Yukata style today

Dressing a yukata

The proper way to wear a yukata is not necessarily obvious.

The left side of the yukata is wrapped over the right side (the reverse is to be avoided as only the dead at a funeral wears the right over the left), and an obi (belt) is used to keep the dress from falling open when worn in public.

In private, as after a bath, the yukata is usually simply belted. Also, a type of thonged wooden sandal called geta is usually worn with this Japanese dress. Both men and women often wear yukata at traditional Japanese inns, especially ones with their own hot-spring baths. After checking in, people often change into a yukata provided by the inn. Many go for walks outside, to the public baths, and even to dinner and breakfast (taken in a communal dining room) in their yukata.

Girls and yukata

Since the late 1990s, Japanese yukata have experienced a bit of a revival, and many young women now wear them in summer in personally distinctive ways not limited by tradition, such as for festivals, ‘ryokan’ (traditional Japanese inn), summer daily wear and simple night attire.