Kimono Is Traditional: Difference between revisions

If the [[Shrinking Violet]] fianceé or would-be-so is shown in kimono, expect her to have been brought up in "Kyoto style". In short, character wearing a kimono daily means that they will most likely follow the expected ideal of a Japanese person of their age, sex and position. In a notable exception, however, a working age male daily wearer reads as somewhat of a rebel, as he most likely won't be a white-collar salaryman.

Note that simply wearing yukata does not qualify a character to be [[Kimono Is Traditional|Traditional In Kimono]] -- it's considered a different type of garment altogether in Japan, and has different connotations. Similarly on the opposite end, wearing an ''uchikake'', i.e. a loose, unfastened outer kimono on top of the normal kimono, in normal conditions (outside weddings) [[Up to Eleven|multiplies all the traditionalness, class, and wealth indications]] the kimono itself gives to a character.

== Anime and Manga ==

* In ''[[Azumanga Daioh (Manga)|Azumanga Daioh]]'', of the six students and two teachers, only Sakaki and eleven-year-old Chiyo knew how to put on a kimono, and had to teach the rest. Kagura's parents bought her one for the occasion.

* Early in ''[[Persona 4]]'', the transfer student [[Meet Cute|runs into]] Yukiko Amagi while she's wearing a kimono. It's used as visual shorthand for how she's following her family's traditions and becoming the next head of the Amagi Inn.

* [[Grumpy Old Man]] Victor Kudo from ''Phoenix Wright [[Ace Attorney]]: Trials and Tribulations'' not only wears one, but once embroidered kimonos as his job.

* In the ''[[Pokémon Red and Blue (Video Game)|Pokémon Red and Blue]]'' games, Gym Leader Erika always wears a traditional kimono. Four generations later, she remains the gentlest and most polite of all female Gym Leaders. She runs a perfume shop as her day job and tends to flowers as her hobby.

** There is also a quintet known as the Kimono Girls. These are the only characters in [[Pokémon Gold and Silver (Video Game)|the games from which they originate]] to keep their Japanese names (though mixed up among them). Their role is to perform an old ritual to bring Ho-oh to the top of Ecruteak City's Bell Tower. Note that the entire Johto region, where they live, has a strong feudal Japanese look, with old-fashioned wooden houses and paper doors, temples with guardian monks, and a culture deeply reverent of tradition.

[[Category:Costume Tropes]]

[[Category:Kimono Is Traditional]]