Infant boy's kimono with design of airplanes in flight and helmets

This small kimono was made for an infant boy’s first visit (miyamairi) to his family’s local Shinto shrine. On this occasion, the baby was wrapped in a special robe and carried by his grandmother with the straps tied around her neck. Other family members offered congratulations, tucking paper money under the straps.

The decoration of this robe was created by stencil-printing the warp and weft threads before weaving, a twentieth century variation on kasuri (ikat) dyeing known as heiyo gasuri. Woven in subdued colors, the robe is decorated with army helmets and airplanes in flight within a checkerboard pattern. These military motifs suggest that the robe dates to the wartime years and that it wrapped the baby in wishes for strength and military success.