You look at the title of this post and think, “What are kimono lessons? What does that even mean?” Well, did you know most Japanese people don’t know how to properly wear a kimono? That’s where kimono lessons come in to play.
My first night in Japan, I wandered the streets of Tokyo in the middle of a summer festival—one of the only times you will see young people wearing traditional Japanese clothing. I thought, “Wow, so people really dress like this every day!” Over the next few weeks, as I watched the swaths of businessmen heading to work wearing identical penguin suits, I slowly awoke from my illusion.
You will sometimes see Japanese people (almost exclusively women, nowadays) wear kimono for certain formal events, like weddings or coming-of-age day. However, most people shell out hundreds of dollars to have a professional dress them for these formal occasions. (This price also includes hair and make-up, but still. Quite expensive.)
A kimono involves many layers and ropes tied together that must perfectly balance not suffocating you and not falling apart throughout the day. Tying an extremely intricate obi belt is especially challenging. For events that only occur a handful of times in your life, who would bother learning how to put a kimono on? Well, those interested take kimono lessons.
Kimono lessons: what and why
What’s a kimono lesson like? Basically, old Japanese ladies teaching the youngsters of today how to wear traditional clothing. More specifically, you and the other students meet once a week for an hour and a half, in a room full of full-length mirrors, and the teacher shows you how to put on and tie each layer of the kimono on yourself.
A few months into my own lessons and I had started to understand why no one bothers to learn how to wear kimono anymore—it takes a long time to tie everything together, and when done poorly, the ropes dig into your skin and leave you with bruises the next day. Even done well, it just doesn’t quite compare to the comfort of sweats and a t-shirt…
Actually, most students in my class said they only decided to attend kimono lessons in order to wear their old family kimonos, passed down from mothers and grandmothers. I can understand the sentiment. Old kimono are beautiful, hand-crafted heirlooms; what a shame to have them spend decades gathering dust in a closet. When I shocked my mother-in-law by saying I would attend kimono lessons, she immediately took me to where she stored the family kimonos. “No one else in our family knows how to put them on. Please take them!”
The one exception to all this: yukata, the most casual type of kimono. Japanese people wear simple yukata in traditional Japanese hotels, and festive colorful ones during summer festivals. However, for these simplified yukatas, you just wrap them around like a bathrobe and stick the premade bow into the belt. Nothing compared to the effort of a formal kimono. And with kimono lessons, you can learn how to tie the bows into creative shapes!
Why no one wears kimono
Many people nowadays think the tradition of kimono will die out in the near future. Why? For several reasons.
1. Cost. Formal kimono made not only cost several hundred (or thousand) dollars to purchase, they are also expensive to clean. Specialty cleaners will unsew all the fabric, wash it gently by hand (or put it through a specialized machine), sew it all back together, iron it flat, and wrap it in special paper to prevent wrinkles and mold. Average cost of cleaning: $50–$100 per kimono.
2. Care. Traditional kimono, in particular, require careful handling. Silk wrinkles easily, and sweat stains can be almost impossible to remove. Wool attracts bugs that will leave the fabric riddled with holes. To prevent damage, kimono must be hung overnight to dry at least once a year, folded carefully, and kept inside special cases that allow air flow but keep out moisture and bugs.
3. Rules. Kimono colors, patterns, fabric type, and accessories all must adhere to strict rules based on occasion or season. For example, you can only wear unlined kimono in June and September. You can only use accessories with gold or silver threads on very formal occasions. The number of family crests (1, 3, or 5) on the shoulders also relates to the level of formality. (See a pattern yet?) Imagine someone telling you that jeans with one hole can be worn all year but those with two holes only in May, and they must be paired with a red shirt and black shoes, but not if those shoes are made of leather… Fashion is exhausting.
I guess it all comes down to whether you see kimono as an art form, or just something pretty that you wear. Most people now don’t see any point in putting in such enormous effort for “outdated” clothing.
How to take kimono lessons
If you are interested in wearing kimono, note that it takes several months of lessons. You have to be careful when choosing your school, too; most advertise free lessons, then force you to buy their products, since those purchases are how they make money. I tried to join one that turned out rather shady, and it was an extremely uncomfortable experience. Shopkeepers that sell kimono are also very pushy, something that is not at all common in Japan.
The school I joined is called Ichiru (いち瑠), and they do a great job at providing a comfortable atmosphere without pushing you much to buy stuff. (This is not sponsored, I just don’t want anyone else to have a bad experience like I did.) Just sign up online for the closest classroom near you. As a big chain found all over the country, the class schedules are very flexible, and you can borrow their kimono and supplies during lessons. What’s best, they hold outings and events for students to wear their kimono in public. The lessons themselves are not free though, which is probably why they don’t have that sleazy quality of other places. The teachers speak 100% in Japanese; however, you should understand the gist of what is going on even with the language barrier.
Of course, you can also find plenty of YouTube videos with instructions for how to wear kimono, but I have always found them extremely hard to follow. (Especially starting from zero experience.) Moral of the story, some things just require teachers. In-person kimono lessons also provide a great opportunity for making Japanese friends!
Get started wearing kimono
While the current kimono industry is not something I am a fan of, I am a fan of kimono. Even if you only have a short trip to Japan, I highly recommend that you try one on. I’ve heard lots of great experiences with tours in Tokyo and Kyoto with rental kimono.
For those of you here for the long run, give lessons a try—but don’t feel bad leaving a class that you’re not comfortable with. Buying your own set also isn’t very difficult. There are secondhand kimono shops everywhere, and even Amazon has some supplies at really low prices. Just google リサイクル着物; my favorite is たんす屋. Watch out for pushy salespeople!
Let me know about your experiences with kimono, and if you have any questions about taking lessons, in the comments below. Don’t forget to subscribe for more kimono-related content.
So what do you say, fellow gaijin? Let’s keep the kimono tradition alive!