Mizugoromo
水衣 みずごろも
能狂言
The mizugoromo noh costume is an outer "traveling or work cloak". The three-quarter-length, unlined jacket has single-width open sleeves and flared lapels. It is worn by men and women of all ages.
Typical Roles and draping
Commoner roles predominate. Traveling women (i.e. Sumidagawa) and working women (i.e. Matsukaze, nuns (i.e. Ōhara Gokō) and old women (i.e. Sotoba Komachi) wear the mizugoromo loosely draped from the shoulders.
Men wear it belted, tucking up the sleeves for work. The traveling monks (tabisō) who appear as waki in many dream noh (mugen noh), wear plain brown or blue mizugoromo over a kosode. If they are higher ranked monks, or mountain priests (yamabushi) such as Benkei in Funa Benkei, the mizugoromo is worn over ōkuchi pleated trousers.
Commoner old men appearing in the first part of a noh (i.e. Tadanori) belt the jacket over a checked kosode, either an atsuita or a noshime, while dignified old men in first-category Deity plays (i.e. the maeshite in Takasago hike up the sleeves to work, but drape the garment over ōkuchi. Suffering ghosts in hell, such as Shinoshōshō in Kayoi Komachi wear their mizugoromo belted over ōkuchi.
Textile Features
Mizugoromo come in four types of fabric. Most common are single-colored plain weave silk (shike), with browns and blues dominating for male roles, while white, pale blue and lighter colors are common for women.
Striped (shima) mizugoromo are standard for Yamabushi priests, though when there are many Yamabushi on stage at the same time, as in Ataka, the supporting roles often do not wear stripes.
The sheer, half-transparent effect of gauze-weave (sha) provides a textural alternative.
Finally, the loosely woven yore with spaced wefts that are later displaced giving a frayed, ragged, transparency create a sense of poverty and suffering effective in plays featuring the hundred-year-old Sotaba Komachi as well as for suffering ghosts, such as the bird hunter in Utō
Construction
The mizugoromo is the only open sleeved ōsode noh costume tailored with only one width of fabric for the sleeves. The sleeves are stitched to the body of the garment from the shoulders down to chest level, and then allowed to hang free, facilitating movement. the front and back body panels are stitched together along the side seam so that when the garment is belted, it fits snugly over the hips. Long triangular inserts serve as front lapels. The broad collar circles around the neck and down to inches above the hem.
History
The mizugoromo was created for stage use, probably some time in the sixteenth century.