Kosode

Karaori 唐織

A karaori is a small-sleeved (kosode) noh costume brocaded with floral and other designs using floated wefts of various colors and is worn primarily for women’s roles. Draped differently, it can be worn as the main garment, as an outer robe tucked up over another garment, or as an undergarment.

Roles and draping

Karaori are a standard garb for shite roles of women appearing in the first part of a noh and for many tsure roles. The shite of Izutsu , Kamo , Nonomiya, and Funa Benkei wear the karaori as an outer garment and draped “straight” with an open V over the chest (kinagashi). Crazed women, like Sakagami in Semimaru and women at work, like the tsure in Eguchi, have one sleeve slipped off (nugisage). Karaori draped over divided skirts and tucked up at the waist (tsubo-ori) are worn by high ranking women, like the imperial consort in Yōkihi and by sprites like Shōjō. For the role of the dancer in Dōjōji, the karaori is tucked up at the waist and draped over another kosode garment. In addition, a karaori can be worn as an undergarment by warrior courtiers, such as Atsumori and Tsunemasa.

Textile features and tailoring

The karaori textile consists of a foundation twill (usually 3 harnesses) and supplementary weft patterning. The ground may be a single color or form a large checkerboard pattern known as dangawari, created by tie-dyeing the warp threads (ikat, kasuri) into bands of color. The patterning silk floss rises above the densely packed ground to create the effect of three-dimensional embroidery. Each repeat of the pattern unit distributes the colored threads differently, creating an effect of infinite variety. Sometimes the incorporation of gold thread adds an extra layer. The box sleeves of the karaori are stitched up at the outer edge till the cuff and at the inner edge, they are completely sewn to the body panels. Extra front lapels and a wide collar provide enough breadth to cross the front garment over the chest and secure it with sashes at the waist.

Designs and coloring

Seasonal floral designs predominate. Other motifs include imagery from the classics, like the Tale of Genji, or waka poems. These often appear as float patterns over a background repeat motif, such as waves, diamonds, running water, or lattices. Young women wear karaori that include red and are referred to as “with color” (iro iri) , while older women’s karaori have little or no red and are designated as “without color” (iro nashi).

Noshime 熨斗目

Description

A noshime is a small-sleeved (kosode) noh costume of plain weave silk, either monochrome or with bands of different colors. It is worn for roles of lower-class males. In noh, noshime serve as undergarments for a variety of characters, especially monks, common men, low-ranking samurai, and sometimes old women. In kyōgen, noshime are also used for daimyō roles.

Roles and draping

Traveling priests wear plain-color noshime under a mizugoromo, with or without ōkuchi. Servants don a noshime under kamishimo matched suits with wing sleeves, while daimyō wear them under the more elaborate hitatare matched suits. When preparing for action, the outer jacket might be shed, exposing the noshime tucked into the pleated trousers in a draping known as mogidō.

Textile features and tailoring

Glossed silk wefts are woven in plain weave into raw (unglossed) silk warps. A wavy texture can be added by varying the thickness of select warp threads. Noshime are tailored in a standard T-shape kosode with the outer edge of the sleeves below the wrist opening sewn together.

Designs and coloring

While many noshime are a single solid color, such as navy, brown, green, or tan, some have horizontal bands of contrasting colors or bands of checks. Both the bands and the checks are created by tie-dyeing the threads before weaving (kasuri). Very often the waist area is left white (koshiaki) or filled with textured checks. Stripes and bands are considered higher class than simple plain-colored noshime.

Surihaku 摺箔

Description

A surihaku is a small-sleeved (kosode) noh costume of soft silk patterned with stenciled gold or silver foil and worn for women’s roles under karaori (see above) or nuihaku (see below). Although the surihaku is often glimpsed only at the upper chest, in some outfits the left sleeve or the whole upper portion is exposed.

Roles and draping

Surihaku are undergarments worn primarily for women’s roles. The surihaku is laid over the actor’s shoulders, crossed snugly over the chest, left lapel over right, and then bound at the waist with a sash. For a standard woman’s role in the first half of a play, a karaori is draped over it in kinagashi style with the collar left open, which leaves only a small portion of the surihaku visible. For roles of women who are crazed (Sakagami in Semimaru) or doing manual labor (Courtesan in Eguchi), the karaori is draped in nugisage style, with the right sleeve slipped off, so the surihaku is exposed on half the torso. The entire upper portion of the surihaku is visible when combined with a nuihaku folded down at the waist in koshimaki draping (e.g. Hagoromo).

Textile features and tailoring

While Momoyama-period surihaku are generally made from plain weave silk with glossed wefts (nerinuki), Edo-period ones tend to be made of satin (shusu), warp-faced twill (aya), or figured satin (rinzu). Repeat patterns are cut into paper stencils (katagami). The stencils are placed onto the fabric, adhesive applied through the holes, and then metallic foil (gold or silver) placed over the stenciled area while the adhesive is still wet. When it dries, excess foil is brushed off to reveal the pattern, which is repeated over the entire costume, or only in designated areas. Often the lower portion of a surihaku has little or no decoration, as it is always covered up when worn.

Designs and coloring

Repeat geometric patterns, like checker blocks, interlocking circles or triangles, woven fence, and key-fret designs are common. Free-flowing designs, like scrolling vines, wind-bent grass, or swirling water create a poetic effect. The majority of surihaku are white; but some are red, light blue, or yellow, and some have bands of different colors. When small areas are embroidered as highlights, the costume is called a nui iri surihaku.

Nuihaku 縫箔

Description

A nuihaku is a small-sleeved (kosode) noh costume made of soft silk and worn for roles of women, young men, and kyōgen women. Unlike the karaori or atsuita where the designs are woven, decorations on nuihaku are embroidered and stenciled.

Roles and draping

When it is worn as an undergarment by women, young boys（e.g. Yoroboshi), and warrior-courtiers (e.g. Atsumori and Tomonaga), the softly yielding nuihaku robe is crossed over the chest and bound at the waist in kinagashi draping. The nuihaku may also be folded down at the waist so the sleeves hang over the hips in koshimaki draping, exposing the surihaku undergarment as a contrasting “upper” to the outfit. In noh plays like Dōjōji, and Aoinoue the shite wears a karaori (see above) over the koshimaki outfit in the first act when she appears as human, but sheds the outer robe in the second act when she appears as a jealous snake-like figure. In Hagoromo, however, the Celestial Maiden, having laid aside her outer robe to bathe, first appears in a koshimaki outfit and later dons a chōken over the nuihaku koshimaki outfit. For roles of women in kyōgen, the nuihaku is draped a little more loosely in kinagashi style and bound at the waist.

Textile features and tailoring

Similar to the surihaku (see above) robes, the silks used for nuihaku tended to be glossed plain weave in the sixteenth century, but since the seventeenth century they are generally satin, figured satin, or a glossy twill. As the name implies, two different techniques are used to decorate nuihaku: embroidery (nui) and stenciled gold or silver foil (haku). The latter is explained in the surihaku entry. The style of embroidery changed over time. Broadly speaking embroidery of the late sixteenth century is characterized by densely filling in areas of the robe with long parallel stitches on the surface held down by tiny stitches on the reverse (watashinui). During the Edo period embroidery became increasingly realistic and the types of stitches multiplied.

Designs and coloring

The nuihaku garments are generally dyed after weaving, either in a solid color, like white, red, blue, yellow, light brown, purple, and black, or in bands or blocks of color. Overall designs range from densely filling the whole robe with embroidery on solid gold to scattering small motifs over a light background of geometric stencil repeats. Limiting embroidery to the shoulder and hem (katasusō) typified sixteenth-century nuihaku but proved practical later particularly when the nuihaku was worn folded down in koshimaki draping. As primarily women’s wear, typical motifs are taken from nature: flowers, blossoming trees, birds, and butterflies. Evoking season and often also literary tropes, the designs are imaginative, poetic, and colorful.