Man's Under-kimono (Nagajuban) with Skeletons

ca. 1930s

Not on view

The upper portion of this man’s under-kimono, a type of undergarment usually seen only by intimate company, shows two skeletons playing a board game, a scene framed by a delicately painted spider web. On a lower section of the back panel a skull is depicted among grasses with a wood plaque that bears the inscription “Namu Amida Butsu.” In Pure Land Buddhism, the recitation of those words signifies the speaker’s complete reliance on the compassion of Amida, the Buddha of Infinite Light; the act of chanting (nenbutsu 念佛 “mindfulness of the Buddha”) this phrase is believed to allow rebirth in the Pure Land.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

江戸鼠縮緬地骸骨模様長襦袢
Title: Man's Under-kimono (Nagajuban) with Skeletons
Period: Shōwa period (1926–89)
Date: ca. 1930s
Culture: Japan
Medium: Plain-weave crepe silk with paste-resist dyeing
Dimensions: 52 × 50 in. (132.1 × 127 cm)
Classification: Costumes
Credit Line: Gift of Edward G. and Jacqueline M. Atkins, 2014
Object Number: 2014.723
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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Man’s Under Kimono (Nagajuban) with Spider and Spiderweb, Crepe silk (chirimen) with freehand paste- resist dyeing (yūzen), Japan — Man’s Under Kimono (Nagajuban) with Spider and Spiderweb
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