JAPANESE WEDDING CLOTHES
On a recent trip to Sankeien Garden, we chanced upon a couple dressed in traditional Japanese wedding clothes. They looked very nice so we immediately clicked away with our cameras. The bride was dressed in white and the groom looked spiffy in his black formal garb.
I only recently found out the meaning of the clothes. The traditional white wedding kimono for the bride is called the shiro-maku. (Shiro means "white" and maku means "pure"). She also wears a quilted robe called the uchikake and an under-kimono. The white hood atop the bride's head is called a tsuno-kakushi (meaning "to hide horns") to defend her from little horned demons, to hide her less agreeable attributes from the groom's family and to symbolize her resolve to be obedient. It indicates that the bride will carry our her wifely duties with patience and serenity. Another type of headdress is called the wataboshi that is shaped, in Ruther's words, like a fortune cookie. This was the headdress i saw the bride wear at Sankeien. The white painted face symbolizes her virginity. The groom's kimono is called a haori-hakama. He has a white under-kimono with a short black kimono coat over it (haori) bearing the family crest on the front and back (5 crests in all). Hakama is a pant-like outer garment worn over a kimono that is split between the legs. On their feet are white split-toe socks called tabi and zori are the white sandals with toe thongs. Lastly, the fan. Its gradual opening symbolizes happiness and the happy future of the couple.
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