Kuniyoshi Asahina, summer kimono and accessories
(Kuniyoshi Asahina, yukata obi, geta to uchiwa)
2024
Medium
cotton (katazome stencil-dye), silk (Hakata-ori), cork, rubber, polyester, Yamanashi washi paper, bamboo, plastic
Measurements
156 × 89 × 46 cm (overall)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of the artist, 2025
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
Yukata are lightweight cotton summer kimono worn as casual wear, traditionally at festivals and on evening promenades along the river. Differing from formal wear, yukata often feature decorative and playful designs chosen by the wearer as an extension of their personality. This yukata was produced using a traditional stencil-dyeing technique and features a humorous face based on woodblock prints of the mythical characte Asahina by the nineteenth-century artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi. The garment is combined with an obi sash from the famed weaving city of Hakata, cork-veneered geta sandals, and a flat uchiwa fan produced from bamboo and washi paper from Yamanashi prefecture.