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is a sash for traditional Japanese dress, keikogi worn for Japanese martial arts, and part of kimono outfits. The obi for men's kimono is rather narrow, wide at most, but a woman's formal obi can be wide and more than long. Nowadays, a woman's wide and decorative obi does not keep the kimono closed; this is done by different undersashes and ribbons worn underneath the obi. The obi itself often requires the use of stiffeners and ribbons for definition of shape and decoration. There are many types of obi, most for women: wide obis made of brocade and narrower, simpler obis for everyday wear. The fanciest and most colourful obis are for young unmarried women.〔Fält et al., p. 452.〕〔 The contemporary women's obi is a very conspicuous accessory, sometimes even more so than the kimono robe itself. A fine formal obi might cost more than the rest of the entire outfit. Obis are categorised by their design, formality, material, and use. Informal obis are narrower and shorter. ==History== In its early days, an obi was a cord or a ribbon-like sash, approximately in width. Men's and women's obi were similar. At the beginning of the 17th century, both women and men wore a ribbon obi. By the 1680s the width of women's obi had already doubled from its original size. In the 1730s women's obi were about wide, and at the turn of the 19th century were as wide as . At that time, separate ribbons and cords were already necessary to hold the obi in place. The men's obi was at its widest in the 1730s, at about .〔Dalby, pp. 47–55〕 Before the Edo period, which began in 1600, women's kosode robes were fastened with a narrow sash at the hips.〔Fält et al., p. 450.〕 The mode of attaching the sleeve widely to the torso part of the garment would have prevented the use of wider obi. When the sleeves of kosode began to grow in width (i.e. in length) at the beginning of the Edo period, the obi widened as well. There were two reasons for this: firstly, to maintain the aesthetic balance of the outfit, the longer sleeves needed a wider sash to accompany them; secondly, unlike today (where they are customary only for unmarried women) married ladies also wore long-sleeved kimono in the 1770s. The use of long sleeves without leaving the underarm open would have hindered movements greatly. These underarm openings in turn made room for even wider obi.〔 Originally, all obi were tied in the front. Later, fashion began to affect the position of the knot, and obi could be tied to the side or to the back. As obi grew wider the knots grew bigger, and it became cumbersome to tie the obi in the front. In the end of the 17th century obi were mostly tied in the back. However, the custom did not become firmly established before the beginning of the 20th century.〔 At the end of the 18th century it was fashionable for a woman's kosode to have overly long hems that were allowed to trail behind when in house. For moving outside, the excess cloth was tied up beneath the obi with a wide cloth ribbon called ''shigoki obi''. Contemporary kimono are made similarly over-long, but the hems are not allowed to trail; the excess cloth is tied up to hips, forming a fold called ''ohashori''. Shigoki obi are still used, but only in decorative purposes.〔 The most formal of obi are about to become obsolete. The heavy and long ''maru obi'' is nowadays used only by maiko and brides as a part of their wedding outfit. The lighter ''fukuro obi'' has taken the place of maru obi. The originally everyday ''nagoya obi'' is the most common obi used today, and the fancier ones may even be accepted as a part of a semi-ceremonial outfit. The use of ''musubi'', or decorative knots, has also narrowed so that women tie their obi almost solely in the simple ''taiko musubi'', "drum knot".〔Dalby, pp. 208–212〕 ''Tsuke obi'' with ready-made knots are also gaining in popularity. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Obi (sash)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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