In "Mastering the Art of the Kimono" - for BBC Radio 4 - the BBC's Japan correspondent Roland Buerk investigates the crisis facing the industry, and meets some of the people who make, sell and wear the colourful gowns.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15739403
The kimono may be one of Japan's most enduring cultural symbols, but the kimono industry is now in steep decline, and soon there could be no craftsmen left with the skills to make them.
Younger Japanese prefer Western clothes to eye-wateringly expensive and impractical traditional kimonos. As kimonos have gone out of fashion, the number of companies making them has also plummeted.
There can be a thousand processes or more involved in making one kimono, each carried out specialist craftsmen. It takes years to master a single technique, but most craftsmen today are over 80 and within the next 10 years, many will pass away. Can the kimono survive?
The BBC's Japan Correspondent Roland Buerk reports on the crisis in the industry, and the efforts being made to ensure ancient skills are not lost.
Producer: Ruth Evans
A Ruth Evans production for BBC Radio 4.
The Watabun company, Kyoto weaves obi belts
Kihachi Tabata's family scrapbooks
Kihachi Tabata's family scrapbooks of kimono samples date back five generations.
Photo credit: Pam Skinner.
Kihachi Tabata's hand painted kimono fabrics
Kihachi Tabata's hand painted kimono fabrics are some of the finest in Kyoto.
Photo Credit: Pam Skinner.
Kimonos and obis must be worn in the right season
Maiko - trainee geishas
Maiko - trainee geishas - are professional kimono wearers and works of art.
Photo Credit: Ruth Evans
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