カテゴリー: Terminology

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Sikkai

“Sikkai” is a Japanese word that means “all” in English.But this word means “a trader who undertakes anything about kimonos” in the kimono industry. The words “Sikkaiya” and “Sikkaigyo” have that same meaning as “Sikkai.”
You probably wonder what’s the difference between a kimono shop and “Sikkai.”The answer is,a kimono shop sells kimonos and “Sikkai” undertakes repairs and processing of kimonos.

For example,”Sikkai” wash kimonos,but a kimono shop doesn’t do that.
And these days,it’s difficult to find “Sikkai” immediately. In many cases people consult a kimono shop which will find Shikkai easily, and the shop will introduce Shikkai to them. Not a few kimono shops also do Shikkai business even if it is another one. There are various jobs of Shikkai. Ordinally people will ask them to do “Maruarai” (wash a kimono just as it is), “Shiminuki” (stain removal) and “Kakehagi” (invisible mending). They also do “Sumpo naoshi” (alteration), “Somekae” (re-dyeing) and “Mon-ire” (drawing family crest) as a little larger scale jobs. When you often wear kimono, you should find Shikkai whom you can ask such jobs freely. He/She will help you in the nick of time.

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Kitsukeshi

Kitsukeshi is a person who dresses kimono on people. However, the people who can’t wear kimono do not always ask kitsukeshi to dress them. Even people who can wear kimono by themselves often ask kitsukeshi to dress formal kimono on them.

At the end of Heian period, pompous attires began to be in fashion among people in high position. And a special tequnique is needed to dress the attire beautifully. The technique is called “emondo”, and the person who dresses the attire on people with this technique is called “emonsha”. This emonsha is thought to be the beginning of kituskeshi. This profession was needed by only people of upper class in those days. In Edo period, however, when wide obi is getting popular among common people, kitsukeshi as the present days is said to have appeared. Kitsukeshi is not a recent profession but a profession from old days against our expectations. In most cases maiko of Kyoto is dressed by men kitsukeshi. This is because kimono of maiko is really gorgeous and heavy, and it needs power to dress it on her.

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Classic Obi
Some classic obi belts have unseen so much today.

[Round Obi]
Round Obi is defined as the origin of Fukuro obi, which is consisted of cloth for obi wholly and the lining is not used.
Though it is extremely gorgeous, it is heavy for that and hard to be fastened. So Fukuro obi which is modified from round obi, has been prevalent. Today, Round obi is used for only bridal. The size is the same as Fukuro obi, so it is fastened as double-drum or fancy-form as Fukuro obi.

[Day-Night Obi]
Day-Night Obi is, what is now called reversible obi, generally made of bright-colored cloth on the front side and black cloth on the back side. The bright cloth is regarded as daytime, and black one is night, which is called Day-Night Obi.
Day-Night Obi is a reversible belt, but it is not used changing one side to another; in fact, it is made to be fastened beautifully when the knot is made to show the back side called “hocking knot” or “pulling knot”. Thus, the feature of the obi is longer than present Nagoya obi and shorter than Fukuro obi in order to fit the knot.

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Kaku-obi is most often used by men. It’s used under the formal hakama, and with normal yukata. It’s usually about 10 cm wide and  4 m long, so it’s even thinner than the half-width obi used by females. It can be made from many materials, and most of the ones used to make the obis for women can be used to make kaku-obi as well. Kaku-obi are often seen with Hakataori-style kimonos, but you don’t necessarily need to use one of them – because kaku-obi are easy to tie and lightweight, they can be easily combined with any kimono and so they are very popular among the buyers.

Please choose one that matches your kimono and yourself. You tie it with a kai no kuchi knot. This doesn’t mean that it has to be that way, but the finished shape became popular as it’s easy and hard to become loose. Other well-known methods are katabasami, ichimonji, and kandamusubi. Incidentally, the tip of kakuobi may have a tassel. Usually, it’s cut and the tip is inserted, but some people use it to decorate it. Either is fine.

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Heko-obi was originally an obi (kimono sash) used by men. It was made from simple, big soft cloth. Presently, it’s often used with children kimonos and women’s yukata.The “tiny heko” that has been popular for the last few years is a decorational cloth based on the concept of heko-obi, and doesn’t function as a normal obi.

There aren’t any regulations regarding it’s size, but usually it’s 50 cm wide and 3.5 m long. It’s lighter and softer compared to other obi, so children like it because it doesn’t strain their bodies.

On the other hand, because it’s one of the most simplified versions of obi, it is only used with everyday kimonos. It’s never used in more formal situations.As opposed to other obi, this one is usually tied in a bow. You can also tie it into more showy knots, but it is usually tied into a bow.

Because you don’t use any extra strings to tie it and it keeps in one place just tied into a bow, the most important thing is that it doesn’t slide easily. It is usually made from materials whose surface is uneven, such as silk crepe or tie-dye, which makes them harder to slide down. They also add some volume and fluffiness to the obi, which makes it even more beautiful.

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Otaiko is the abbreviation of “Otaikomusubi”, which is the most general shape now. It also indicates a square part of otaikomusubi on your back. The edges of obi below otaiko is called “Tare”.

There are two types of otaikomusubi- “Futae (double) taiko” and “Hitoe (single) taiko”. Normally, hitoe taiko is called “Otaiko”. When you compare it with futae taiko, it is called “Hitoe taiko”. Futae taiko means that the obi is double at otaiko part. Hitoe taiko’s obi is single at otaiko part.

In addition, there is “Kozutsumi taiko” way of tying a knot when you can’t make futae taiko because there is not enough length of fukuro-obi. The history of Otaikomusubi is unexpectedly short. It began was when Taikobashi of Kamedotenjin was built at the end of Edo period. A group of geisha girls tied a knot like Taikobashi and crossed the bridge for the first time. And this knot came into fashion later.

The size of otaiko is not specified in particular. It can be changed depending on the height and taste of the person who wear it. It also depends on fashion. It is also important that the pattern of obi should be shown beautifully.

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Upon wearing a kimono, there is a turn of phrase “emon o nuku” (pull down the back portion of collar), and the “emon” in this phrase is mean to say the collar, particularly, it is meant to say the back portion of collar.

There is also a turn of phrase “emon o awaseru”, and the “emon” in this phrase is meant to say the front portion of collar.

It is unknown what the turn of phrase “emon o nuku” meant to say is, but there is an opinion that it has begun to use the phrase out of practice to pull down the back portion of collar of a kimono until a position for not the hair being touched during the time when the voluminous back hair was popular when setting the hair. Now, it is used as one of techniques to show beautiful appearance in wearing a kimono.

How large portion shall be pulled down is different depending on a kimono, and the basically, the more refined kimono needs the more large back portion of collar to be pulled down; therefore, the back portion of collar in wearing a bridal kimono is pulled down until a position on which the back of bride could be almost seen.

For a daily worn kimono, it is said to be better to pull down until a position where the fist is about to fit between the neck and collar. For the most casual kimono, yukata, it is said to be approximately at a position for two fingers.

In addition, it is said to be better for elderly women to pull down lower than younger women.
However, there is a fashionable trend of how lower to pull down, and it is preference of a person to wear kimono at all.It tends to pull down smaller for those who are not got used to wear kimono, so it might be just good if pull it down to feel rather lower.

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Neckpiece is the collar of the undergarment that is slightly visible from the collar of the kimono. However, this refers to the cloth that is sewed to the collar of the undergarment rather than the collar itself.

The reason that the neckpiece is sewed to the collar of the undergarment is because the collar is the part that becomes dirty most easily. The neckpiece helps washing possible because you only need to remove the separate collar.

Nowadays, it mostly represents the meaning of decoration, and things like embroidered neckpiece that seems impossible to wash are also introduced. White is often used on formal costumes, but it’s not necessarily plain white, white garment sewed with light color thread or garment with beads sewed upon it are also often used.

Especially in the case of furisode, the gorgeously embroidered neckpiece in garish colors are often used. On the contrary, even though the color-patterned neckpiece is often used for casual kimono, there is no problem to use the plain white neckpiece at all.

It’s a tradition to show the neckpiece mostly in formal but not casual occassions, but if the color-patterned neckpiece is suitable for casual occasion, it’s considered a good thing to make the neckpiece stand out and visible in many cases.

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Momi is a type of cloth made from red silk. Originally the name was used to describe plain fabric dyed with turmeric and then safflower, and it was characteristic for the incredibly vivid colors. Because both turmeric and safflower are medical herbs, it was said that they were good for health and so they were often used to dye women’s undershirts and the lining of their kimonos.

However, there was one drawback – the colors from the dyed momi could easily transfer onto other garments. The colors from the lining would often bleed into the kimono, and the lining could be stained by the colors of the undershirt. Moreover, because it’s difficult and expensive to use natural dyes,

the momi isn’t produced the way it used to be made before.

The momi cloth made today is recreated with chemical dyes. It’s easier on the wearers because they don’t have to worry about the color transferring to their other clothes, but if you compare them, it is slightly different from the originally made cloth.

Although it’s barely made anymore, the original momi is still being sold in some places as a part of old kimonos. If you aren’t careful, its colors will seep into your other garments, so if you see a kimono lining or undershirt with bright colors, ask someone who knows a lot about kimonos to make sure you know what you’re buying.

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Juban is a type of underwear which you wear under your kimono, but is very important because it forms the fundamental part of your kimono. For formal kmonos, it is a custom to wear white juban, but other than that there is no particular rules.

Juban’s orginal role is to prevent the kimono from getting dirty by sweat, etc. Therefore, the size of juban is required to be nearly the same as the kimono, and does not show from the hem of the kimono. If you are wearing ready-made kimonos which are made by standard sizes, or kimonos made to fit your size, then you can reuse one juban for those kimonos.

However, if you’re wearing given kimonos or recycled kimonos, then you have to choose a juban that matches the sleeve width or sleeve length of the kimono you want to wear. To resolve this problem, jubans which sleeves are easily detachable are commonly seen recently.

Juban’s another role is to fix and maintain the shape of the collar. For that purpose, you attach haneri, and put in the erishin. As for the material of juban, silk was common in the past, but nowadays for common types, cotton is used for the corsage, and polyester is used for the collar and the sleeves to make it easier to wash.