A Kid From Overseas Called a Yukata 'Just Fabric' — Until It Turned Into Clothes

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A Japanese woman was asked to dress a little girl from abroad in a yukata, the light cotton summer kimono people wear to fireworks and festivals. The trouble started before the dressing did: the girl took one look at the garment and flatly refused to accept that it was clothing.

She had a point. Kimono and yukata are made almost entirely of straight-cut rectangles sewn together from a single narrow bolt of cloth. Nothing is tailored to the shape of the body; the fit comes from how it's wrapped, folded, and tied with a sash. Laid out or folded for storage, a yukata really does look like a neat stack of fabric.

The exchange, and the girl's reaction once she was actually wearing it, charmed a lot of people. The replies drift into how kimono are constructed, other "is this even clothes?" garments like the Indian sari, and other kids meeting other cultures for the first time.

Comments

Ended up dressing a little kid from overseas in a yukata.

“That’s just fabric!” “It’s clothes, actually.” “You said you’d put me in Japanese clothes!” “These ARE the clothes.” “Liar!”

Dressing complete.

“IT TURNED INTO CLOTHES!!!” (at a volume you could hear across the entire planet)

海外のお子様に浴衣の着付けをする事になる。「布じゃん！」「服なんですよこれ」「日本の服着せてくれるって言ったのに！」「これが服なんですよ」「うそだー！」着付け終了。「服になったー！！！」（地球全体に響くような大声）

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“While we’re at it, shall we do your hair too?” “A ribbon!!” “Ribbons are nice, but since we’re doing this, how about this one?” “That’s a stick!” “It’s called a kanzashi.” “You can’t tie hair up with a stick! It has to be a ribbon!” “Well, let’s just give it a try.”

Kanzashi done.

“Whoa, this can’t be real! This stick is so cool!” “It’s a kanzashi.” (A kanzashi is a traditional Japanese hairpin. Twisted in the right way, a single pin can hold up a whole bun.)

「せっかくだし髪も結わいますかね」「リボンがいい！！」「リボンもいいけどせっかくだしこれとかどうですか」「棒じゃん！」「簪といいます」「棒じゃ髪縛るの無理だよ！リボンじゃないと無理だよ！」「まあちょっとやってみましょ」簪終了。「うわー嘘みたい！すごいこの棒！」「簪です」

The little one was adorable.

幼女かわいい。

Oh, this is kind of blowing up. So here’s a plug: “Hot Spring Shark 2” is in theaters now, please check it out. A shark that swims freely through hot springs (and occasionally talks) fights muscle guys, becomes a mecha, and does strength training. The first one is on Amazon Prime too. Thank you.

わ～なんかバズってる。ので宣伝しとこう。現在絶賛公開中の「温泉シャーク２」を宜しくお願いします。温泉の中を自由自在に泳ぐサメ（たまに喋る）がマッチョと戦ったりメカになったり筋トレしたりします。前作の１もアマプラで観れます。宜しくお願いします。

cute

かわいい

this back-and-forth is too cute

やり取り可愛すぎ

I can hear my lifespan getting longer

寿命がモリモリ伸びる音がする

Glad she had fun

楽しそうで何より

Way too cute. This makes me happy

かわいすぎる。嬉しい

A pure, wholesome “instant defeat in two panels.” So good (A manga meme: in panel one, someone insists they’ll never give in. In panel two, they’ve completely given in.)

純粋で微笑ましい即オチ2コマ良すぎる

Tie the obi into a proper 3D bow and you’d probably get one more shout out of her. (The obi is the wide sash that holds a kimono or yukata closed.)

帯を立体的に締めるともう一声出そうですね。

“That’s just fabric!” “It’s clothes, actually.” “Liar.” dressing repaired “It’s a fundoshi.” (A fundoshi is a traditional loincloth, made from, well, one strip of fabric.)

「布じゃん！」「服なんですよこれ」「うそだー」着付け修理「ふんどしです」

Kimono? Clothes that aren’t cut to fit the body? That thin folded-up fabric turns into THIS!! — 19th-century Japonisme, reborn in the 21st century

kimono？立体裁断されてない服？あの薄く折りたたまれてた布がこうなる！！って19世紀ジャポニズムが21世紀によみがえる

Maybe kids in the Meiji era felt the same way the first time they put on Western clothes (*´ 艸｀) (The Meiji era, 1868–1912, is when Japan rapidly adopted Western-style dress.)

もしかしたら明治時代の子供達も洋服を初めて着る時はこんな感じだったかもしれませんね(*´ 艸｀)

Someone once told me it looked like a pile of string

紐みたいに言われたな

These clothes are practically all fabric. Ew, no!

この服、ほとんど布じゃないですか。ヤダー！

Fair, a yukata really is just fabric before you put it on

確かに浴衣って着る前ただの布だもんな

Unpick the seams and it goes back to one bolt of cloth. It IS fabric (Kimono are sewn from a tanmono, a single narrow roll of cloth about 12 to 13 meters long.)

解けば一枚の反物になるもんな布や

Well, Japanese clothing is basically cut in straight lines and sewn together :-)

基本和服は布地を直線で裁断して縫製しますもんねぇ :-)

You really can make one out of nothing but rectangles, so it’s pretty different from today’s shaped Western clothes (I think that’s a strength)

実際長方形の布だけで作ることが出来るので今の立体的な洋服とはかなり異なるよねえ（長所だと思っている）

Sounds like this came from a little kid, which is impressive 👀 I’d never look at a yukata and think “that’s just fabric.” When I was young my mom told me “a kimono comes apart into one piece of cloth,” and I got totally confused, like “what, the seams stick back together??” (well, in practice you do sew it back into one strip to wash it). When you sew Western clothes, the amount of fabric that goes to waste makes me dizzy.

これ、幼児さんの発言みたいだけどすごいね👀 浴衣見て「布じゃん」って感想出ないもん。昔、母に「着物は解くと1枚の布になる」って言われて「えっ？縫い目がまた引っ付くの？」と大混乱した私だけど（まあ、実際はぬいして引っ付けて洗うし）洋裁すると布がムダになる率高過ぎて目眩するんよ。

Mom, I wish you’d explained it properly: “A kimono is a long bolt of cloth split into eight rectangular panels and sewn together. Unpick it and join them back up, and you’re back to a 13-meter strip of fabric, so nothing goes to waste.”

It really is the traditional dress of the land of origami.

お母さん「着物は長い反物を8枚の長方形のパーツに分けて縫い合わせたものです、解いて縫いつなげると、また13mの長い布に戻るから無駄がないのよ」と丁寧に教えて欲しかった。折り紙の国民族衣装だなぁ　と思うよね。

(´･ω･`) This is so true… and it goes hand in hand with storing them in a tansu

(´･ω･`) A kimono becomes clothes when you wear it…

(´･ω･`) and when you put it away, it goes flat again. (A tansu is a traditional Japanese chest of drawers. Kimono are stored in it folded completely flat.)

(´･ω･`)これほんとにそうなんですよな…たんすにしまう、ということとの合わせ技 (´･ω･`)着物は、着て服になるのですよ… (´･ω･`)しまうときには平面に。

The Flat-Clothes Tribe

平たい服族

A riff on 平たい顔族 (“the flat-faced tribe”), the name a Roman bathhouse architect gives Japanese people in the manga Thermae Romae. Swapping “face” for “clothes” turns the kid’s verdict into a tribe of its own.

With a sari you’d get even more “it’s just fabric!?” out of her

これサリーならもっと布じゃん!?を楽しめるな

She’d pass out if she saw a sari 🥻

サリー見たら気絶しそう🥻

“It’s just fabric!” returns

『布じゃん！』リターン

Honestly, the Indian sari (one looooong piece of cloth you pleat and wrap around yourself) is way more “fabric” than this

ぶっちゃけた話、インドのサリー(1枚の長ーーーい布をプリーツつけたりして巻き付ける)の方がより布だと思う

When you think about it, most countries’ traditional clothes are just one or a few pieces of cloth wrapped around you.

そもそも大体の国の伝統衣装は一枚〜数枚の布を巻いてるだけなんだよな。

Calling it fabric made me laugh. Then again, that’s true of every country’s clothes

布呼ばわりは笑うほなどの国の服もそうや

But I’ve heard this ancient Greek one is also just a fan-shaped piece of cloth when you undo it…

でも古代ギリシアのこれもほどいたら扇型の布だったとか聞いたことが・・

Compared to the one-cloth wrap styles from Africa and Asia, at least it has sleeves, so it’s leaning more toward “clothes” lol

アフリカやアジアの一枚布巻き付けて服にするタイプに比べたら袖があるだけ「服」寄りよなw

I knew an ESOL (English class) teacher, so I volunteered a few times at an elementary school’s international fair 🇯🇵

At the Japan booth we played an anime intro video on a laptop and did yukata dressing and origami, and the kids mobbed us. Most popular booth 👘💻

The next year the other countries’ booths copied the idea and did traditional dress and origami too, but the Japan booth was still the most popular 🇯🇵✨

I got busy after I started working and couldn’t go anymore, but seeing the kids so happy was adorable and fun, so I’d like to join again someday ☺️

ESOL(英語クラス)の先生と知り合いだった縁で何度か小学校の国際フェアのボランティアをしたことがある🇯🇵 日本ブースではパソコンで日本アニメの紹介動画を流しつつ浴衣の着付けと折り紙をしたら生徒さんが殺到して一番人気👘💻 翌年から他の国のブースもアイデアをパクって民族衣装の着付けと折り紙をしてたけど、それでもやっぱり日本ブースが人気だったな🇯🇵✨ 仕事を始めて忙しくなって行けなくなったけど、生徒さんたちの喜ぶ姿が可愛くて楽しかったからいつかまた参加したい☺️

Reminds me of when I studied abroad in the US, and a girl staying with us who was from near the equator went:

👧 “Why are all the leaves falling off?? 💦💦” 👩 “Leaves fall off during winter” 👧 “What!? Will they come back?? 💦💦” 👩 “Soooooo cuuuute 💕💕”

In warm places the trees stay green all year 🤭 hehe

アメリカに留学してたときに、一緒にステイしてた赤道近くの留学生が、 👧｢なぜ葉っぱがみんな落ちてるの？💦💦｣ 👩｢冬の間は葉が落ちるものなの｣ 👧｢ええ！？ちゃんと戻ってくる？💦💦｣ 👩｢ｿｰｷｭｰｰｰｰﾄ💕💕｣てなってたの思い出すなぁあったかい地域では年中葉が茂ってるから🤭ｳﾌ

What a nice story

ええ話や

A sweet little encounter with another culture

微笑ましい異文化との出会い

So cute. May the world this kid grows up in be a peaceful one.

かわいい。この子が過ごす世界よ、平和な世界であれ。

My take

Watching someone meet something for the first time is always a treat. When it ends with them this delighted, even more so.

#Heartwarming #Culture

Source & translation note

Comments loosely translated for tone. Reactions collected from Togetter and X threads.

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