Kimono

The word kimono 着物 (literally, “thing to wear”), which originally simply meant “clothing,” began to be used in the Meiji period to refer to the traditional Japanese clothing style in order to distinguish it from Western clothing. The word kimono has since come to refer more narrowly to a specific form of long Japanese cross-front garment. Even within this narrower meaning, however, there are many types of kimono, from simple cotton yukata to highly stylized formal pieces. The Soto Zen version follows a fairly archetypal version of the basic style, which also provides the template for juban and samue.