Lady Yodo's Kosode -The Restoration completed transcending 400 years of time- Completed at Last ~ Transcending 400 Years of Time ~ January 7, 2000
In 1996, Marubeni launched a project to recreate a kimono from a fragment held in its collection*1) of a kosode that is said to have been worn by Lady Yodo, a mistress of Toyotomi Hideyoshi*2). Marubeni enlisted the cooperation of Kyoto Marubeni and top kimono experts in Japan for this project, which was completed after about three and a half years.
The work of restoration was beset with difficulties, as the materials and techniques from the world of silk textiles of 400 years ago, when the kimono in Japan could be said to have attained its highest peak, have not been passed down through the ages in their entirety.
The words "Made to Order for the lady of Fushimi" can be found written in ink inside the upper left seam of the original kosode fragment, which is what leads us to believe that it is part of a kosode belonging to Lady Yodo. It is known that she inhabited Fushimi Castle for six years between 1594 and 1599, and probably was around the age of 30 at the time.
The features that draw the eye afresh when viewing the restored kimono are the strong contrasts in the color scheme and the dynamic design of the large, serpentine willow pattern with the spaces between filled in with diagonal lines of ink. The Momoyama period, with Hideyoshi at its center, was an opulent era both culturally and economically, and it appears that this taste in design was perfectly normal for the times.
*1)Marubeni began originally as a textile trading company and has handled all types of kimono products. For this reason, and for the purpose of handing down to posterity the superior dyeing technology along with research and learning on design, Marubeni began collecting kimono, focusing on Edo period items. Today this collection is one of the foremost of its kind in Japan. Within the collection can be found the fragment of Lady Yodo's kosode, or as it is officially known, "Kosode fragment with design of diamond-lattice patterns and willow trees."
*2) The master of samurai who brought the turbulent age to an end, and unified the Japan.
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Lady Yodo's Kosode
-The Restoration completed
transcending 400 years of time-
Completed at Last
~ Transcending 400 Years of Time ~
January 7, 2000
