as silk was still hand woven back then and machines were not in use yet. Looking at motifs, we see Chrysanthemums (菊 - Kiku), Plum blossoms (梅 - Ume), and Bamboo (竹 - Take), arranged together in an ikebana style that rests upon ornate Plant Stands (卓 - Taku). Flowing around the stands are Waves (波 - Nami). These motifs are indicative of the new year, specifically the Asian New Year that usually takes place in late January or early February. Seeing as this kimono was once owned by a very wealthy woman it’s not impossible to think that she wore this for a day or two every year. So, let’s get down to the main reasons why it’s special, besides its age: gold! During the Edo Period (1603 - 1868) there were sumptuary laws that dictated what each class could wear. Only those of the nobility and the samurai class were allowed to wear gold on their kimono. The fun part about this piece is that the small background information that I was given from the seller actually turned out to be more than I could have hoped for. Like most antique kimono not purchased from Japan, this one was brought back by an American G.I. who was in Japan during the American Occupation. The only information I was given was that the G.I. had stayed with a man named Kuni who was from a wealthy samurai family that lived in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. Well, a little bit of Google searching later and I found out that the samurai family that lived in Mito was none other than the Mito Clan, who just happen to be one of the three branch families of the Tokugawa. In case you were somehow unaware, the Tokugawa Family were the shogunate that ran the country for the entirety of the Edo Period. Not only that, but the head of the Mito family at the time of the occupation was named Kuniyuki, who also had a son named Kuninari. So, this small sentence of information actually checked out and makes it very likely that this piece did once belong to the prestigious Mito family.  When it comes to condition there’s some staining/fading, likely due to from improper storage on the side (as can be seen in the photograph) and a bit near the collar. However, due to its age this condition is considered very good and it’s very likely that it could be restored by someone who deals in professional restorations. I will not be the one to do this though as I have recently sold this piece to a collector who had purchased the last Edo Period kimono I had put up for sale a few years ago. Even though it’s no longer in my possession it’s a great tool for teaching as it’s something that most people will never get to see.

What’s In a Kimono? Part 3

Today we’ll be looking at something that used to be quite common but now is rarely ever made (if at all).

Name: Kinpaku (金箔) - Gold Leaf Type: Donuki (胴抜) Time Period: Showa (1926-1989) Age: Vintage (40 -60 Years Old) Condition: Excellent - No Stains/Fading/Tears Material: Silk Motif(s): Repeating Interlocking Pattern Execution and Technique: Rinzu Value: $75 - 100 USD A donuki, which translates as “Undergarment (To Be Worn In Layers)”, is a quirk from a different age. Prior to World War II you could sometimes find kimono that came as a set - one that looked like a normal kimono, and the other that looked like an exact copy of your kimono, but as if it were also a juban. This was due to the repeated pattern was found only at the hem and sleeves. The donuki was a way to show that you were wearing multiple kimono without actually having to spend the money on a second full kimono. Since the sleeves and hem were all that you could see they’d be replicated like the fashionable matching layering sets of the time. For rich families a woman often wore three kimono on her wedding day or the family had identical kimono made in different colors for each of their daughters, which also usually numbered three. These layering sets hearkened back to the incredibly fashionable Heian Period and were a major status symbol. The formula for a layering set looks like the following: Base layer: Longest, usually white or cream colored Middle Layer: Slightly shorter than the base layer, usually red/orange or purple colored Top Layer: Shortest of all three to allow the others to show underneath, usually black or blue colored Each kimono in the layering set would also feature five kamon, marking it as being of the highest formality. As stated above, these sets were very expensive, but also highly desired. The donuki emerged as a cost effective solution to be wearing that fashionable laying set, yet not having to bankrupt your family to do so. It wasn’t just brides or unmarried women that wore donuki - everyone did! Men, women, and children all wore layering sets to be a part of this trend. Wearing multiple kimono meant that you were raising the formality of your outfit as the multiple layers were a direct sign of wealth.  Fast forward beyond World War II and the layering sets have all but been forgotten. Since the amount of new kimono being made declined so too did the demand for older fashions or trends, thus making the donuki a relic of the past. This one, however, was made after World War II, likely between the 1960s and 1980s, and was probably used with stage costumes or possibly even as the old donuki were meant to be worn. Instead of matching another kimono it is simply to be used as a second layering kimono, with it not being a “full” kimono since it does not have an overall pattern. At first glance this piece may look like a juban (襦袢), the kimono worn underneath all other kimono that keeps skin from being seen while walking or moving (it is also where the eri is attached). However, there’s two things that mark this piece as not being a juban. The first, and most obvious, is the distinct lack of a white collar. Juban for women have white collars that you can attach eri to whereas this piece has a collar that is the same color as the majority of the piece. The second is that the dimensions of this piece are those of a finished kimono and not a juban, namely it’s too long to be a juban and the collar is too wide since it’s meant to be folded over when worn. So, how is this used? Well, once again you can look to my icon to see it in action. I’m wearing this donuki underneath my houmongi to give the purple a bit of contrast and to keep myself warm as it was a bit cool that day. Wearing an extra kimono meant that I didn’t need to wear a heavy coat and provided me with a fashionable accent. Donuki on their own are quite cheap compared to a normal kimono since you can’t wear them unless you’re prepared to dress in many layers. Also, since they don’t look like a normal kimono you can’t just wear them as if they were. However, donuki can be essential to the value of older, antique kimono if they were made as a set. Since donuki were cheap they were often discarded or separated from their original matching kimono. Having both the kimono and its donuki substantially raises the price of the set, kind of like having a toy in its original box. Since this piece is a stand alone it doesn’t have a match, but its versatility, wonderful rinzu, and excellent condition put the price in its favor.