Kimonos

Introduction

Kimono is a Japanese word, it means clothing and is simply pronounced kimono (Kee-Mo-No). Kimonos are traditional, silk, Japanese robes that are worn on special occasions by men, women, and children. (Salter) "In order to produce 1 kg of silk, 104 kg of mulberry leaves need to be eaten by 3000 silkworms. It takes about 5000 silkworms to make a pure silk kimono."

A kimono is the main robe; there are other things that make a kimono. The kimono is a robe, with big sleeves, and a very large V-neck. It has an obi, a belt like sash, because it doesn’t have buttons or ties to hold it together.

Silk is introduced to Japan

The Nihon-Shoki (Chronicles of Japan) was recorded by Korean representative at the time silk was first introduced to Japan in the second century, to Empress Jinju Kogo by the King of Silla. Silla is now North and South Korea. The Nihon-Shoki also reports that in 286 C.E. the King of Baekche presented a silk craftswoman, with 120 silk workers to help spread the teaching of making silk. In 330 C.E., the King of Silla presented about 35,040 yards of silk to the Emperor Nintoku. (Chung)

Japanese rulers began to send diplomats to China to encourage trading. In 239 C.E., Queen Himiko sent diplomats to the Chinese kingdom of Wei. King Sei of Wa sent representatives to the Chinese state of Qin in 413. These two contacts promoted the adoption of Chinese and Korean clothing. (Chung)

The History of the Kimono

To understand the kimono you must look back in the 5th century when China’s and Japan’s diplomatic relationships got better and better as time went on. The Chinese and the Japanese started to share and trade cultural and political ideas. They started to trade fashion ideas in the late 8th century. On...

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