Saving the Kimono

Some of the most conservative thinkers in Japan have mounted a campaign to make the kimono trendy, so that the traditional costume does not die out. Politicians have been wearing their national dress - the full-length, silk costumes, with long sleeves and luscious patterns - to make a fashion statement.

Yoshiro Mori, a member of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic party, says that they must keep up their traditions. "Globalisation sounds like a nice word, but it also means not wearing kimono." Another LDP politician, 66-year-old Michiko Ishii, hopes she can help to promote kimonos. She owns dozens of them herself, but admits she rarely wears them for work. She does think, however, that the kimono has many practical advantages:

"Kimonos never go out of fashion like western clothes, so you can wear them for many years, and if you put on weight you can still get into your kimonos...it is part of our heritage."

Such sentiments may comfort Japan's kimono makers, who are struggling to find customers in the country's longest recession since the war. A new, cheap, kimono costs $2,000, while the better makes can cost as much as $50,000. But that does buy you handwoven silk and handpainted designs. Teiyu Ogura has been making kimonos for 35 years. His customers include the Empress of Japan, but he says times are hard. "The kimono industry has come to a complete stop," he said.

One woman says that climbing stairs and getting in and out of cars in a kimono is difficult, but another says she is fed up with western clothes which are nearly all black. In a kimono she can wear all the colours of the rainbow and feel much more feminine. But unless more people start thinking this way, the kimono could end up a museum piece, which is only worn at weddings and funerals.

Japanese politicians may have to start wearing kimonos on a regular basis if the outfits they say are such an important part of Japanese culture are to be saved from extinction.

Adapted from BBC Online, May 1999

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