Furisode

Furisode, like other formal kimono, are mostly made from silk, and are decorated in bright colours to reflect the wearer's youth.

Furisode are often either rented or bought by parents for their daughters to wear on Coming of Age Day in the year they turn 20.

According to one 17th century text, boys could wear furisode until their 18th year, or until they went through their coming-of-age ceremony, which usually occurred in late adolescence.

[4] Initially, furisode did not differ noticeably between the sexes, but fabric designs started to become more gendered in the 19th century.

[5] In the 20th century, furisode became restricted to women and girls only, as part of the increasing gender-specificity of children's clothing that developed in the wake of Western influence.

A young unmarried Japanese woman wearing a deep orange furisode with her arms outstretched.
An unmarried Japanese woman wearing a furisode
A Japanese woman wearing a furisode at the Japanese garden
A girl wearing a 19th century furisode , with her mother (Yōshū Chikanobu, c. 1896 )