This silent short film from the William Horsley Film Labs dates to the 1920s or 30s and shows “Bits of Life in Japan.” It starts with the elaborate tying of the Obi for a young girl by a Japanese woman. The Obi is a sash for traditional Japanese dress, keikogi (uniforms for Japanese martial arts), and part of kimono outfits. At 2:23 a dancer’s Obi is shown. At 3:48 a female Japanese orchestra / Geisha girls is shown. At 4:49 a title card notes that the clothes shown are antique in design. At 5:32 feet are shown in Tabi, traditional Japanese socks worn with thonged footwear dating back to the 15th century. At 7:07 traditional Japanese shoes or slippers are shown. At 7:11 chopsticks or Hashi are shown and classic Japanese table manners as girls consume rice.

There is also an obi for men’s kimonos. It is rather narrow, 10 centimetres (3.9 in) wide at most, but a woman’s formal obi can be 30 centimetres (12 in) wide and more than 4 metres (13 ft) long. Nowadays, a woman’s wide and decorative obi does not keep the kimono closed; this is done by different undersashes and ribbons worn underneath the obi. The obi itself often requires the use of stiffeners and ribbons for definition of shape and decoration.

There are many types of obi, most for women: wide obi made of brocade and narrower, simpler obi for everyday wear. The fanciest and most colourful obi are for young unmarried women. The contemporary women’s obi is a very conspicuous accessory, sometimes even more so than the kimono robe itself. A fine formal obi might cost more than the rest of the entire outfit.

Obi are categorised by their design, formality, material, and use. Informal obi are narrower and shorter.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com