The Art of the Haori Himo

 In Blog

Why do we exchange rings? Personal ornamentation, like architecture, help us to identify and locate groups, tells or communicates affiliations, organizes our actions, guides our attention, expresses and individualizes identity, can generate experiences, and beautifies as well as communicates. To adorn ourselves and our surroundings is to express our humanity…what we love and what we fear.

One of the most formally ornamented cultures is the Japanese. The battleground and the the castle have all been expressed by symbols. Himo ties on haoris are linked to the kimono culture. The ties join the vertical lapels of traditional haori, a short jacket believed to have originated in the Sengoku period (around the 16th century). The haori was worn by warriors over their battle armor to protect against the cold weather. Later, fashionable geishas wore them over their kimonos as statements of individuality in their adoption of the dress of men. From the 18th century, the haori started to become commonplace enough to be decorated with family crests and came to be seen in traditional and formal ceremonies.

Geisha translates into English as “performing artist” or “artisan.” Today, the traditional geisha is female, but the original geishas in the pleasure quarters of Japan were men. They started in the 16th century as ‘jesters’ to provide entertainment to the feudal lords. They were storytellers, who often battled alongside their lord. When peace began in the 17th century, their role changed to pure entertainers

Geishas were hired to attend to guests during banquets, parties, and other occasions where they demonstrated their skills through various arts such as dancing to a tune played with a shamisen (a Japanese stringed instrument), initiating games, and engaging in conversations on many topics of interest to their guests. For these affairs, they meet up with guests at an ochaya* (tea house) or at a ryōtei (traditional Japanese restaurant) and charge their customers by the hour. A geisha who was found selling sex, which was not the intended work of these entertainers, were imprisoned in order to protect the oiran, licensed courtesans who had a higher rank in Japanese society. The geishas became more popular and the numbers of oiran steadily declined and vanished when Japan outlawed prostitution in 1956. Today, there are only oiran “reenactors” who continue to perform in Japan (mostly in Kyoto), but do not provide courtesan services, they mostly do shows and parades known as oiran dōchū.

These intricate handmade haori-himo ties are miniature masterpieces of Japanese braiding and dyeing. No two are alike, with some made on three different looms. The colors of the himo and haoris have different significance: black haori with a white himo tie is usually worn at funerals, for example. Dark colors are worn for formal occasions. Brighter colors are cosidered more festive. Weavers in modern times have moved on to other fashion accessories like mobile phone cords and luggage tags. Pictured in the Chambers Architects Collection, below, are himo dating from the 1950s through the 80s, a few possibly earlier. Some of these were purchased from YokoDana Kimono, a knowledgeable source of Japanese textiles.

(Photo Credits: Stephanie Chambers, Chambers Architects. The loom: from a blog “Japanese Textiles from a Westerner’s Perspective.”)

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