A list of kimono related terminology.
Use or the dropdown (on the top right) to browse the glossary. You can search for either English or Japanese terms.
Each term comes with the original Japanese (both kanji, kana, and pronunciation). If available alternative spellings and pronunciations are included.
I have tried to explain designs and patterns as detailed as possible to make it possible to search based on (partial) descriptions.
See Japanese, for some notes on Japanese used in this glossary.
Since this is on the internet you can use the small summaries you will find here to dive deeper into a subject. By right-clicking on any word in a description, a small context menu will pop-up that gives you access to the most common tools to continue your search.
When searching for patterns you can leave out the word "pattern" (both in English and Japanese). See Pattern for more details.
Feel free to re-use the contents. If you have suggestions or questions or find any mistakes let me know.
Where possible reference material is mentioned.
Disclaimer
Most of the content is based on what I have learned and I have tried to keep explanations simple. I will keep updating entries as I learn more.
I made this mainly for myself to keep track of terms and techniques, and moving the information I have collected into a digital form might help others.
A lot of the information is word-of-mouth and from visiting workshops. I have tried to stick to facts as much as possible but since terminology is often overlapping and has different meanings depending on the context, you might find different alternative (additional) explanations elsewhere. Each craftsman, workshop, and era have their own ways of doing things for the same process, I tried to keep explanations as broad as possible and more detail is added for items from around the Kanto, Tokyo area.