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Goju Man
12th August 2004, 03:21
What is this gentleman wearing? I cannot distinguish the difference between his and hers. Can someone explain?

Goju Man
12th August 2004, 03:26
I'll try again....

Gene Williams
12th August 2004, 03:28
Damn, Manny! They'd love you in one of those down on South Beach...:D

Brian Owens
12th August 2004, 04:56
Originally posted by Goju Man
What is this gentleman wearing? I cannot distinguish the difference between his and hers. Can someone explain?
He's wearing a yakata (lit. a thing you wear at the bath).

They are common hot weather wear in Japan. Even folks who don't normally wear kimono in other seasons often wear a yakata in the summer.

Men's and women's yakata differ in the patterns of the cloth, but are very similar in shape.

Also note how the man wears an obi at the hips, and the woman wears a wider obi at the midrif.

Lastly, women's yakata (as well as their kimono) tend to be longer than men's, and they fold them under at the waist to adjust the length to their ankles -- one size fits all. Men's usually come above the ankle to as much as mid-calf depending on the height of the man.

Brian Owens
12th August 2004, 05:18
Originally posted by Yagyu Kenshi
He's wearing a yakata (lit. a thing you wear at the bath).
Correction: replace the word "yakata" every place it appears in my post above. (Darn 15 minute edit limit!)

It's a yukata


[Ya, Yu -- I'd really be in hot water if I let that typo stand. ;) )

Tripitaka of AA
12th August 2004, 18:33
To add further colour to Brian's post, you'll find Yukata in hotel rooms in Japan to use as informal-wear. Note, that I did not say Night-Wear. In resort towns it is not uncommon to see groups of visitors wandering the streets in the evening wearing their hotel Yukata (together with a funny jacket-thing, the name of which escapes me).

The Yukata are usually cotton, printed with small detail repeated patterns (that might include, for example, the hotel logo). They are also worn at home.

They are also, unfortunately, sold around the world as "kimono", which is far from the truth.

I recall seeing a Japanese Shorinji Kempo instructor leaving the Dojo after training, happily setting off for home in his Yukata. Bear in mind that this was Stockwell, South London, in an area frequently featured on News Reports for crimes of violence, etc. There were one or two raised eyebrows and some sighs of relief when he turnede up aive for the next training session. I wondered later, where he had been going. He usually came to class on a motorbike, and as far as I know, he had no car.... the Bus perhaps?!

Ron Tisdale
12th August 2004, 19:24
(together with a funny jacket-thing, the name of which escapes me).

Haori? I got one in a market in kyoto...I rather like them.

RT

Tripitaka of AA
12th August 2004, 20:15
MMmmmmhh. Could be! square sleeves and made of a thick-ish fabric. The Japanese equivalent of the "wooly cardigan" :D

Milton Colon
12th August 2004, 21:57
Manny-san,

I'm told by my friends wife who's HALF OKINAWAN that it is a female Yukata. just to be sure can anyone else verify this?

Milton Colon

Brian Owens
12th August 2004, 22:29
Originally posted by Milton Colon
I'm told by my friends wife who's HALF OKINAWAN that it is a female Yukata. just to be sure can anyone else verify this?
I'm pretty sure the man is wearing a man's yukata, and the woman is wearing a woman's yukata.

The color and pattern are the giveaway, not the shape -- which are very similar.

Sometimes, a couple will wear the same pattern, and at such times a "neutral" pattern is selected; niether too masculine nor too feminine. See picture here: Yukata (http://www.shop-japan.co.jp/english-boku/image-e/yukata-m02-1777-8.jpg)

Triptaka, the yukata is, technically, one type of kimono, along with tsumugi, kasuri, jofu, etc. Usually, though, when we say kimono we do think of the woman's formal kimono such as tomesode and uchikake.

The "wooly cardigan" could be a haori, the long-sleeved vest usually closed with a fancy-knotted white cord, but I suspect you may be referring to a happi.

If you want to look at some common Japanese clothes, visit this site:

Bokunando: Shop Japan (http://www.shop-japan.co.jp/english-boku/index.3html.htm)

You may even end up ordering something. I have.

HTH.

Goju Man
13th August 2004, 00:28
Damn, Manny! They'd love you in one of those down on South Beach...
Yeah, but that's the wrong crowd! :D That pattern just looks questionable shall we say. Or maybe it's seeing an obviously American or westerner in that that it just looks weird. Gene, you got any of those??:eek:

Brian Owens
13th August 2004, 07:55
Originally posted by Goju Man
That pattern just looks questionable shall we say.
Ideals of masculine and feminine vary from culture to culture. A man in a miniskirt might look weird to a Texan, for example, but to a Scot it (a kilt) looks just fine.

I've received some odd looks when I'm wearing kimono and hakama (I'm a 6'5" Caucasian), but so what? They suited me and the occasion.

Tripitaka of AA
13th August 2004, 09:35
Hi Brian, now THAT is a fun site.

This thread needs to be moved to a different forum, methinks.

After looking at the site, I think my fading memory is probably grasping at something like the quilted Hanten. I'm thinking of a hotel "set" that was in Beppu, Kyushu. I was thinking of something with bigger sleeves and shorter body... but it was a long time ago ;)


And although I feel a bit naughty posting this (I'm not in the pic and I've never met any* of these people... but it is posted on the net), here is a typical colection of Gaijin in Yukata. Note the typical mix of pose, from formal-uncomfortable to this-is-what-I-always-wear.

* except for the one who is an E-Budo moderator ;)

The Nephilim
13th August 2004, 09:57
I am a cross dressr, I am angry when I put a tee shirt on.

Sorry had to do the joke.

Brian Owens
13th August 2004, 11:32
Originally posted by Tripitaka of AA
...here is a typical colection of Gaijin in Yukata. Note the typical mix of pose, from formal-uncomfortable to this-is-what-I-always-wear.

* except for the one who is an E-Budo moderator ;)
The gentleman on the far right looks familiar to me, but I can't place him exactly. Hmmm.

He does need a little coaching in how to wear kimono, though; even in just a yukata (spelled it right that time :D ) one should not bare that much breast. :eek:

Brian Owens
13th August 2004, 11:37
Originally posted by Tripitaka of AA
Hi Brian, now THAT is a fun site.

Yeah. If I had a bigger paycheck each week I could have a lot of fun there. ;)


Originally posted by Tripitaka of AA
This thread needs to be moved to a different forum, methinks.
I concur. While the originator, Goju Man, found it baffling, I hope we have answered his question that this isn't out of the realm of normal.

Now we should, maybe, have it moved from Baffling Budo to the Clothing & Supplies or Traditions forum.

Joshua Lerner
13th August 2004, 16:07
Originally posted by Tripitaka of AA
MMmmmmhh. Could be! square sleeves and made of a thick-ish fabric. The Japanese equivalent of the "wooly cardigan" :D

I think you are talking about a hanten. Kind of a quilted housecoat shaped like a short-sleeved, hip-length yukata. The one I have is very warm - I would wear it outside occasionally in Wisconsin when the weather was in the 30-below range, with just a tee shirt and thin wool sweater beneath it, sometimes with just a long tee shirt. The only problem is that it tends to stay open in the front - the one I have doesn't cross over like a yukata or kimono. I think I've seen ones that do, though.

Tripitaka of AA
13th August 2004, 20:13
Thanks Joshua, that is the conclusion I came to after looking at that clothing website that Brian posted earlier.



On another track, is there a difference in the way men and women close the yukata (right over left, left over right)? My wife and I were temporarily stumped :( over this fairly obvious signal of gender. She asked me to check the wedding pix of us in traditional garb. Sadly, her kimono and my kimono both have left over right. Yes I am wearing Kimono... Man's kimono, with Man's Hakama and all the trimmings right down to the little fan ;).

pgsmith
13th August 2004, 22:09
Men and women both wear kimono and yukata left over right.

Exorcist_Fist
13th August 2004, 23:37
As I recall left over right and right over left are distinctions used for the manner that living people dress vs how you dress someone for their own funeral, not gender.

In a side note, my MIL has forbidden me to wear japanese clothing in her presence. She thinks it makes foreigners look dumb. I rather agree.

Brian Owens
14th August 2004, 06:42
Originally posted by Silent Dan
...In a side note, my MIL has forbidden me to wear japanese clothing in her presence. She thinks it makes foreigners look dumb. I rather agree.
But I bet she (as do most Japaese) wears Western style clothing most of the time. That's "foreign."

I think it depends on the specifics. I wouldn't wear a kimono to dinner at a restaurant, even a Japanese one, but I would -- and do -- to a tea ceremony.

If I were ever to marry, and if it were a Shinto ceremony, then I'd wear the traditional formal kimono/hakama/haori; but if it was a Christian ceremony then I'd wear a dark suit and tie for a small afternoon service, tailcoat and top hat for a large afternoon service, or tuxedo for an evening service.

But that's me; YMMV.

Steven Malanosk
15th August 2004, 07:24
All of this reminds me of the early 80s when I lived in Okinawa.

My fellow Jarheads and I would buy and walk around in these Chinese style neru collared dragon shirts that were the popular thing for the newbee to get, and the local Okinawan youths would laugh.

The local Okinawan youths were dressed ROCKABILLY, and although they looked cool in a punk rock kinda way, they also looked amusing to us..........

As to wedding garb:

Isn't it more appropriate to wear white robes and sandles to a Christian wedding?

When I go to the circus, I often dress like a clown.

If I ever go to Texas again, "which isn't likely," I will also dress like a clown.

When in Rome...............................

No, that would be white robes and sandles again.

Or maybe not......... look at the trouble it caused the founder of Christian weddings..................

Brian Owens
15th August 2004, 08:15
Originally posted by Steven Malanosk
...As to wedding garb:

Isn't it more appropriate to wear white robes and sandles to a Christian wedding?
Not in America's Pacific Northwest in the 21st Century. :rolleyes:

Tripitaka of AA
15th August 2004, 19:00
Originally posted by Steven Malanosk
Isn't it more appropriate to wear white robes and sandles to a Christian wedding?


I'd be wary of that outfit... in case some bloke in a toga started handing out large wooden crosses.:(

Tripitaka of AA
15th August 2004, 19:05
On the other hand, I had my secret tanto stashed away whie I wore this outfit, just in case any frenzied Ronin might accidentally come across me walking the corridors of the Century Hyatt in Shinjuku.

I'd try and get a more blurred scan, but somehow I don't think I could ever do enough to obscure that peculiar hairdo that I wore back in 1987. :D

Brian Owens
15th August 2004, 22:22
Originally posted by Tripitaka of AA
On the other hand, I had my secret tanto stashed away whie I wore this outfit, just in case any frenzied Ronin might accidentally come across me walking the corridors of the Century Hyatt in Shinjuku.

What? You didn't trust your tessen-jutsu skills?

And FWIW, I don't think all foreigners look "dumb" in Japanese garb.


Originally posted by Tripitaka of AA
I'd try and get a more blurred scan, but somehow I don't think I could ever do enough to obscure that peculiar hairdo that I wore back in 1987. :D

How's this? :D

Tripitaka of AA
16th August 2004, 14:31
Hey Brian, thanks... now I look way cool!