Nagoya obi: width, folds and wear

The waist section encircles the torso. The wider tare section folds back at the rear to form the near-square otaiko panel; the lower portion turns inward, leaving a short tail below. The narrow te end passes horizontally inside the otaiko, and the obijime cord holds it and the folded layers in place. An obimakura pad supports the upper edge, while the obiage cloth around it is secured at the front. The square is a folded part of the sash, supported by accessories rather than a separate panel.

Eight sun and nine sun refer to the width of the woven cloth before finishing, not the strip visible across the waist. Kawashima’s examples measure about 31 cm and 34 cm respectively. Folding in the side allowances of the wider cloth brings its finished width to about 31 cm too. Two obi can therefore look equally wide when worn even though their unsewn cloth differed.

The Nagoya finish folds and stitches the section from the starting end, or tesaki, towards the taiko, setting the front width in advance. A matsuba finish stitches only a short section at the tip, leaving the rest adjustable. An open finish leaves the waist section flat so that the wearer folds it when dressing. These are alternative finishes within the Nagoya-obi family.

Interlining is an inner layer that helps the obi hold its shape. Firm eight-sun weaves often need none and can be finished by stitching their edges. Softer nine-sun cloth commonly receives cotton interlining, with its side edges folded inward. The choice responds to the cloth’s weight and stiffness as well as the finish.

A Nagoya obi’s usual single otaiko presents one layer at the back; a fukuro obi normally forms a double otaiko, requiring additional length for the second layer. A fukuro obi is itself tubular, commonly with a patterned face and plain reverse. Earlier maru obi were made by folding a wider patterned textile, leaving decoration on both sides and adding weight through yarn and lining. Reducing hidden decoration and fabric was one direction of modern reform. The knot, the sash’s construction and the formality of its pattern are related choices, each affecting a different part of wearing it. A hanhaba obi is narrower along its whole length and is commonly used with yukata or everyday kimono. It differs from a Nagoya obi whose waist section folds narrower while the otaiko remains full width.

A dyed obi begins with a woven cloth that is coloured through techniques such as yuzen, wax resist or tie-dye. A woven obi develops its pattern through yarns and other materials during weaving. Yarn and weave also affect whether the surface is smooth or textured, and how thick or firm it feels. Tsuzure tapestry weave expresses its design through weft yarns; in the traditional nail-beaten method, the weaver packs those yarns with the nails. This technique and the hassun width category describe different dimensions of the same sash.

Some sashes carry a near-continuous pattern; others concentrate decoration on the visible waist and otaiko areas. The pattern must therefore meet both the wearer’s circumference and the folds at the back. Dressing lessons treat an otaiko-patterned obi separately: the wearer locates the rear motif against the pad, then adjusts the front design and the folded surplus. Enough length alone does not guarantee that the motif will face forward rather than sit at the side or disappear into a fold.

A Daihiko Nagoya obi in the Tokyo National Museum dates to 1955–1964, measures 357 cm by 30.4 cm and uses plain-weave silk with stencil yuzen dyeing. Its photograph shows diamond-shaped floral groups on a yellow ground beside blue-green floral groups on white; the narrower section continues part of the pattern. The collection account explains that the tailoring exposes both yellow- and white-ground designs in the completed otaiko, with the stencil design repeated in 62-centimetre units. Vases and plants enclosed by cloud-shaped outlines form its specific sarasa vocabulary. Cloth, repeat, tailoring and the final visible panel work together.

Newspaper discussion in 1938 urged economy in women’s obi and simpler dress. The National Museum of Ethnology study places such writing in wartime debates about thrift and hygiene. Broad sashes and their accessories came under scrutiny. Nagoya obi already existed by then, and these debates did not establish a single construction for every women’s obi.

Simplification also produced tsukeobi: sashes whose knot was prepared in advance and fastened when dressing. A 1990 study of clothing textbooks from the Meiji through Showa periods found a “Nagoya obi application” in a 1950 textbook, with the waist and te section assembled separately from a shaped otaiko. Later examples included detachable waist-and-knot parts and connected lightweight arrangements. These shifted the work of folding and shaping out of the moment of dressing, rather than merely sewing the waist section narrower. The textbooks record Nagoya obi and pre-shaped alternatives being taught alongside one another.