Water-dried food

A type of clothing worn by lower-ranking officials who served the Imperial Court from the Heian period onwards. Mizukan means clothing made without using starch, by stretching the cloth on a board, drying it, and then peeling it off once dry to give it a firm texture. It is a board-style (agekubi) jacket with a single-width (hitono) tailoring, open at the sides, and is a sliding door-style jacket. The collar is tied with a braided cord, and the hem is tucked inside the hakama. It differs from the kariginu (hunting garment) of the same sliding door style in that the collar is fastened with a button-type tsukehimo (tie-string cord) and ukeo (strap cord), and the hem is left hanging outside. The braided cord was threaded and tied at key points of the sleeves, the seams of the inner and outer sleeves, and the seams of the body and collar, which are areas of the mizuginu that are prone to fraying, and the excess knot was loosened to make a tassel for reinforcement and decoration, which was called kikutoji. The mizuginu outfit was accompanied by an eboshi hat and kukuri hakama, which were tied with a string threaded through the hem of the hakama, but mizuginu hakama with two kimono threads on each side were sometimes worn, at the seam of the thigh stand and the seam above the knee.

In the late Heian period, plain-colored hemp, kakie (painted), tie-dyed, stencil-dyed, and other patterns were used, and when messengers or attendants of festivals wore so-called furyu (elegant) mizuginu, with different colors or beautiful fabrics on the sleeves and collar. Samurai who became lower-ranking military officers of the Efu also wore mizuginu, and wore them under armor. The kariginu worn by the samurai of the Takiguchi area who guarded the Imperial Palace was called mizuginu kariginu, which was also a type of mizugin made with different materials for the collar and sleeves. The mizugin outfit gradually became a formal attire, and mizugin and hakama of the same material were called mizuginu top and bottom (kamishimo). Although mizuginu are in the banryo style, a method was devised in which the collar was folded inward to wear it as a tarikubi style. From the Kamakura period through the Muromachi period, samurai wore it as formal attire along with kariginu, and in addition to linen, there were also versions made from plain silk, twill, gauze, and other fabrics.

[Takada Yamato]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

平安時代以降、朝廷に仕える下級官人が用いた衣服の一種。水干とは、布に糊(のり)を使わず、板に水張りにして干し、乾いてから引きはがして張りをもたせて仕立てた衣という意味。その形式は盤領(あげくび)、身一幅(ひとの)仕立て、脇(わき)あけで、襖(あお)系の上着。襟は組紐(くみひも)で結び留め、裾(すそ)は袴(はかま)の中に着込める。同じ襖系の狩衣(かりぎぬ)はボタン式の入れ紐と受緒で襟を留め、裾は外に出して垂らす点で異なる。水干のほころびやすい箇所である袖付(そでつ)け、奥袖と端袖の縫い目、身頃(みごろ)と衽(おくみ)の縫い目の要所に組紐を通して結び、その結び余りをほぐして総(ふさ)とし、補強と飾りにして、これを菊綴(きくとじ)とよんだ。水干姿には烏帽子(えぼし)をかぶり、袴の裾口に紐を通して締める括(くく)り袴をはくが、股立(ももだち)の合せ目と膝(ひざ)の上の縫い目に左右それぞれ2個ずつ菊綴をつけた水干袴をはくこともあった。

　平安時代後期には、白麻布のほか色無地、描絵(かきえ)、絞り染め、型染めなど文様を表したものが使われ、祭りの使い、供奉(ぐぶ)などのときに端袖や衽に別の色のものや美しい織物を用いた、いわゆる風流(ふりゅう)の水干を着た。衛府の下級武官となった武士も水干を用い、鎧(よろい)の下にも着用した。宮中の警護にあたる滝口の武士が着る狩衣を水干狩衣といい、これも衽と端袖の地質を変えて華麗につくられた水干の一種である。水干姿もしだいに礼装化して、水干と袴が同質のものを水干上下(かみしも)と称した。また水干は盤領形式であるが、その襟を内側に折り込んで垂領(たりくび)式に着る方法も考案された。鎌倉時代から室町時代にかけて、武家は狩衣とともに礼装として着用し、麻布のほか平絹、綾(あや)、紗(しゃ)などの生地を使ったものも現れた。

［高田倭男］

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