1/11/2007

When a young woman turns 20, her parents would buy her a new set of kimono that marks her coming of age. The kimono is called Furisode. You can read about the different types of women’s kimonos here.

Many parents buy the Furisode for their daughters to celebrate this significant point in a young woman’s life. Furisode is a formal kimono for single women, it is brightly colored and made of very fine quality silk. In the very modest Japanese society wearing a Furisode is a very obvious statement. It is a very loud and clear advertisement that the single woman is available for marriage.

The main difference between a Furisode and the other types of kimono is its extremely long sleeves. Furisodes are mainly worn by single women in weddings and tea ceremonies. A Furisode usually costs around USD15,000.

Every second monday of the month of January of every year is called an “Adult Day” and it’s a public holiday. And on this day, you will see young women dressed up in their Furisode attending ceremonies.

Below you can see some pictures of young women in their Furisode kimono.

Taken from furisode.com

Taken from a Japanese girl’s blog

Taken from a Japanese photo studio

I think the Furisode is the most prettiest kimono of them all, although as you grow older, you kimono becomes more and more elegant.