1.
padded sleeping kimono; large kimono-shaped bedcover
A traditional Japanese oversized, thickly padded garment shaped like a kimono, used as a bedcover or sleeping wrap. Historically used before modern futons and blankets became standard.
祖母は冬に夜着を使っていた。
My grandmother used a padded sleeping kimono in winter.
昔の人は布団の上から夜着を掛けて寝た。
People in the old days slept with a padded sleeping kimono draped over the futon.
民俗博物館に展示されている夜着は、江戸時代のもので、美しい刺繍が施されていた。
The padded sleeping kimono on display at the folk museum was from the Edo period and had beautiful embroidery.
An item of traditional Japanese bedding. The 夜着 looks like an extremely large, heavily padded kimono with wide sleeves and is worn over or placed on top of the body while sleeping. It predates the modern 掛け布団 (comforter) and was especially common in the Edo period through early Showa era.
In modern Japanese, the word is mostly encountered in historical literature, folk museums, and traditional craft contexts. Some modern products styled after the traditional 夜着 are sold as novelty sleepwear.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 夜着を掛ける: to drape a sleeping kimono over oneself
- 綿入れの夜着: cotton-padded sleeping kimono
- 夜着に包まる: to wrap oneself in a sleeping kimono
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 寝巻き: sleepwear, nightclothes — general term for what one wears to bed
- パジャマ: pajamas — modern Western-style sleepwear
- 掛け布団: comforter, duvet — the modern replacement for the 夜着