#tsuke obi

I'd love to one day visit Japan, and I love the idea of attending a festival in a rented yukata. However, I'm concerned about if I could wear one or not due to the sleeves. I'm disabled and get around using forearm crutches, and have difficulty fitting larger sleeves in them.

I guess I was just curious about if either the sleeves could easily be pulled back to my elbows, or if maybe there are yukata with shorter sleeves (I've never seen them myself at least.)

Hi! I am so happy you fell in love with kimono fashion <3

As for your question, there is a fantastic way to accomodate your crutches: tasuki 襷 sleeves holders. Those are cord used for holding up sleeves out of the way (when doing chores, physical/messy activity, etc).

You can see below how tasuki are tied: basically think of an ∞ with the crossing on your back and the loop up front gathering up sleeves on your sides:

Depending on your mobility, you can pre-knot the cord beforehand then slip it around your body.

The "right" way of doing it is this one:

Though to be honest, most people do like this and call it a day xD:

I am not sure how your mobility is so I'll also add other options to mix and match in order to nicely enjoy summer festivals in kimono attire:

Happi 法被 (festival coat): if you don't feel confortable strolling all day/night in yukata (the tighness of around your legs might be cumbersome), wearing a coat like those over your "normal" clothes is a good option to still be in festival mood :) Some are sleeveless, some have tube sleeves, and if not pair them with tasuki sleeves holder and you'll be good to go!

(pic below from)

Nibushiki kimono 二部式着物 / nibushiki yukata 二部式浴衣 (two parts kimono/yukata): exactly what it says on the lid, those are kimono/yukata tailored in two parts, a skirt and a top one. Those might be harder to find in rentals, but have the convenience of being super easy to put on while being less prone to unraveling :) The two parts are also gentler on the figure as you can more easily adapt tighness etc. If you're are able to shop for a yukata beforehand, altering is pretty easy: chop in two, add ties and you're ready to get dressed ;)

Tsuke obi 作り帯 (two parts belt): in the same spirit as above, those are pre-tied obi belt, with a wrap-around part and a knot part. They are super common for children, but also exist for adult. Altering a pre owned obi is also super easy, see for example this past note (for nagoya obi styled taiko knot).

Yukata can be worn with hanhaba obi (half width belt), heko obi (soft belt), or kaku obi ("men" belt). Heko obi would be my recommendation as those are unisex, comfortable, and suuuuper easy to tie.

If you want to try hanhaba or kaku, I'd advise for karuta musubi, a flat, sturdy, and unisex knot pretty easy to tie.

Glittering metallic theads for this summer obi depicting tonbo (dragonflies) on yukiwa (snowflake).

As you can see on second and third pictures, this is a tsuke obi, a type of belt tailored in two parts (belt+knot) so it’s easier to put on. 

Any obi can be tailored as a tsuke obi, you can see how to make + wear one in this past note :)

Chantilly like fluffy obi by Miki Sakura. This cute obi is a tsuke obi (2 pieces belt) which means the back knot is a pre tied+separate piece. Tsuke obi are super easy to wear if you struggle with obi knots, see how this one was put on at 18:35 :

Earlier, before Te got sick, I posted about converting a mofuku Nagoya obi into a tsuke or fukuro obi. And the answer is... fukuro obi! Because tsuke would require more effort, and I'm lazy. Also, I don't have the heart to cut that pretty silk.

Today, I tore out the threads in the obi, measured everything out, and cut my fabric. It's a thin green synthetic with velvet patterns. The green is a PERFECT match for a silk/synthetic meisen kimono I bought.

There wasn't much fabric inside for the edges as I thought there would be, so instead of the 2" I'd hoped for, it's maybe a centimetre. That's fine. I'm going to keep the black edge on it, but it'll be a fine black edge, not the wide Edo-style type. And because I am doing it this way, the obi will be reversible.

How to tie a TSUKE-OBI