Every year, Seijinshiki is held on the second Monday of January across Japan. It is a day on which new adults dress in a special costume, attend a ceremony, and deepen their awareness that they are members of society. The event also serves as an important opportunity for them to reunite with their classmates and to express gratitude to their teachers.

A scene from Seijinshiki in Tokyo

Traditionally, women wear gorgeous long-sleeved kimono, and men wear crested kimono and hakama (a type of traditional skirt-like pants), but some regions have their own unique styles, and one of them is Dohade Seijinshiki of Kitakyushu-shi. What makes this style of Seijinshiki so special is a local costume rental shop called Miyabi.

For the shop owner, Miyabi Ikeda, costumes have always been part of her life because her parents and relatives had a costume rental shop or were working as dressers and beauticians. After opening her own shop in 1993, she was initially going to focus on the wedding industry, but she decided to change her plans after two boys came to her shop.

What the boys requested? One of them wanted gold hakama, and the other one wanted silver hakama for their Seijinshiki. No such hakama existed anywhere in Japan at that time, so she began making them to make the boys’ dream come true.

Miyabi’s extremely showy hakama

Kimono that she makes are characterized by truly impressive appearance with decorations such as glittery spangles, a tremendous number of crystals, and rainbow furs. Under the credo of “Committed to making customers’ wishes come true,” she has been providing costumes which draw out the individuality of each new adult to the fullest extent possible.

Miyabi’s costumes have also been highly evaluated as pieces of art, beyond just being showy costumes. As Ikeda continued to make young people’s wishes come true, she has now been gaining a reputation overseas as well, being invited to New York Fashion Week 2023, for example.

Gaining of a reputation overseas marks Miyabi’s new step in its journey

Enlivening the Dohade Seijinshiki style of the city of Kitakyushu, the costumes of Miyabi continue to evolve not only as an opportunity for materializing young people’s dreams and wishes, but also as a new channel for spreading Japanese culture.

■DATA Miyabi Kokura Main Store Address: 1-4-20 Usa-machi, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu-shi, Fukuoka Official website:https://miyabi.shakan.co.jp/ (Information as of December 2024)

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