Uchikake information

[rcm9445]

Hi,
I received as a bridal present this uchikake from my mother-in-law. I haven't seen another one like it on the internet, especially with the wheels of time? displayed on it, in different colors. She had received it from a family friend of theirs in Japan whose wife had died and he was trying to get rid of all the kimonos. It is 187cm in length from the shoulders to the bottom of the padded hem (77-78inches). Do you know any information about it? Age, story, ect?

www.cis.ksu.edu/~rcmiller/Kimono/uchikake.html

Thank you.

[Kiyoaki]

The uchikake is from the early 1960's. The chrysanthemums and cranes are emblems of longevity.

The 'wheels in water' are actually an old motif that originates in the Heian Period (10-12 century). The nobility rode in large carts and the wheels were mostly made of solid blocks of wood and without spokes. Over time, the components of the wheels would shrink and get out of alignment, so they were periodically left to soak in a river to swell and tighten all the joints. This motif is used to add a note of poetic nostalgia for what many Japanese consider was their country's cultural "golden age'.

The wheel colors are intended to brighten up the look of the design since the background is a plain white. In the pre-WW II era, black would have been the typical background color for a wedding kimono and no uchikake would have been worn.

Nowadays, it's worn over a white kimono for the actual wedding ceremony. It is worn unbelted with the hem left to trail behind like a train. The post-war addition of the uchikake now adds a formal note to the brides costume, any may reflect the general post-war prosperity of the late 50's and early 60's. At the reception, the bride changes into a second outfit of a colored kimono to express the change in her family/marital status.