Kimono in silk mikado, with sleeves that reveal the inner blouse. An added front panel introduces further layering to the garment. The inner blouse, with a kimono-style collar, is crafted in matte-finish silk crepe and crosses at the front. Underdress in hand-finished cotton gauze. The decorative ribbons along the sleeves are made of silk satin.
MINAMOTO ITARU
"There was once an emperor known as the Emperor of the Western Palace, whose daughter, Princess Takaiko, passed away. On the night of her funeral, a man who lived nearby came to watch the procession from a carriage in which he was accompanied by a lady. After waiting for some time—since the coffin had yet to appear—he felt his tears had sufficiently honoured his grief and resolved to depart. At that very moment, Minamoto Itaru, a man famed for his charm, who had also come to witness the procession, approached the carriage and began to flirt with the lady, unaware that she was not alone. In an attempt to catch her attention, he captured a firefly and cast it into the carriage. As the lady tried to extinguish the light to avoid being seen, the man beside her recited:
When at last she emerges, she will face her final day. Can you not hear the mourning voices weeping for the extinguished light?
Minamoto Itaru replied:
How sorrowful these laments! Yet I am not certain that the extinguished light is gone forever."
