Paper robes (kamiko)

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Paper robes (kamiko)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: All winter
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

paper robe, kamiko 紙衣 (かみこ) 紙子（かみこ）
Japanese Paper Clothing, paper coat, paper vest


..... kamiginu 紙ぎぬ（かみぎぬ）

white paper robe, shirokamiko 白紙子（しろかみこ）
simple paper robe, sugamiko 素紙子（すがみこ）


vendor of paper robes, kamiko uri 紙子売（かみこうり）




Learn the basics about
WKD : Japanese Paper, washi 和紙


The kozo paper is treated with persimmon tannin and, after drying, it is crumpled thoroughly, and then smoothed and tailored into wearable apparel.
©　A Handbook on the Art of Washi:

The tannin would color the paper slightly reddish-brown and keep it impregnated against water for a while.


Paper war vest (jinbaori 陣羽織) with tannin impregnation

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Two kamiko haiku by Matsuo Basho

. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .

Dresses made of paper, kamiko 紙子,紙衣

Paper clothing was used by poor peasants to keep warm in winter.

Matsuo Basho might have used one of these warm robes from Shiroishi.




かげろうふの我肩に立かみこかな
かげろふの我が肩に立つ紙子かな
kageroo no waga kata ni tatsu kamiko kana

Second year of Genroku, Second Month, at Toozan's lodging
Oku no Hosomichi

heat waves
shimmering from the shoulders
of my paper robe
tr. Barnhill


heat waves shimmer
on the shoulders of my
paper robe
tr. Ueda

Written on the 7th day of the 2nd lunar month, 元禄2年2月7日 at a lodging with とう山 Tozan, a haikai friend of Boku-in 木因 from Ogaki, Sora and others.
One hokku of the collection 七吟歌仙, written at the lodging.

kamiko　was a robe to keep Basho warm on the trip, but then he realized it was already warm and heat shimmers were around, so he could take it off and enjoy some warmth.

. Dresses made of paper, kamiko 紙子 - 紙衣 .

Preparing his trip "Oku no Hosomichi"
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


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With more photos :
source :　fukushoku

矯めつけて雪見にまかる紙子哉　
tametsukete yuki mi ni makaru kamiko kana

I will fold it properly
and wear it for snow-viewing -
this paper robe

Basho was not carrying much luggage and had to make do with his old paper robe.
All he could do is fold it again to show the proper pleads.
This is a rare glimpse of the man Basho, worrying about his proper outfit for a haikai meeting.

. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Ok no Kobumi .


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In Osaka Kabuki, the main actor wears a robe made of paper, kamiko 紙衣. This does not flow naturally around the body and the actor has to make extra efforts to show a natural pose.
Kabuki and Haiku

GOOGLE : kamiko paper japan kimono

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kigo for all winter

kamisuki, kami suki 紙漉 かみすき
papermaking, making paper (by hand)
kansuki 寒漉（かんすき）making paper in the cold
kamihoshiba 紙干場（かみほしば）place to dry paper
kamisukime, kamisuki me 紙漉女（かみすきめ）woman who makes paper

koozo sarasu 楮晒す（こうぞさらす）washing the paper mulberry fibers
koozo musu 楮蒸す（こうぞむす）steaming the paper mulberry fibers

mitsumata musu 三椏蒸す（みつまたむす） steaming tridend daphne fibers

Papierschöpfen von Hand

WKD : Trident Daphne, Mitsumata 三叉、三椏
used for making paper


. Tororo Aoi 黄蜀葵 and glue 寒糊 made from it in winter 　
Abelmoschus manihot
More paper-related kigo


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

- - - - - Kobayashi Issa - - - - -

似合しや女坂下る紙衣達
niawashi ya onnazaka oriru kamikotachi

well matched!
stylish paper coats
go down the gentler slope
Tr. Chris Drake

This wryly humorous winter hokku was written in the 10th month (November) of 1813, the year Issa returned for good to his hometown. In Issa's time there were two basic types of paper clothing for commoners: utilitarian winter outer robes and coats (mainly for people who couldn't afford expensive thick cloth robes) and fashionable decorated paper coats or cloaks (haori) worn not only for warmth but for display. Paper might seem to be a weak and fragile material, but these paper coats and robes were made from thick, fiber-dense washi paper and coated numerous times with a varnish made of persimmon tannin to make them windproof and waterproof, so they were quite popular in Issa's age.

In this hokku Issa displays his love of personification by writing directly about paper cloaks, not the people wearing them, as if the cloaks were alive and were the most important thing about the wearer. I think he does this to indicate that the wearers are infatuated with the elegant coats they wear and are interested above all in showing them to other people -- at the moment the wearers may almost feel as if they were their clothes. This is interesting, because the coats walk down a "female" slope, that is, the longer, gentler slope path from a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple (or both, since they were often built side by side) at the top of a hill or low mountain. The "male" slope is the shorter route, usually consisting of a long flight of stone steps going straight up the side of the hill. These paired terms are not directly related to the gender of the pilgrims visiting the shrine or temple, so the people in paper coats could be either male or female.

Issa says that the paper coats are well-matched, and by this he seems to mean at least four things: 1) the paper coats make their wearers look more attractive, 2) the wearers seem to have chosen the coats because they think it's important to look attractive, 3) the various coats go well together in a group, and 4) the coats are well matched with the path down the gentler slope. I think the fourth meaning may be Issa's main focus in this hokku. Dedicated pilgrims in traditional white pilgrims' robes or in ordinary commoner clothing probably tend to use the shorter and more direct route both going to and coming from the shrine or temple, or at least to use the shorter route when returning downhill, but the wearers of the paper coats use the gentler, easier path even when going downhill. This easygoing attitude seems to indicate they are mainly interested in showing themselves to others and in sightseeing -- especially in viewing the clothes of other visitors to the temple -- rather than in worshiping, praying, or meditating. The personification of the paper coats may be an accurate, shasei-based evocation of the religious atmosphere surrounding many of the visitors to the shrine or temple.

In addition to commenting on varieties of religious behavior, Issa, who linked True Pure Land Buddhism and haikai fairly closely, may also be indirectly referring to differing approaches to haikai. In his time it was common for professional haikai masters in Edo and other cities to wear stylish paper coats in winter, often covered with outstanding calligraphy or famous haikai verses or waka, both for esthetic reasons and to proudly display their status as haikai masters. Issa was not of this persuasion, and in 1816 he humorously wrote:

yo wa shimai kamiko niau to hayasaruru

the end of the world --
they say I'd look good
in a master's paper coat!

Issa's admiring students in his hometown area seem to have told him a stylish paper coat would perfectly match his status as a famous haikai poet, but this kind of praise seems ineffective.


source :　kimonohistory.fuyuya.com

This is a picture of a commoner in a stylish paper cloak with calligraphy on it and with cloth around the edges.

Chris Drake


. onna-zaka, onnazaka 女坂 women's slope.

. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .

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- - - - - Yosa Buson - - - - -

hanken no shayoo kamiko no sode no nishiki kana

the setting sunlight
on the paper kimono sleeve -
brocade!
Tr. Stephen Addiss



めし粒で紙子の破れふたぎけり
meshitsubu de kamiko no yabure futagikeri

with a grain of cooked rice
I fill the tear
in my paper robe . . .




source :　www.rakanneko.jp

老を山へ捨し世も有に紙子哉 - obasuteyama 姨捨伝説
o o yama e suteshi yo mo aru ni kamiko kana



此冬や帋衣(かみこ)着ようとおもひけり
koko fuyu ya kamiko kiyoo to omoikeri


宿老の紙子の肩や朱陳村 - Chinese village of long life
(朱陳村＝江蘇省の山奥にある世間と断絶した風俗純朴な長寿村)


實盛か紙子は夜のにしきかな - Sanemori



かづらきの紙子脱ばや明の春　
Katsuraki no kamiko nugabaya ake no haru - Mount Katsuragi

with a wish to take off
this Katsuraki paper robe
my New Year begins 　
Tr. Ueda

source : books.google.co.jp


if I could only take off
the Katsuragi god's paper robe
dawn of spring 　
Tr. Crowley


. Katsuragi 葛城 deity Hitokotonushi . 　　
みじか夜や葛城山の朝曇り

. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .


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皺足と同じ色なる紙衣哉
shiwa ashi to onaji iro naru kamiko kana

now the same color
as my wrinkled feet...
paper robe

Kobayashi Issa
Tr. David Lanoue



becoming the same color
as wrinkled feet ...
this paper robe
Tr. Gabi Greve


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Related words

***** Warm Things to keep you warm in Winter in Japan

***** Kimono, Traditional Japanese Robes

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