Yukata

A man and a woman in yukata on stage at the Himeji Yukata Matsuri in June 2009. The yukata is a light cotton or linen summer robe, worn to festivals and at home, and it sits at the very bottom of the formality scale, which is the point. Himeji's festival, held each year in late June around Osakabe Shrine, is billed as Japan's oldest yukata festival: when the shrine was moved, the lord let townspeople celebrate in yukata because there was no time for them to buy formal kimono. His fine navy stripes against her large black and pink florals show how much range the humble cotton robe allows.