All You Need to Know About Yukata - The Traditional Japanese Clothing

If you have ever watched Japanese anime involving school life, or love stories, such as ‘Your name’ etc., I’m pretty sure that you have already seen yukata (浴衣). Yukata is Japanese traditional clothing and as a Japanese, I can guarantee you that most Japanese have put on a yukata at least once in their life. Myself, I remember attending a class which taught us how to wear the yukata properly at high school.

Yukata are often confused with Kimono (着物), which is also Japanese traditional clothes, however, the difference between Yukata and Kimono is huge. This time, I’m gonna explain the difference and yukata patterns. Also, for those who are interested in wearing a yukata, I will tell what you need to get, yukata rental services, how to wear yukata and finally things you should know about yukata.

YUKATA VS KIMONO

I put the title “Yukata vs Kimono” because so many people look for it but honestly, it’s a bit ridiculous for the Japanese to fight between Yukata vs Kimono. To begin with, Yukata and Kimono have huge difference like boats and sandals.

WHAT’S YUKATA?

Let’s get to the point. So what is yukata? Again, yukata is a Japanese traditional clothing which is worn only in summer. Yukata are usually made of cotton or synthetic fabric and are very light. Although yukata is a long-sleeve shirt, it breathes well and is very comfortable.

In general, elderly people do not wear yukuta, it’s for young people and kids. I mentioned that yukata is a symbol of summer, but it doesn’t mean we wear yukata in daily life. We wear it for occasional events such as summer festivals.

I may be biased, but in my opinion, a love story goes like this: wearing a yukata for both female and male gives them the advantage to gain points from their lovers because the yukata makes them specials. This is why so many young Japanese tend to hang out with their friends (including their lovers) to go to the summer festival, wearing Yukata.

In fact, there are many articles which talk about “How to make your lover fall in love with you with yukata”. Japanese are cute, right?

If you go to a Japanese summer firework festivals, you will notice how many couples there are wearing yukata. I can say… Yukata has various roles: not only the meaning of Japanese traditional clothing but also the power of accelerating relationships.

WHAT’S KIMONO?

Moving on to the second topic: What’s a kimono? I need to repeat again but kimono is also one of the Japanese traditional clothes. The word ‘kimono’ seems like a new fashion category: long tale jacket/robe in the world but the real kimono is far away from that. As the picture above shows, a kimono isn’t a jacket/robe but the entire outfit. Now let me tell you the difference between yukata and kimono.

Talking about kimono, we need to wear many layers of clothes inside, not only one cloth like the yukata. This is why wearing kimono is a really tiring process.
Kimono isn’t seasonal (However because the temperature is super high in summer in Japan, we avoid wearing kimono).
While yukata is pretty reasonable, kimono is very expensive therefore most Japanese don’t have their own kimono and rent it when they need.
Wearing kimono is a symbol of high class.
Wearing kimono isn’t that comfortable, especially for the women. It’s even hard to breathe.
Because of the fragile material, hemp, we need to be very careful to store kimono.

Kimono is high class and chic. Nowadays, you can find kimono at a cheap price (but you can image, if it’s cheap, the quality is in proportion too…), we still regard kimono as expensive. The average costs is from ¥200,000 ($1,292.10) to ¥5,000,000 ($32,302.45).

Wearing kimono for Japanese traditional wedding

While many Japanese know how to wear yukata by searching on the internet, wearing kimono isn’t that easy. Of course, both yukata and kimono have proper ways to be worn. Although it’s not a big deal if you can’t wear a yukata properly, if you wear a kimono the wrong way, the Japanese consider it’s kind of embarassing.

Often, those who do Sadou (traditional Japanese tea ceremony) know how to wear kimono because when they do the tea ceremony, they must wear one. Because my mom does Sadou (used to do Ikebana too), my sister and I used to wear kimino a lot to participate in the tea ceremony. I still remember it was always my grandma who put the kimono on me because she knows how to wear it.

Japanese tea ceremony with kimono — Japanese tea ceremony

In addition, the Japanese tend to wear kimono for special occasions such as school entrance ceremonies (the parents wear a kimono, not the kids), university graduation ceremonies (both parents and students), weddings (both couple and guests), koto (traditional japanese instrument) music performances, etc. Also wearing a black kimono (never yukata) is costumary when the deceased is a family member.

Kimono for graduation ceremony of university

To end, I need to share my embarassing experience. Once I wore kimono for a very important ceremony, I was just super hungry as usual. I ate three buns before putting on my kimono. What happened next, because kimono was super thight, the loafs got stuck around my chest (I felt) and I was totally sick during the ceremony. If one day you have a chance to wear a kimono, do not eat before.

MALE YUKATA

I no longer need to say but yes there are male yukata. Unlike the woman’s yukata which has a lot of colors, men’s yukata are simple with monotone color and design. Somehow, men who wear yukata seem very attractive, I find. This is why many images of male characters in manga or anime are used. Do you agree with me?

JINBEI

You’ve probably never heard of jinbei if you don’t live in Japan, but it is also the same family of yukata and kimono. Simply saying, jinbei is a short yukata. Jinbei are also Japanese traditional clothes but are more used as a kind of homeroom wear. Check out the picture above to see the difference between jinbei (left) and yukata (right). Jinbe is a combination of short-sleeves and short pants. There is a belt in front of the sleeve so all we need to do is to tigh it up.

In fact, some Japanese prefer to wear jinbei more than yukata because jinbei are super easy to put. No need to learn how to wear them, even a baby can wear on their own. Also, jinbei is more comfortable than yukata (yukata is also comfortable, though) due to no big belt (the obi), around the waist.

In my opinion, less women wear jinbei because the short-sleeves and short pants make them seem too young and they are too casual compared to a man wearing a jinbei. However, kids ofter wear jinbei to allow them move freely.

YUKATA PATTERN

All yukata designs are made by patterns and those yukata patterns vary a lot. Most choose yukata by based on the patterns so it’s all up to their fashion taste.

However, I want to tell you that all Japanese traditional patterns have a meaning. This is why those who make kimono choose materials by checking the meaning of yukata patterns. I used to be told by my mom or her friends, “This pattern is for your age” or “This pattern is too old for you”. Yukata is much more casual than kimono so in a way we don’t really care about the meaning of yukata pattern but not for kimono (the pattern symbolizes the same meaning whether for yukata or kimono). If one day you wear kimono for occasional reasons, you’d better check the meaning of the patterns otherwise you will make a huge mistake.

Ok, so this time I’m gonna explain some yukata (kimono) pattern meanings.

YUKATA PATTERN 1: ASANOHA

The hemp leaf called asanoha (麻の葉) is often used as a yukata pattern. One of the reasons why both female and male like this yukata pattern is because it’s geometric and looks classy. hemp leaf is well known for growing fast so it symbolizes growth’ therefore many parents dress their baby in it as their first clothes.

YUKATA PATTERN 2: BOTAN

Botan (牡丹) or poeny in English is also used a lot for yukata patterns. Its look is very gorgeous and elegant. Botan symbolizes happiness, wealth and nobility because botan can bloom large from a tiny seed.

YUKATA PATTERN 3: SHIPPŌ

This yukata pattern ‘shippō (七宝) or cloisonne, is very satisfying to look at. It signifies the seven treasures and circle signifies harmony therefore those who want to have many kids prefer this shippō yukata pattern.

YUKATA PATTERN 4: UME

If you come to Japan in spring, you may see this flower called ‘ume (梅)’ or plum. It’s such a tiny flower but the vivid color attracts us. No doubt, this yukata pattern is also well used and unlike other yukata patterns, many Japanese know this design means ume due to its realistic look.

Ume blooms after the cold winter so it symbolizes patience and beauty. Also, the synonym for ume (産め) in Japanese means childbirth, therefore, this yukata pattern signifies praying for safe childbirth.

YUKATA PATTERN 5: YUKIWA

Because yukata is worn in hot summer, the yukata pattern ‘yukiwa (雪輪)’ meaning snow ring, is chosen to show the cold on purpose, almost ironically. Among Japanese women, we love retro style and we wear yukata with yukiwa patterns.

YUKATA PATTERN 6: SEIGAIHA

As you can imagine, yukata pattern ‘seigaiha’ (青海波) means the blue ocean. This pattern is also geometric and not only for yukata or kimono but also for any Japanese designs, it’s often used. Sigaiha symbolizes the long peaceful life like a quiet, big and infinite ocean.

WHAT YOU NEED TO GET FOR WEARING YUKATA

If you are interested in yukata, here is a list of what you need to get to wear one. They might differ based on gender.

YUKATA FOR WOMAN

As you can imagine, women need more yukata items than men.

1. YUKATA

Of course.

2. OBI (BELT)

Obi (帯) is the belt for yukata. On the back, we make a decorative knot. Some obi are already made as default.

3. GETA (SHOES)

Geta (下駄) are traditional Japanese shoes for yukata (or jinbei). Honestly, it’s not easy to walk for the first time with them and they are very tiring. However, it’s super weird if you wear normal shoes with yukata so please accept your (painful) destiny and wear geta.

4. BAG

Again, we need a special bag for yukata. If you walk with yukata with normal bag, Japanese feel so sorry for you. It doesn’t matter which style of bag you choose at long as it’s for yukata.

5. INNER SHIRT

There is a special inner shirt for yukata. It’s not something you have to wear but the reasons why you should are:

It absorbs the sweat even for underarms
It makes it easy to walk
It hides underwear

Personally, when I wear yukata, I definitely wear an inner shirt!

6. KOSHI-HIMO (THIN STRING)

We need a thin string called koshi-himo (腰紐). Without this item, it’s easy for the yukata to losen up while walking. Koshi-himo is also used for kimono. You need to get at least one koshi-himo for wearing yukata.

7. KORIN BELT (THIN BELT)

Right after Koshi-himo, we use a Korin belt (コーリンベルト) which is an elastic with plastic clips on both ends to secure the waist part.

8. OBI-ITA (THIN STIFF BOARD)

Once you tight your waist up, you use the obi-ita (帯板) which is a thin stiff board. This board helps the obi to maintain the right form in the right shape and prevennts it from getting wrinkled so it’s used also for kimono. We put it between the first roll of obi and the second one. Especially for yukata, you’d better choose obi-ita with mesh fabric to let the air in.

YUKATA FOR MAN

Gentlemen, finally it’s your turn for preparing yukata. Items for male yukata are quite simple. Please make sure that you don’t decide to take too many colorful items. Monotone is the key to make you handsome while walking with a woman.