The kimono is a Japanese traditional garment worn by women, men and children. The word “kimono”which literally means a “thing to wear” (ki "wear and mono “thing”)，has come to denote these full-length robes. Kimonos made with exceptional skill from fine materials have been regarded as great works of art.

Today, kimonos are most often worn by women, and on special occasions. Traditionally, unmarried women wore a style of kimono called furisode, with almost floor-length sleeves, on special occasions. A few older women and even fewer men still wear the kimono on a daily basis. Men wear the kimono most often at weddings, tea ceremonies, and other very special or very formal occasions. Professional sumo wrestlers are often seen in the kimono because they are required to wear traditional Japanese dress whenever appearing in public.

As the kimono has another name gofuku, the earliest kimonos were heavily influenced by traditional Han Chinese clothing, known today as faanfu, through Japanese embassies to China which resulted in extensive Chinese culture adoptions by Japan, as early as the fifth century. It was during the 8th century, however, when Chinese fashions eame into style among the Japanese, and Ae overlapping collar became particularfy a women、fashion. During Japan's Heian period (794—1192), the kimono became increasingly stylized, though one still wore a half-apron, called a mo， over it. During the Muromachi age (1392_1573), the Kosade, a single kimono formerly considered underwear, began to be worn without the hakama pants over it, and thus began to be held closed by an obi “belt”. During the Edo period (1603—1867), the sleeves began to grow in length, especially among unmarried women, and the Obi became wider, with various styles of tying coming into fashion. Since then, the basic shape of both the men’s and women’s kimono has remained essentially unchanged.

The formal Kimono was replaced by the more convenient Western clothes and Yukata as everyday wear. After an edict by Emperor Meiji, police, railroad men and teachers moved to Western clothes. The Western clothes became the anny and school uniform for boys. After the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake, Kimono wearers often became victims of robbery. The Tokyo Women’s & Children’s Wear Manufacturers' Association promoted the western clothes. Between 1920 and 1930 the Sailor outfit replaced the undivided hakama in school uniform for girls. The 1932 fire at Shirokiya’s Nihombashi store is said to have been the catalyst for the decline in kimonos as everyday wear. The national uniform, Gokumin-fuku, a type of western clothes was mandated for males in 1940. Today people often wear western clothes, and wear the easier to wear, cool and comfortable Yukata in special time.

A woman’s kimono may easily exceed US$ 10,000; a complete kimono outfit, with kimono, undergarments, obi, ties, socks, sandals and accessories, can exceed US$ 20,000. A single obi may cost several thousand dollars. However, most kimonos owned by kimono hobbyists or by practitioners of traditional arts are far less expensive. Enterprising people make their own kimono and undergarments by following a standard pattern, or by recycling older kimonos. Cheaper and machine-made fabrics can substitute for the traditional hand-dyed silk. There is also a thriving business in Japan for secondhand kimonos, which can cost as little as ￥ 500. Women's obis, however, mostly remain an expensive item. Although simple patterned or plain colored ones can cost as little as ￥ 1,500, even a used obi can cost hundreds of dollars, and experienced craftsmanship is required to make them. Men’s obis, even those made from silk, tend to be much less expensive, because they are narrower, shorter and less decorative than those worn by women.