Kosode - Koso

A type of Japanese clothing. The word kosode was first used in the Taiho era to refer to a narrow-sleeved garment worn under osode (an outer garment with wide cuffs), which was the highest form of formal attire for nobles. It was clearly an undergarment, but its shape was similar to the robe worn in the morning attire of the time, and in the Engishiki, the Left and Right Konoe Style, there is a mention of a "purple kosode" as a fee for the ceremony of the Aouma (white horse) on January 7th, and it seems that it was sometimes worn as outerwear by low-ranking officials.

In the Heian period, when wide-sleeved, thick, layered clothing became common among aristocrats, both men and women, an undergarment with tube sleeves began to be worn under the lowest layer of hitoe, and this was called kosode in contrast to the wide-sleeved upper-class garment (although it has the same name, it is not directly related to the kosode worn in formal wear). On the other hand, among the lower classes and commoners, men wore short hakama over a short robe called tenashi or a kosode with short tube sleeves as an upper garment, and women wore an apron-like garment called shibira as an upper garment. These two kosode are the prototypes of later "kosode" and even of today's kimono. At first, both had simple tube sleeves, and those worn by aristocrats were completely undergarments, so they were made of white plain silk or twill, while those worn by commoners were mainly made of linen, had short sleeves that exposed the shins, but since they were upper garments, they were sometimes decorated with simple patterns such as shibori and surimono.

The underside of these sleeves became slightly rounded, forming a koiguchi (carp mouth), and eventually became a nagisode (sleeve with a triangular sleeve) around the Kamakura period (the oldest surviving kosode, discovered in the coffin of Fujiwara no Motohira in Chusonji Golden Hall, has a triangular hiuchisode). Around this time, the attire of the nobility finally began to be simplified, and among women, kosode hakama, which was simply a kosode with hakama attached, and kosode uchiki, which was simply a hakama, began to be worn, and kosode gradually began to take on the characteristics of an upper garment. Then, little by little, patterns began to be added using dyeing, painting, foil, embroidery, etc. Kosode for commoners continued to be made of crude linen, but indigo dyeing and other methods can be seen here and there in picture scrolls of the time, where large patterns like those seen on those of the upper classes were dyed. What is noteworthy here is that from around the Kamakura period, furisode (long sleeved kimono) began to be seen in the kimono of children of the upper class. Instead of an obi, children used a tsukehimo (attached string) to hold the front of their kimono down, so the opening on the body of the kimono had to be open to let the string through. This is a "wakiake" kosode, or a kosode with a furisode. After this, the wearer of furisode gradually spread from children to young people, and eventually developed into the o-furisode from the mid-Edo period onwards. In this way, some people interpret the word kosode as meaning a short sleeve compared to furisode, but this is merely a kosode in contrast to a wide sleeve, and furisode is nothing other than a "kosode with a furisode" or "furisode with a furisode". In the Edo period, women wore long furisode when they were unmarried, and when they got married, the bottom of the sleeve was cut short. This is called a "tomesode". Therefore, all women's kimonos today are kosode with a furisode. A furisode with the side openings sewn up is called a "tsumesode" and was worn by both boys and girls after adolescence during the Edo period. In Noh costumes, the chigogi worn by child actors always has a furisode. In contrast, the kosode-style costume worn by adult roles is called a kosodemono or tsumesodemono.

The decline of the noble class reached its peak during the Muromachi period, when kosode, which remained as the lowest garment for the declining noble class, and kosode, which was general wear for commoners, became one, ushering in an era of kosode-style clothing that was worn at all levels of society.

The above is a general definition of kosode, focusing mainly on form, as opposed to hirosode, but within this there are several further distinctions based on structure, geography, use, etc. In the olden days, anything without a lining was called katabira, but in the Edo period, a single layer of hemp or raw silk was called katabira, while a lined garment with cotton filling was called kosode, a single layer of silk or cotton was called hitoe, and a cotton-filled garment was called nunoko. Also, although the shape is the same, a garment layered over a kosode was called an uchikake or kaidori, a summer katabira worn around the waist was called koshimaki, and a kosode-style headgear worn on the head when going out was called a katsugi.

Below, we will take a chronological look at the shapes, patterns, dyeing and weaving techniques of kimonos from the early kosode period onwards.

(1) Early Kosode (Muromachi to Momoyama Periods) There are very few surviving kosode from this period, but known examples include those used by Kenshin at Uesugi Shrine in Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture, those said to have belonged to Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya, and those said to have belonged to Kishu Toshogu Shrine in Wakayama. There are fewer kosode for women than for men, and a considerable number remain as nuhaku for Noh costumes, except for the uchikake worn by Kita no Mandokoro at Kodaiji Temple in Kyoto.

The distinctive feature of the kimono is that for both men and women, the width of the body is wide, while the width of the sleeves is very narrow. The length of the body is not fixed, but the standard measurements, based on the Noh nuibaku technique, are 1 shaku 2 sun (40.4 cm) in width, 7 sun (21.2 cm) in sleeve width, and 5 sun (15 cm) in collar width, with a ratio of sleeve width to body width of about 1:1.7 to 1.8. For men's kosode, there are those with patterns woven into the twill fabric, those with kasuri patterns woven in different colors in a noshime style, and small patterns, but for women, most are nuibaku with patterns on the shoulders, katami-gaeshi, and dan on the weft of the weft, embroidery, and foil, and those with Tsujigahana dyeing using shibori, drawings, embroidery, and foil.

(2) Kosode in the early Edo period (Keicho to Kanbun) One of the major characteristics of kosode in this period is the diversification of the textiles used for kosode fabric. Fabrics of the Meibutsugire type, which had been imported from the Muromachi period, were gradually domestically produced from the end of the Momoyama period to the early Edo period, leading to the production of donsu, saya, crepe, velvet, Kai silk, etc. Cotton, which was a high-class product with a rare value in the early period, began to be widely used as a product on the same level as hemp. In particular, with the appearance of rinzu with a satin weave, nerihitsu, which had been used exclusively for kosode with tsujigahana and nuihaku patterns, fell out of use, and rinzu came to dominate the throne of kosode fabric. Since then, throughout the Edo period, especially for kosode and uchikake worn by women of the samurai class, rinzu was considered the best material, with crepe ranked below it.

In terms of shape, the balance between the narrow sleeve width and the wide body width of early kosode gradually became closer to one-to-one, and the body length, although also the same, became longer, almost reaching the heels. In terms of patterns, there was a strong trend away from the early kosode's configuration in which patterns were packed into sections such as the shoulders and hem, and the steps, toward a painterly pattern in which the entire kosode (especially the back) was a single painting. Kosode with bold, large patterns, commonly known as Kanbun kosode, are noted as representative of the early Edo period. As such painterly elements began to be emphasized in kosode patterns, the publication of kosode model books, which could be considered design books, began around the Kanbun period and continued until the end of the Edo period.

As for dyeing and weaving techniques, shibori and embroidery still predominate. Shibori in particular is used to create large patterns and to dye fabric in different colors. However, there has been a development of detailed Hitta-style shibori, and along with this, Hitta-style stencil printing also began to appear.

(3) Kosode from the mid-Edo period onwards (after the Genroku period) Yuzen dyeing, developed in the mid-Edo period, brought about a revolutionary development in kosode dyeing and weaving. It became possible to use rice paste to prevent dyeing and then to add colour by applying paint with a brush, eliminating all the restrictions imposed by the previous dip dyeing method on the shape and colour of the pattern. As a result, kosode became dramatically more gorgeous and the patterns became increasingly intricate.

Miyazaki Yuzensai, who is said to be the founder of Yuzen dyeing, is not known for his birth and death years, and there are many unknowns about him, but there is no doubt that he was a person who made a great contribution to the development of this new dyeing method at least after the Genroku period (1688-1704). In other words, it is believed that this dyeing method was gradually implemented from around the Genroku period, but when we look at kosode today that are said to be from the Genroku period, many of them still have traces of large patterns in the Kanbun style, and are mainly made of tie-dye and embroidery. However, as the width of the obi gradually increased by this time, the large continuous pattern began to show a tendency to be divided into upper and lower parts at the waist. It is thought that Yuzen dyeing probably began to appear clearly in kosode dyeing and weaving around the Shotoku to Kyoho periods (1711-1736) after the Genroku period. And around this time, the shape of kosode also became larger and longer, more flashy. Meanwhile, as the Edo period approached, this grand style gradually gave way to the "hasori" style, in which the long hems were pulled up, and from the long furisode cut into tomesode, the rounded, square sleeves that are more common in kimonos today began to be worn.

The fact that hand-painted Yuzen dyeing was based on picturesque patterns, in other words, on picturesque patterns, naturally suggests a close relationship with the paintings of the Edo period. In particular, the influence of the Rin school and Kano school in the early and middle periods, and the Shijo school and Maruyama school in the later period, is worthy of note.

After the mid-Edo period, the shape of kosode gradually became narrower and slimmer, and the ratio of the body width to the sleeve width became wider, and at the same time, a new trend appeared in kosode dyeing and weaving. One of these was the austere, sophisticated, and stylish taste that arose among the common people, who were suppressed by the shogunate's ban on extravagance, and kasuri and stripes began to become popular in contrast to flashy painted patterns. At the same time, samurai-style kosode patterns, mainly known as "gotenmono," were made with white-glazed and embroidered patterns, and all the patterns were paste-resistant, dyed white without any coloring, and embroidered to create elegant and stylish designs. And among these palace-style kosode patterns, a style that is known today as "gosho-doki" appeared. Landscapes and flower petals are elegantly patterned, and the patterns themselves are stereotypical and lack variety, but instead many have a wide range of subjects, drawing on poetry, stories, famous landscapes, etc. In contrast to these stereotypical, beautiful kosode patterns, another notable trend that emerged at the end of the Edo period was the appearance of pictorial kosode patterns that directly transferred the realistic flowers and birds of the Shijo and Maruyama schools to Yuzen dyeing, and these two were carried over directly into kimono dyeing and weaving in the Meiji period, one as a classical pattern and the other inherited within the new realistic trend of the Meiji period.

In the Meiji era, these realistic designs were influenced by the Art Nouveau movement that was then emerging in Europe, and new trends in curved patterns such as flowing water and ivy became popular. It is interesting to note that one element of this Art Nouveau was the Japanese arts and crafts that Samuel Bing brought to Paris in 1875, particularly the prints and stencil designs of the Edo period.

[Yamabe Tomoyuki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

和服の一種。小袖ということばがもっとも古く用いられているのは、大宝(たいほう)の衣服令(りょう)に貴顕最高の礼装であった大袖（袖口の広くあいた表着）の下に着た、盤領(あげくび)の袖の細い衣のことである。これは明らかに下着であるが、形は当時の朝服の袍(ほう)と似たようなものであり、また『延喜式(えんぎしき)』の左右近衛式に正月7日青馬（白馬(あおうま)）の口取りの料として「紫の小袖」があり、身分の低い官人が表着に用いたこともあったようである。

　平安時代になって貴族階級の間に、男女とも広袖の厚い重ね着の装束が一般に行われるようになると、その最下層の単(ひとえ)の下にさらに筒袖型の肌着が用いられるようになり、これが広袖の上層衣に対して小袖と称された（礼服の小袖とは名称は同じだが直接関係はない）。一方、下級者や庶民の間では、袖のない手なしという短衣や短い筒袖の小袖の上に、男は短い袴(はかま)をはいたり、女子は褶(しびら)という前掛けのようなものをつけて上衣として用いていた。この二つの小袖が後世の「小袖」、ひいては今日の着物の祖型ともいうべきもので、初めはともに素朴な筒袖で、貴族の用いたものは完全な下着であるから白の平絹か綾(あや)、庶民のものは麻が主で袖は短く丈もすねが出るようなものであったが、上衣であるだけに、少しずつ絞りや摺(す)り文などで簡単な模様のつけられることもあったようである。

　こうした筒袖の下側に少し丸みがついて、鯉口(こいぐち)になり、やがて薙袖(なぎそで)になっていくのが鎌倉時代ごろで（今日現存のもっとも古い小袖である中尊寺金色堂の藤原基衡(もとひら)の棺内から発見された小袖は、袖が三角になった燧(ひうち)袖である）、このころになると、貴族の服装にもようやく簡略化が始まり、女性の間では小袖に袴をつけただけの小袖袴や、袿(うちき)を羽織っただけの小袖袿などが行われ、小袖がしだいに上衣としての性質をもち始めてくる。そして染めや描き絵、箔(はく)、刺しゅうなどで少しずつ模様加工が行われ始めた。庶民の小袖は相変わらず麻の粗末なものであったが、それなりに藍(あい)染めの絞りなどで、上流者のものにみられるような大柄な模様が染められているのが当時の絵巻物などに散見する。ここで注目すべきことは、鎌倉時代ごろから上流階級の子供の着物に振袖(ふりそで)のみられることであり、子供は帯のかわりに付け紐(ひも)で着物の前を押さえたので、これを通すために身頃(みごろ)の八つ口（みやつ）があいていなければならない。これが「脇(わき)あけ」の小袖、つまり振りのついた小袖である。この後、子供から若年者へとしだいに振袖の着用層が広がっていき、ついには江戸時代中期以後の大振袖にまで発展していくのである。こうなると小袖ということばが振袖に対して袂(たもと)の短小なものを意味するように解される向きもあるが、これはあくまで広袖に対しての小袖であって、振袖というのは「振り付きの小袖」「振り小袖」にほかならない。江戸時代には、女性は未婚時代に長い振袖を着ていて、嫁にいくと袖の下を切り詰めた。これが「留袖(とめそで)」である。したがって今日の女性の着物はすべて振り付きの小袖ということになる。振袖の脇あけを縫い詰めたものを「詰袖(つめそで)」といい、江戸時代には男女とも少年期を過ぎると用いた。能装束では子役の着る稚児(ちご)着はかならず振りがついている。これに対して大人の役の着る小袖型の装束を、小袖物または詰袖物という。

　公家(くげ)階級の衰勢は、室町時代でその極に達し、下降する公家階級の最下層衣として残った小袖と、庶民の一般着であった小袖とが一つになり、そこに社会の上下を通じての小袖型服飾の時代が到来する。

　以上は広袖に対しての、形態を主とした総括的な意味での小袖であるが、このなかにはさらに、その構造、地質、用途などによって、いくつかの別がある。古くは裏のないものはすべて帷子(かたびら)といったが、江戸時代には麻もしくは生絹(すずし)の単衣(ひとえ)を帷子といい、これに対して袷(あわせ)仕立てで綿の入ったものが小袖、絹または木綿の単(ひとえ)ものを単衣、木綿の綿入れを布子(ぬのこ)と称した。また形は同じでも小袖の上に重ね着たものは打掛または介取(かいどり)、夏期帷子の腰にまとったものは腰巻、外出時に頭にかぶった小袖型の被(かぶ)り物を被衣(かつぎ)といった。

　以下小袖時代に入ってからのものを、その形態、模様、染織技術などについて、時代を追って概観してみる。

(1)初期の小袖（室町～桃山時代）　このころの小袖の現存するものは、数のうえではごく少ないが、男性の小袖では、山形県米沢(よねざわ)市の上杉神社の謙信所用のもの、名古屋市の徳川美術館、和歌山市の紀州東照宮蔵の徳川家康所用といわれるものなどが知られている。女性のものは男性のものに比べると少なく、京都市高台寺の北政所(きたのまんどころ)所用の打掛などのほかは、能装束の縫箔(ぬいはく)として、かなりの数のものが残されている。

　形態のうえの特徴としては、男女ともに身幅が広く、これに対して袖幅が非常に狭い。身丈は対丈(ついたけ)で一定しないが、だいたいの標準的な寸法を能の縫箔によってみると、身幅1尺2寸（40.4センチメートル）袖幅7寸（21.2センチメートル）、襟幅5寸（15センチメートル）で、袖幅と身幅の比が1対1.7～1.8ぐらいである。男物の小袖には、織物で綾地に文様を織り出し、絣(かすり)で熨斗目(のしめ)風に色違いに織り出したものや小紋などもあるが、女性のものはだいたい、練緯(ねりぬき)地に刺しゅう、箔などで模様を肩裾(すそ)、片身替り、段などで表した縫箔や、絞り、描き絵、刺しゅう、箔などを用いた辻が花(つじがはな)染めなどが多い。

(2)江戸前期の小袖（慶長(けいちょう)～寛文(かんぶん)）　この時代の小袖の大きな特徴の一つは、小袖の生地(きじ)に用いられた織物の多様化であろう。室町時代から輸入された名物裂(めいぶつぎれ)系統の織物が、桃山末から江戸前期にかけて、しだいに国産化が進んできたことによって、緞子(どんす)、紗綾(さや)、縮緬(ちりめん)、ビロード、甲斐絹(かいき)などがつくられ、木綿も初期の希少価値をもった高級品から、麻と同列なものとして広く用いられ始めてくる。ことに繻子(しゅす)組織による綸子(りんず)が現れたことで、それまで辻が花や縫箔の小袖にもっぱら用いられていた練緯が廃れて、綸子が小袖生地の王座を占める。爾来(じらい)、とくに武家階級の女性の小袖や打掛では江戸時代を通じて、綸子が最高のものとされ、縮緬はその下に位した。

　形のうえでは、初期の小袖の狭い袖幅と広い身幅のバランスがしだいに1対1に近づいてくるとともに、身丈も対丈ではあるが、かかとに達するくらいに長くなってくる。模様に関しては、初期の小袖にみる肩裾、段といった、区画の中に模様が詰め込まれたような構成から、小袖全体（とくに背面）を一つの画面とした絵画風な模様への動向が強まってくる。俗に寛文小袖といわれた豪放な大模様の小袖は、江戸前期を代表するものとして注目される。小袖の模様にこのような絵画的な要素が重視されてくると、そのためのデザインブックともいうべき小袖雛型(ひながた)本の刊行が寛文ごろから始まり、これは江戸末期まで続いている。

　染織技術としては、依然、絞りと刺しゅうが主流をなしており、とくに絞りは大柄な模様や生地の染め分けに用いられる反面、細かい匹田(ひった)風な絞りの発達がみられ、これに伴って型紙を用いた摺(す)り匹田も現れてくる。

(3)江戸中期以後の小袖（元禄(げんろく)以後）　江戸中期に開発された友禅染は、それまでの小袖染織に革命的な発展をもたらした。米糊(のり)を用いて防染し、これに刷毛(はけ)を用いた塗り染めで彩色を加えていくことが可能になり、模様の形象や色彩を染め出すことに対する従来の浸染の負っていた制約がすべてなくなり、これによって小袖は飛躍的に華やかなものとなり、模様はますます精緻(せいち)さを増していった。

　友禅染の創始者といわれている宮崎友禅斎については、その生没年もはっきりせず、いろいろ不明な点が少なくないが、少なくとも元禄時代（1688～1704）以後に、この新しい染法の発達に関して大きな功績のあった人であることは疑いないところであろう。すなわち、こうした染法は元禄ごろから少しずつ行われていたことと思われるのであるが、今日確かに元禄時代のものといわれている小袖をみると、その多くはまだ寛文調の大模様のあとを残したもので、技術的にも絞りと刺しゅうが主体をなしている。ただしこのころまでに帯の幅がしだいに広くなってきたのにつれて、一続きの大模様が腰を境に上下に分かれる傾向を示してくる。友禅染が小袖染織にはっきり現れてくるのは、おそらく元禄を過ぎて正徳(しょうとく)から享保(きょうほう)のころ（1711～1736）ではないかと思われる。そしてこのころになると、小袖の形も大きな袖、長い裾のはでやかなものになっていく。一方こうしたおおぎょうな形は、やがて江戸後期に近づくと、長い裾を引き上げた「はしょり」が行われ、長い振袖を切った留袖から、今日の着物のような、袖の丸みのとれた角袖が行われ始める。

　手描きの友禅染が絵のような模様、つまり絵模様をそのたてまえにしたことは、当然江戸時代の絵画との密接な関係が考えられる。なかでも初・中期における琳(りん)派や狩野(かのう)派、後期における四条派、丸山派などの影響は注目に値する。

　江戸中期を過ぎると、小袖の形はしだいに身幅の狭い、ほっそりとしたものになり、袖幅との比が1対1を逆に割って、袖幅のほうが広くなり、同時に小袖染織に一つの新しい傾向が現れてくる。その一つは幕府の奢侈(しゃし)禁止令に抑えられた庶民の間におこった、渋く、しゃれた、粋(いき)な趣味で、華やかな絵模様に対して、絣(かすり)、縞(しま)などが流行し始める。同時に、主として「御殿もの」といわれる武家風な小袖模様は、白上げと刺しゅうによるもので、模様は全部糊防染で、白く染めただけで色差しを加えず、これに刺しゅうで色を加えた、品のいい、しゃれたものである。そしてこれらの御殿風な小袖の模様には、今日「御所解(ごしょど)き」といわれている一つのスタイルが現れてくる。風景、花弁などを品のいい一つの型に模様化したもので、模様自体は類型化して変化に乏しいが、そのかわり題材に、詩歌、物語、名所風景などに取材した、広い主題をもったものが多い。このような類型化した美しい小袖模様に対して、江戸末期に現れたもう一つの傾向として注目されるのが、四条、円山派の写実的な花鳥などを、そのまま友禅染に移したような絵画的な小袖模様が現れたことで、この二つはそのまま明治の着物染織へ持ち越され、一つは古典的な模様として、他は明治の新しい写実的な傾向のなかへ受け継がれていった。

　明治時代になって、こうした写実的な模様は、当時ヨーロッパにおこったアール・ヌーボーの影響を取り入れて、新しい傾向の流水や蔦(つた)草などの曲線模様が流行するが、このアール・ヌーボーには、1875年にサミュエル・ビングによってパリにもたらされた日本の美術工芸品、とくに江戸時代の版画や型紙のデザインなどがその一つの要素をなしているということは興味深い。

［山辺知行］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例