|
|
Japan : Kimonos making a comeback at weddings
June 29, 2006 |  |
Approximately 74 percent of couples get married in a church in Japan. This figure may come as a surprise as the population of Christians in Japan is a mere 1 percent, and is a Buddhist/Shinto nation, but only 8 percent of couples join in matrimony in the traditional Shinto style.
Although the most brought up reason for this trend is due to high cost of holding a Shinto style wedding, but this statistic also depicts the tendency of the Japanese to be highly influenced by the west.
So, the Japanese like to have weddings in chapels rather than in shrines, how does this have anything to do with fashion?
The answer lies in wedding dresses. Traditionally the Japanese women wore Kimonos for their weddings and all those who attend wore Kimonos.
Now most people are wearing white gowns. The consumption for Kimono’s in 1982 had been at 13,600JYen for average households and had declined rapidly to 5,700JYen in 1999. Although little by little, the expenditure is at a rise, last months consumption on Kimono’s had been 505Jyen.
Many Japanese households have Kimono’s passed down from generations but only wear them once in their life. Kimono manufacturers are all struggling with lack of demand and the waste those Kimonos are just lying in closets.
In such turmoil, Kimono wholesaler Kyorasha has started tailoring western wedding dresses with old Kimono fabrics. As the younger generation is becoming interested in Kimonos little by little, this new idea is receiving positive results.
| | |
|
|
|