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OKEIKO 25

The sleeves of the kimono are large, therefore they can be used to hide or cover something. This is called "sode-byōbu" (=”sleeve used as a folding screen”). One can use the sleeve to hide his or her face, or when writing something one can use the other sleeve to hide it. In the days when wearing kimonos was part of Japanese people’s everyday lives, the term “sode-byōbu” was also common. But nowadays, we only see it in old literary works.

In Nihonbuyo, “sode-byōbu” is an abstract image, which is slightly larger than the actual "sleeve”. The "sode-byōbu" used to depict teasing someone from the shadows is not just a sleeve, but a place that the other person cannot see.

(Mitsuko T. Sakurai)