The is a type of formal court robe traditionally worn by the Emperor of Japan. It corresponds to the Chinese gǔnfú (), a ceremonial robe for emperors featuring dragon embroidery, used during major state rituals in ancient China. In Japan, the was worn together with the during important court ceremonies such as the Sokui no rei (即位の礼; Enthronement Ceremony) and the .
In China, the robe was also known by the classical expression xuányī xūncháng (, ), referring to its black upper garment and light red skirt. In contrast, the Japanese features red garments for both the upper and lower sections. A distinctive characteristic of the Japanese style is the way the —a mid-length ceremonial wrap skirt—is worn over the , creating a uniquely Japanese configuration of lower-body garments.
The remained in use until the enthronement of Emperor Kōmei in 1847. Beginning with Emperor Meiji, the official attire for enthronement ceremonies became the .
Overview
The term is an abbreviation of , which means a "dragon-embroidered ceremonial robe". Originating in China, the was a ceremonial robe adorned with dragon motifs. The Book of Songs (Shijing) mentions such a robe in the "Bin feng" section, describing King Cheng of Zhou wearing it to greet the Duke of Zhou.
The Rites of Zhou (Zhouli), in the "Ministry of Spring" section, states: "When offering rites to former kings, [the emperor] wears the and ." A commentary adds that the character "Kon" specifically refers to garments embroidered with coiled dragons.
In Japan, the became the emperor's most formal court attire and was worn at ceremonies such as the enthronement ceremony and the . The outfit consisted of a wide-sleeved , an , and a pleated ceremonial skirt called . Both the and were embroidered with the twelve imperial insignia, known in Japanese as , a set of symbolic emblems representing imperial authority, including dragons. Until the enthronement of Emperor Kōmei, the and Benkan were worn together in such rituals, and the complete ensemble was known as , , or .
The Chinese equivalent traditionally followed the xuányī xūncháng (, ) standard—featuring a black upper garment and a red lower one. In contrast, the Japanese was entirely red. One theory attributes this color scheme to early Sui dynasty practices described in the Book of Sui. However, the Japanese adoption of the occurred during the Tang dynasty, whose legal clothing code retained the black-and-red configuration. Although Emperor Wen of Sui (Yang Jian) altered court dress for audiences to an all-red format, ceremonial robes such as the remained unchanged.
Another theory links the red color to solar symbolism. The Japanese Benkan features a sun-shaped ornament not found in Chinese counterparts, possibly signifying the emperor's status as "Son of the Sun". From this perspective, the all-red color may have been chosen to represent the sun, aligning with Japan's image as the "Land of the Rising Sun".
History Nara period (710–794)
According to the Shoku Nihongi, "On the first day of the first month in the fourth year of Tenpyō, the emperor received the New Year's audience at the Daigokuden (大極殿, main audience hall of the imperial palace), wearing the Konben ( and Benkan) for the first time." Based on this record, it is considered that the emperor first wore the and the Benkan in 732 (Tenpyō 4). However, it is thought that this did not yet include the full adorned with the twelve imperial insignia (十二章, jūnishō).
The "Edicts on Attire" () within the Yōrō Code contain regulations for the attire of the Crown Prince and other officials, but none concerning the emperor's dress. For instance, the Crown Prince's formal dress is specified as , a reddish-yellow robe, but the formal color of the emperor's attire remains unknown.
At the Shōsōin repository, there remains a case labeled "Surviving Portions of Ornaments for Imperial Ceremonial Attire and Crowns" (), which is believed to contain fragments of the imperial ceremonial crowns worn by Emperor Shōmu (as Retired Emperor) and Empress Kōmyō (as Empress Dowager). Inside the case is a wooden tag indicating that these items were their formal ceremonial robes.Yusuke Yoneda, "On the Surviving Portions of Ornaments for Imperial Ceremonial Attire and Crowns—In Relation to the Viewing of Ceremonial Attire" The reverse of the tag is inscribed with the date "April 9, 752" (Tenpyō Shōhō 4), which corresponds to the date of the Eye-Opening Ceremony of the Great Buddha at Tōdaiji. It is therefore believed that these garments were worn on that occasion.
Although the garments themselves no longer survive, records of ceremonial airing (, insect-proof airing) are preserved in the Shōsōin documents. The Bakuryōshi-ge (Report of the Airing Officials) from 793 (Enryaku 12) and the Kanmotsushi-ge (Inventory Report by the Shōsōin Treasure Inspectors) from 811 (Kōnin 2) describe Emperor Shōmu's formal robe as a , that is, a lined white silk robe.
White has long symbolized purity and freedom from defilement, and even today, the ceremonial robes worn by the Emperor of Japan during the Daijōsai and Niinamesai are pure white. It is therefore inferred that the ceremonial attire of emperors during the Nara period consisted of undecorated white garments, which were inherited in later forms such as the and .
According to the Shōsōin documents, the ceremonial ensemble of Emperor Shōmu consisted of the following items:
robe (haku no awasehō, 帛袷袍) inner garments (ōshi, 襖子; one padded with cotton and one unpadded) undergarment (kansan, 汗衫) short pleated overskirt (hirami, 褶; made of gauze brocade) pair of trousers (hakama, 袴; padded with cotton) wrapping cloths (awase fukushi, 袷幞子; two sets each)
The refers to the outer robe, while the are inner garments with linings. indicates cotton padding, and refers to unpadded lined garments. The is an unlined undergarment. The is a short, pleated wrap skirt, equivalent to the later . The are cloths used for wrapping.
In the Tang dynasty, the emperor's gǔnfú (袞服) was composed of two distinct garments, following the traditional yi-shang (衣裳) system—yi (衣), the upper garment, and shang (裳), a skirt-like lower garment. In contrast, the Japanese imperial ceremonial attire consisted of three components: the upper robe, a pair of trousers (hakama), and a short pleated overskirt (), reflecting a different development in the structure of court dress.
While Chinese court attire did not include skirt-like garments worn over trousers, Japanese formal dress—both for the emperor and civil officials—included worn over hakama. The , a short pleated overskirt, later came to be referred to as in the Heian period.
The use of in Japanese court dress represents a continuous tradition dating back to the Asuka period, and was incorporated into the design of the . Although inspired by Tang models, the Japanese formal costume developed its own distinctive structure for the lower body.
At the Shōsōin, a pair of shoes known as Nō-no-gorairi (衲御礼履), believed to have been worn by Emperor Shōmu at the Eye-Opening Ceremony of the Great Buddha, are preserved today.
Heian period (794–1185) The was formally designated as the emperor's ritual attire by an imperial edict issued in 820 (Kōnin 11) by Emperor Saga. According to the Nihon Kiryaku, the edict stipulated that the emperor should wear the for Shinto rituals, the Konben Jūnishō (袞冕十二章; and Benkan adorned with the Twelve Ornaments) for the imperial New Year's audience (Chōga), and the for various official events.
The term Konben Jūnishō refers to the combination of the Benkan (冕冠; imperial crown), which bears twelve hanging ornaments (ryū 旒) of beaded strings, and the , which is embroidered with twelve symbolic motifs known as the .
An entry dated July 4, 1036 (Chōgen 9) in the , the diary of Minamoto no Morofusa, records the ritual known as , in which Emperor Go-Suzaku inspected the Konben Jūnishō that he would wear for his upcoming enthronement ceremony. This ritual involved removing the garments from storage in the Kuraryō (内蔵寮, Bureau of Palace Storehouses) for direct examination by the emperor.
According to the diary, the upper garment of the emperor's attire was made of scarlet twill and described as "" (), meaning "wide-sleeved scarlet twill". It was embroidered with eight symbolic motifs—sun, moon, mountain, flame, bird, dragon, tiger, and monkey—referred to collectively as the . The and the were also scarlet and embroidered with patterns such as folding branches, axe shapes, and tomoe (巴) characters. The was worn beneath the outer garment and was unembroidered. It corresponds to the of the Nara period.
Several distinctions can be observed between the Japanese and the Chinese gǔnfú. While inspired by the Chinese prototype, Japan adopted red instead of white and added the embroidery. Aside from these features, the design largely continued the imperial attire of the Nara period. Scholars suggest that Japan's interpretation of Tang customs was superficial, leading to a stylized form of "Tang-style" attire that reflected domestic adaptations more than faithful replication.
Initially, the was worn exclusively for the New Year's imperial audience, but it was later adopted for use in enthronement ceremonies as well. After the abolition of Chōga in 993 (Shōryaku 4), the remained reserved for enthronement ceremonies until the late Edo period.
Kamakura period (1185–1333) An entry dated March 3, 1288 (Kōan 11) in the Gofukakusa-in Gyoki (後深草院御記, "Diary of Retired Emperor Go-Fukakusa") records that Retired Emperor Go-Fukakusa inspected the ceremonial robes in preparation for the enthronement of his son, Emperor Fushimi.
This passage indicates that the motifs embroidered on the matched those found on similar garments in the early modern period. While some of the patterns on the are difficult to interpret (such as the upper band possibly being fu 黼), the presence of futsu (黻) in the lower band makes it likely that two of the Twelve Ornaments were represented. Since only ten motifs are explicitly mentioned, scholars infer that all twelve were likely present but only partially described.
When Emperor Kōgon, the first emperor of the Northern Court, viewed the ceremonial attire prior to his enthronement, it was discovered that the garments had become damp due to damage to the storehouse of the Imperial Treasury (Kuraryō). Consequently, the robes were temporarily kept at the residence of his father, Retired Emperor Go-Fushimi. At that time, Go-Fushimi ordered the imperial court painter Takashina Takatsugu to create detailed color illustrations of the robes, which are described in the Jōwa 5 Enthronement Record (『貞和五年御即位記』). It is said that the paintings faithfully reproduced even the colors of the actual garments.
Nanboku-chō (1336–1392) and Muromachi period (1336–1573) This period encompasses both the Nanboku-chō period (1336–1392), when rival imperial courts coexisted, and the Muromachi period (1336–1573), under the Ashikaga shogunate.
In 1333 (Shōkyō 2), during the conflicts that accompanied the fall of the Kamakura shogunate, all ceremonial robes for emperors, empresses regnant, young emperors, empresses consort, and crown princes were lost. On 28 December 1337 (Kenmu 4), at the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Kōmyō, the second emperor of the Northern Court, all the garments used in the enthronement were newly made, according to the diary of Emperor Kōmyō (Kōmyō-in Gyoki). The emperor's ceremonial robes were reconstructed almost in their original form, based on a drawing commissioned by Emperor Go-Fushimi. For the , a crown designated for imperial use was taken out from the Shōsōin for reference and newly made.