Kosode
{{short description|Historic Japanese garment and the predecessor of the kimono}}
{{Italic title}}
File:20111023 Jidai 0044.jpg in 2011]]
File:Kosode-Kimono.svg (right).]]
File:Oichinokata.jpg wearing a {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} with another {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} stripped off the shoulders.]]
The {{nihongo3|{{lit|small sleeves}}|小袖|kosode}} was a type of short-sleeved Japanese garment, and the direct predecessor of the kimono. Though its component parts directly parallel those of the kimono, its proportions differed, typically having a wider body, a longer collar and narrower sleeves. The sleeves of the {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} were typically sewn to the body entirely, and often featured heavily rounded outer edges.
The {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} was worn in Japan as common, everyday dress from roughly the Kamakura period (1185–1333) until the latter years of the Edo period (1603–1867), at which a point its proportions had diverged to resemble those of modern-day kimono; it was also at this time that the term kimono, meaning "thing to wear on the shoulders", first came into use when referring to the garment formerly known as the {{transliteration|ja|kosode}}.{{Cite web|url=https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/kimono#:~:text=Meaning%20'the%20thing%20to%20wear,all%20classes%20and%20both%20sexes.|title = V&A · Kimono}}
History
Originating in the Heian period as an undergarment for both men and women, the {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} was a plain white garment, typically made of silk, worn directly next to the skin. Both men and women wore layered, wrap-fronted, wide-sleeved robes on top of the {{transliteration|ja|kosode}}, with the style of layering worn by women of the Imperial Japanese court{{snd}}known as the {{transliteration|ja|jūnihitoe}}, literally "twelve layers"{{snd}}featuring a greater number of robes than were seen on men. The {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} would also be worn as sleeping wear alongside a pair of {{transliteration|ja|hakama}}.
Following dress edicts designed to decrease the number of layered garments worn at court, the {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} gradually became outerwear from roughly the Kamakura period onwards. Styles of wearing the {{transliteration|ja|kosode}}{{snd}}such as layering two {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} and wearing the uppermost robe stripped off from the shoulders{{snd}}became popular, alongside a number of newly-developed textile decoration techniques, such as dyeing and embroidery, used to decorate the garment.
Initially undyed, the dyed {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} came in the Muromachi period, peaked in popularity in the Momoyama period, and faded out in the Keicho period and Edo period. Methods used for decoration included {{transliteration|ja|kara-ori}} ("Chinese textile") silk fabrics, which mimicked embroidery through the use of floating silk yarns and gilt-paper strips,{{cite book |last=Shaver |first=Ruth M. |title=Kabuki Costume |date=1966 |publisher=Charles E. Tuttle Publishing |location=Vermont}}{{rp|140}} and the elaborate {{transliteration|ja|tsujigahana}} technique of combination dyework and embroidery, until both were restrained by sumptuary laws and the development of {{transliteration|ja|yuzen dyework}}.
The {{transliteration|ja|kosode}}'s proportions{{snd}}a wide body and comparatively narrow sleeves{{snd}}gradually evened out over time, before coming to resemble those of a modern kimono around the Edo period. The sleeves on some women's {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} also got longer and began to detach from the body below the shoulder, a style allowing the {{transliteration|ja|obi}} to become wider over time.
Components
The component parts of a {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} are roughly similar to those of a kimono, with the only major differences being the proportions of each aspect in comparison to those of a modern kimono. The width of the loom, and hence the {{transliteration|ja|tanmono}} (fabric bolt) used for {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} was significantly larger than that for {{transliteration|ja|kimono}}, and the sleeves and collar were also cut and hemmed to different widths.{{cite web |last1=Joseph |first1=Lisa A. |title=Kosode: a Japanese garment for the SCA period |url=http://www.wodefordhall.com/page4.html |website=www.wodefordhall.com |access-date=10 June 2021}}
In the Keichō period (1596–1615, just before the Edo period), the width of the fabric bolt used for a {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} was about {{convert|45|cm}}, and the sleeves were made of one-half {{transliteration|ja|tanmono}} width. The {{transliteration|ja|sode-guchi}} (cuff opening) was narrow, the {{transliteration|ja|erikatāki}} (width of the neck opening) was narrow, the {{transliteration|ja|eritake}} (collar length) was long, and the {{transliteration|ja|tate-zuma}}{{clarify|date=August 2021}} was short.{{cite web |title=Woman of the upper class in kosode (=short-sleeved kimono) of Keicho period |url=https://www.iz2.or.jp/english/fukusyoku/kosode/2new.htm |website=Costume Museum}} See "Woman of the upper class in kosode (=short-sleeved kimono) of Keicho period" under the [https://www.iz2.or.jp/english/fukusyoku/kosode/ "Edo" section] for associated picture
- {{nihongo3|{{lit|sleeve}}|袖|Sode}}{{snd}}the sleeves of a {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} were comparatively short in both length and width, being for the most part attached to the body down the entire length, with a somewhat rounded edge below the wrist opening of each sleeve.
- {{nihongo3|{{lit|body}}|身頃|Migoro}}{{snd}}the body panels for the {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} were much wider in proportion, creating a distinctive dropped-shoulder appearance.
- {{nihongo3|{{lit|collar}}|襟|Eri}}{{snd}}the collar of the {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} was much wider than is seen on modern kimono, and was also relatively longer, forming a longer, shallower angle along the {{transliteration|ja|okumi}}.
- {{nihongo||袵|Okumi}}{{snd}} the overlapping front panels. The {{transliteration|ja|okumi}}, due to the length and low placement of the collar, had a far more triangular appearance than the irregular quadrilateral {{transliteration|ja|okumi}} on modern kimono; this gave the {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} a sloping, low-waisted appearance.
Gallery
File:Sleeve stylized kosode edo wide shoulder short sleeve.png|alt=A diagram of a person wearing a wrapped-front robe with a wide body and narrow (in horizontal width) sleeves entirely sewn to the body.|The short sleeve and wide shoulder popular in the Muromachi period and early Edo period
File:Sleeve stylized kosode 1.png|alt=A diagram of a person wearing a wrapped-front robe with a wide body and comparatively wider sleeves than the previous diagram, also entirely sewn to the body.|A wider {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} sleeve.
File:染分紗綾地蜘蛛海松貝模様小袖-Robe (Kosode) with Shells and Sea Grasses MET DP247810.jpg|The unfolded width of this {{transliteration|ja|kosode}}'s collar is similar to the length of its sleeves.
File:Kosode with yuzen dyeing inside fan and snowflake shapes, 1 of 2, Edo period, 1700s AD, chirimen crepe - Tokyo National Museum - Tokyo, Japan - DSC09592.jpg|{{transliteration|ja|Kosode}} with {{transliteration|ja|yūzen}} dyework inside fan and snowflake shapes, 1700s, Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Traditional Arts and Crafts
File:Kosode, late 18th century, Honolulu Museum of Art.JPG|{{transliteration|ja|Kosode}} for a woman, late 18th century, Honolulu Museum of Art
File:白縮緬地橘文字模様小袖-Robe_(Kosode)_with_Mandarin_Orange_Tree_and_Auspicious_Characters_MET_2002.325.jpg|{{transliteration|ja|Kosode}} with Mandarin orange tree design and auspicious characters, late 18th century, Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:Khalili Collection of Kimono KX142.jpg|{{transliteration|ja|Kosode}} for a woman with design inspired by the Eight Views of Ōmi, 1780–1820, Khalili Collection of Kimono
File:Khalili_Collection_of_Kimono_KX158.jpg|{{transliteration|ja|Kosode}} for a woman showing flowers on rafts, late 19th century, Khalili Collection of Kimono
File:Historiallisia kimonotyylejä.jpg|Ways of wearing {{transliteration|ja|kosode}}. Top left: worn as a wrap-front robe; top right: stripped off the shoulders in the {{transliteration|ja|koshimaki}} style; bottom left: worn as an unbelted robe over another {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} in the {{transliteration|ja|uchikake}} style; bottom right: worn over the head in the {{transliteration|ja|katsugi}} style.
File:Matsuura-Byobu-by-Iwasa-Matabei.png|The {{transliteration|ja|kosode}} worn as outerwear. Note, compared to modern kimono, the wider cut of the body, unisex narrow {{transliteration|ja|obi}} and shorter sleeves. Matsuura {{transliteration|ja|byōbu}}, {{circa|1650}}, Azuchi-Momoyama period.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- Gluckman, Dale Carolyn, and Sharon Sadako Takeda, eds. When Art Became Fashion: Kosode in Edo-Period Japan. New York: Weatherhill, 1992.
- Kennedy, Alan. Japanese Costume: History and Tradition. New York: Rizzoli, 1990.
- Kosode: 16th–19th Century Textiles from the Nomura Collection. New York: Kodansha International, 1985.
External links
- [http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/84980/rec/1 Momoyama, Japanese Art in the Age of Grandeur], an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on {{transliteration|ja|kosode}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080404090906/http://www.tnm.go.jp/en/servlet/Con?pageId=E10&processId=00&ref=2&start=1&Q4=________65___ Tokyo National Museum] – an example of period clothing, including {{transliteration|ja|kosode}}.
- [http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/fukusyoku/busou/index.htm The Tale of Genji Costume Museum] – includes period clothing, including {{transliteration|ja|kosode}}
- [http://www.wodefordhall.com/page4.html {{transliteration|ja|Kosode}} Made Simple]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090127061408/http://www3.kyohaku.go.jp/cgi-bin/liste.cgi?gazo_no=1&mz_synm=2000005224&name1=kosode&limit_no=20 Kyoto National Museum]
{{Japanese clothing}}