Renting a Kimono in Kyoto: 4 Helpful Things to Know!
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If I had to name a singular “cultural” experience that ranked high on my Japan bucket list, it was hands down renting a kimono in Kyoto. The first time I traveled to Japan, it was my first transcontinental travel experience and my first time in Asia. Heck, it was only my third experience out of the country (the first being studying in France, and the second was a trip to Mexico), so you could say I was a pretty rookie traveler. I wouldn’t have even considered myself a traveler at that point.
But, now that I have visited Japan again, I can confidently say that renting a kimono – and renting a kimono in Kyoto specifically – is a knockout experience. But, there are a few things you should know about renting a kimono in Kyoto that may not have crossed your mind before, but don’t worry, that’s why I’m here! Keep reading to hear all about my experience renting a kimono in Kyoto and a few tidbits I picked up from my trip!
What is a Kimono
For those who may not know, a kimono is a traditional garment of Japan. The kimono’s early segway into Japanese culture started as an undergarment, but the Edo period (1603–1867) is when the kimono we know and love today came into popularity.
Quite literally, kimono translates to “thing that is worn,” and can be an umbrella term for lots of different styles. For example, there are formal kimonos for unmarried and married women (furisode and tomesode respectively, and probably what comes to mind when you think “kimono”), a casual kimono (komon), wedding kimonos, and even lightweight summer kimonos (yukata).
There are also kimonos for men, like the kinagashi, though they are generally much simpler with subdued colors. It’s not as common for Japanese residents to wear kimonos on a daily basis, but you will see more folks wearing kimonos, both Japanese residents and visitors, at historical and cultural sites and during festivals and holidays.
Where to Rent a Kimono
Technically, you can wear a kimono literally anywhere in Japan. And you should! Buuut if you don’t have your own kimono (or don’t want to bring it with you) and only want to wear one for a day or in a specific location, then renting will be your best option! Unless you want to go ahead and buy one once you get to Japan – by all means that is a good plan too!
If you’ve never worn one before though, then I’d suggest maybe renting one first.
Since kimonos are the traditional garment of Japan, you’ll find kimono rental shops pretty much everywhere in Japan, but large cities like Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka or ancient cities like Kanazawa and Nara will have a plethora of rental shops to accommodate the visitors (international and domestic!) that like to wear them around as they explore the cities and sites. We decided on renting a kimono in Kyoto because
- Kyoto is a BEAUTIFUL city
- Kyoto was the destination where we would be visiting the most cultural sites
- The timing worked out in our itinerary
Not that you need a reason for renting a kimono in Kyoto. Again, do it wherever you want and as many times as you want, but for us, Kyoto was our top choice. Since there are so many rental shops, it can be a bit overwhelming to narrow it down. In GENERAL, I haven’t heard any bad experiences, so you’ll probably be okay wherever you go.
Personally, we rented from Okamoto Kimono because they seemed to be one of the largest kimono rental shops and their main location was in the Gion neighborhood of Kyoto, an area with lots of traditional buildings and attractions that would be fun to visit while being all dressed up. We had also heard that Okamoto Kimono had kimonos for plus-sized and “big and tall” individuals, and since we were a large group of various sizes, we wanted to make sure we were all accommodated! I’ll talk about that part more later though.
The Kimono Experience
If you can, I highly recommend making a reservation when renting a kimono in Kyoto. Because Kyoto is such a tourist destination with many people wanting to wear kimonos, the rental shops can get booked up very quickly. If you’re more of a “wing it” type of traveler and not sure how your itinerary for Kyoto will turn out, then I at least recommend to set out for a kimono rental shop early in the day if you want to wear it in popular areas.
If you do end up making a reservation for renting a kimono in Kyoto, then…well, I still recommend setting your reservation time early! Tour buses start making their way out to the various sites around 9am-10am, and the people on those buses also want to swing by a kimono rental shop! We set our reservation at Okamoto Kimono for 9:30am, their first time slot, in order to have the best selection of kimonos and to walk around the neighborhood before it got too busy.
We did show up a taaaad late (20 minutes, oops), but they were very forgiving and allowed us to keep our reservation time.
Picking out a Kimono
The front of the storefront is FULL of kimonos. Like…quite literally hundreds. And you’ll be given the task of picking one.
Easy right?
Don’t worry, after wandering around confused for a bit, one of the employees will come around to help you pick out a kimono. I don’t ever usually get travel decision paralysis, but low and behold, I did get a bit of decision paralysis trying to pick out which color I wanted to go with. After you pick your outer kimono robe, if you know what to grab you can pick out your sash (obi) and other kimono accessories.
Or you can follow the employee like a cute lil duckling and they will offer their suggestions that you can just nod your head to whatever they show you (they’ll make sure you look good!). Once you have your garments, then you can select a purse or bag. Renting a kimono in Kyoto will usually have a set price for the day or overnight, dependent on how ornate a kimono you want, but if you want your hair styled that is an additional price. I had braids at the time and the employees did not know how to style them, so I did not pay for hairstyling and had the included hair accessories to decorate myself.
I picked out a fancier kimono, so total I paid the equivalent of $38.66 USD, but the simpler kimonos can start as low as ~$25 USD for the whole day (9:30am-6pm).
Getting Dressed
I honestly find picking out the kimono the hardest part of renting a kimono in Kyoto, so once you finish that, it’s all smooth sailings. After you pay, you are led to a separate building to change. Just a heads up that Japan is very comfortable with nudity and changing, so you will be getting dressed in a room with others of the same gender. Before changing, I HIGHLY recommend using the restroom.
Thankfully, you don’t have to put on your kimono yourself. The staff will be your personal dresser and instruct you to dress down to your undies and help you don the multiple layers of undergarments before then putting on the top layer and belting you into your kimono. At that point you are ready for hair styling!
If you booked to have your hair styled, they will direct you to the hair room and show you a few hair styles they think could work for your hair. If you don’t have hair styling booked, you can still pick out a few hair pins and accessories (like I did!) and there are empty chairs for you to style your hair yourself without any tools.
If you are renting a kimono in Kyoto with friends (of the same gender) there is usually a small waiting room to wait for your friends before heading out for pictures. At Okamoto Kimono, they even had their own small garden in a courtyard that we could take pictures in.
The kimono rental shop will hold onto your clothes and extra items you wish to leave behind as you go out to explore so you don’t have to worry about lugging everything around and throwing off your groove. I transferred wallet and lip gloss to my rental bag so I could ditch my off-theme Adidas fanny pack haha.
Hitting the Town
At that point, you’re all dressed and ready to explore. The process of renting a kimono in Kyoto and getting dressed took about an hour. Since the rental shop was located in Gion, we were walking distance to the cute shops and boutiques.
There were lots of other visitors also dressed up in kimonos, so it made the experience of renting a kimono in Kyoto feel even more glamourous and special. We were able to walk around until about 3:30pm, but it had started raining and our feet were getting a bit tired (more on that later), so we decided to turn the kimonos in early.
Getting undressed was much faster (about 30 minutes) and didn’t require assistance. The employees brought out our stored items and left us in the waiting rooms to undress from our kimonos and redress into the clothes we came in with.
Kimono Cons?
Now, I loved wearing and renting a kimono in Kyoto. However, I did come across a few things that I hadn’t thought of before. I wouldn’t say they are necessarily dealbreakers, but, there are a few things to be aware of.
Kimono Shoes: To start off, the traditional shoes that go with kimonos are….not the most comfortable. The traditional shoe worn with a (formal) kimono is a zori, and they are constructed with a strap and do not have much arch support. I don’t like wearing sandal type shoes to begin with, so the strap between my toes even with socks wasn’t my favorite. I also wear a W 7.5(US)/38 (EU) and my shoe size was at the upper end of the rental shoes available.
If you really don’t want to wear the traditional shoes, I have seen a few Japanese residents (mostly younger) wearing sneakers or boots with their kimonos. As a visitor, I wanted the full renting a kimono in Kyoto experience, but if it’s worth asking the employees if you’d rather wear your own shoes.
Lack of Larger Sizes: And on that note of the limited shoe sizes, there was also a lack of larger kimono sizes. For starters, if you’re renting a kimono in Kyoto, you should know that not all rental shops even HAVE plus-sizes or taller length kimonos, and this counts for both the men and women sizes.
We chose Okamoto Kimono because they were one of the few rental shops we could verify offered larger sizes, but when we arrived there were actually only five plus-sized kimonos to choose from in women’s, and about ten taller men’s kimonos. Compared to the literal HUNDREDS of options for smaller sized kimonos. I’ve even heard of friends who have been bumped up to the larger sizes just cuz they have a phat 🍑. The larger sizes are still beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but…much less to choose from.
Inexperience with Curly/Kinky Textures or Braided/Loc’d Hair: And this last one may vary from rental shop, but most Japanese people do not have curly or kinky hair, so it is not completely unexpected that hair stylists would be unfamiliar with styling textured hair. The same goes for braided or loc’d hairstyles. Some stylists, even if they are unfamiliar, will be enthusiastic about trying, but that’s not always a guarantee, like in my case. Though, if you’re wearing a wig with a straighter texture, they’ll probably be able to work with that from what I’ve heard!
In the event they are unable to style your hair while renting a kimono in Kyoto, I’d recommend looking up a few styles in advance to try to emulate yourself!
Is it Cultural Appropriation to Wear a Kimono as a Foreigner?
And one last thing about renting a kimono in Kyoto: I’ve been asked more than once if wearing a kimono as a foreigner is cultural appropriation. Is it “okay” for non-Japanese people to even wear a kimono? Is renting a kimono in Kyoto and walking around to take pictures treating the culture like a costume?
It’s always good to internally ask ourselves these questions, especially as we (the global community) move towards a more inclusive and intentional way of travel. However, cultural appropriation is an often misunderstood act (both intentionally and non-intentionally) and can lead to a lot of confusion.
So let’s start with the definition of cultural appropriation. It is NOT just an “American/western” thing, but it is more prevalent in those areas because of the nature of how these societies were made; from genocide, colonization, and erasure.
Cultural Appropriation: a member of a majority group or someone not from that culture profiting financially or socially from the culture of a minority group without consent; oversimplifying the culture of a minority group, or treating the culture of a minority group as a joke; separating a cultural element of a minority group from its original meaning is cultural appropriation; adopting an element of a minority culture without consequences while members of the minority group face backlash for the same cultural element.
So in the context of Japan and renting a kimono in Kyoto – the kimono is not a sacred garment by any means. It is a normal piece of clothing, and while there are significance in the colors and formal vs casual kimonos, it is still a piece of clothing. The kimono is from the majority group in Japan and Japanese people in Japan have never faced backlash for wearing a kimono or have been prevented in wearing kimonos.
TLDR: It is not cultural appropriation to wear a kimono in Japan as a foreign tourist. Have fun buying and/or renting a kimono in Kyoto or wherever you choose in Japan. Don’t be weird about it or act in a manner that stereotypes or makes fun of Japanese people and you’ll be good. It’s still good practice to wear a kimono properly though, just so you don’t look like a fool haha.
Conclusion: Renting a Kimono in Kyoto
And there ya have it folks, the ins and outs of renting a kimono in Kyoto! Hopefully you found it useful or at least insightful. If you rent a kimono elsewhere in Japan, I’d love to know about your experience! Was it as busy as Kyoto? Were you able to find rental shops easily? If you’ve experienced renting a kimono in Kyoto specifically, do you have any other shop recommendations? Let me know in the comments below!
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