Kimonos in Japan have a long tradition going back more than one thousand years with Korean and Chinese influence.  At one time the type of kimono worn was determined by the status of the wearer, with the aristocracy wearing elaborate designs and garments with long sleeves.  During the Edo Period (1603-1868) the kimono was popular with both sexes and the type of kimono relatively the same.  However, as weaving and dyeing techniques became more advanced, the quality of kimonos became a way to reflect one’s social status. 

Commodore Perry’s Narrative of the Expedition to Japan has an illustration of two young women dressed in kimonos sitting on a bench in 1854.  Officers who visited the towns at that time reported that the commoners wore a single brown cotton garment, whereas dignitaries and other people of a higher social class wore “fine, brocaded silk over garments trimmed with yellow velvet and covered with figures embroidered in gold thread.”  During the Meiji Period (1868-1912) women and men began to dress mainly in more Western clothes and the kimono was used more for special events like weddings and tea ceremonies.  The kimono remains popular in Japan as a traditional clothing for special occasions.

In 2011, I attended an Obon Festival in Nahari, Japan, and while I was participating with the solemn dance, I was thrilled to see two very young girls beautifully dressed in kimonos arrive at the festival with their mother.  In 2017, my sister, Emily Barrett, accompanied me on another cultural exchange Grassroots Summit to Nara sponsored by the Manjiro-Whitfield Center for International Exchange.  We did a post summit trip to Kanazawa and there my sister was formally dressed in a hikizuri kimono.  We also talked to two young female Japanese tourists on the street in a local park, who had rented kimonos for the day as part of their traditional holiday experience.  In 2024, I was pleased when my 16-year-old granddaughter, Jewel Perry, agreed to be dressed and photographed in a kimono as part of a cultural program in Wakayama.

In August 2025, a good friend of my family gave me two kimonos that she had inherited from her mother, who was the sister of Ambassador Douglas MacArthur II (1909-1997).  Her mother had inherited the kimonos from her brother’s wife, Mrs. Laura Barkley MacArthur.  Douglas MacArthur was US Ambassador to Japan (1957-61) and his wife was the daughter of Alben Barkley, who was Vice President under President Harry S. Truman.

At first there was speculation that Mrs. Laura MacArthur might have inherited the kimonos from General MacArthur’s wife, Mrs. Jean Marie MacArthur.  However, my friend doubts this scenario as she claims the General’s wife was shorter than the Ambassador’s wife.  Mrs. Laura MacArthur was a tall attractive fun-loving lady best known by the childhood nickname “Wahwee,” and used in a 2012 book about the couple, entitled “Doug and Wahwee.”

The couple had one daughter, who studied dancing and performed the traditional “Kurodabushi” dance in Tokyo, while dressed in a colorful kimono.  Miss MacArthur at the time was 21 years old and had been taking lessons in Japanese dancing for nearly a year.  The dance was performed at the Talent Show sponsored by the Japan International Women’s Association.  That same year she also danced the “Sakura Odori” at a charity show in Tokyo.  Neither of the kimonos she wore in 1958 were the ones described above.  However, owning kimonos and wearing them in public events during the Ambassador’s tenure in Japan reflect an interest the MacArthur family had in the Japanese culture.

My wife, Georgia, and I joined our friend, and her mother for a luncheon at her “Uncle Doug’s” apartment on Connecticut Ave, Washington, DC, in the early 1990s and after his wife had died in 1987.  The five of us enjoyed conversation and a lovely meal served by the Ambassador’s Asian housekeeper.  My memory of the ambassador is that he was formal but genuinely friendly.  I have maintained a longtime interest in the MacArthur connection with our friend, who is the grandniece of General MacArthur and the niece of Ambassador MacArthur.  She has interesting personal memories of both the General and the Ambassador but shares them only with encouragement and with great modesty.

She gave me the two kimonos knowing of my interest in Japan and hopes that I could find a suitable place in the United States or Japan that would accept the kimonos as a donation and properly display and maintain them with museum quality standards.  Many potential outlets have been discussed including museums and universities in both countries, but no decisions have been made concerning the final donation of the historic kimonos.

One location suggested for the kimonos is the MacArthur Memorial Room in the Dai-ichi Life Building in Tokyo just in front of the Imperial Palace.  General MacArthur had his office on the sixth floor of this building, and the room is now planned to be remodeled.  The Dai-ichi Life Building was requisitioned (1945-52) by the occupying forces and was a site for numerous crucial events that helped shape postwar Japan, including the composition of the Constitution of Japan.  It is now occupied by the original owners, the Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, and they maintain the MacArthur Memorial Room with the General’s desk.  General MacArthur spent three nights at the New Grand Hotel in Yokohama immediately after arriving in Japan.  I was honored to stay in this New Grand Hotel in 2013 and received a tour by the hotel owner, Mr. Shinzo Hara, of the Admiral Perry Conference room on the second floor.

On August 30, 2025, my wife, Georgia, and I arranged an afternoon social at our home in Bristol, Rhode Island, with friends, who were born in Japan and who were familiar with kimono material and design.  I asked the ladies to view the two kimonos and evaluate the material and style.  Findings based on the examination by Miki Miyagawa, Mikiko Morimura, and Akiko Matsukawa are greatly appreciated and have provided more understanding of these kimonos. 

The ladies agreed that the material is good quality with high weave density silk, especially for the red kimono.  The classical embroidery looks like it was machine-made, not hand sewn.  However, the embroidery had a raised three-dimensional appearance making it look elegant.  The kimono has fairly long sleeves similar to the traditional furisode type of kimono.  The red kimono is not like the type of kimono ordinary Japanese women wear, because the color is too vivid and probably one especially made for Mrs. MacArthur.

The varied colored chrysanthemum flowers (kiku) on the red kimono indicate a kimono made for a female and probably for the autumn season.  In addition to seasonal beauty and aesthetics, the embroidered motif of chrysanthemum flowers signifies longevity and happiness in Japanese folklore and are common for wedding kimonos.  The flower is also considered the emblem of the Imperial family (the Chrysanthemum Crest with 16 petals), so it has another meaning for dignity and high stature.

The blue kimono was most likely made for the Ambassador.  The kimono seems more like a night robe because of the length and the width of the kimono.  The blue kimono’s hem has cotton padding (fukikata).  This tailoring technique is done to maintain soft, beautiful lines and enhance the luxurious appearance of the kimono.  Originally favored by samurai and the wives and daughters of wealthy merchants, this technique is now primarily seen in bridal wear, stage costumes, and certain types of furisode kimonos.  The blue kimono also has long strips/bands attached that can wrap around the person’s body.

Both kimonos are much shorter than regular traditional kimonos.  Usually, kimonos are longer than the height of the person who wears them.  Being dressed in a traditional kimono requires assistance, as the long fabric usually needs to be lifted, folded at the waist, and tied with strings to match the kimono length to the height of a wearer.  The length of these two kimonos seems to have matched the height of the MacArthurs, for whom they were designed.

The red kimono did not have any attachment accessory material like an obi (belt).  It is possible that an obi was with the kimono originally but was separated over the years.  From these additional elements of these kimonos, it’s obvious that these were designed and sewn to make it easier for American people to wear them.

One of the ladies at the social, Ms. Akiko Matsumura, who had only been in the United States for two months, wrote to me after the social and stated that over 20 years ago she worked in the wedding industry in Japan.  Her comments below I think are quite informative:

“From the Meiji to Taisho period, there were certain types of kimonos worn especially by upper-class ladies, known as hikizuri.  Unlike the standard kimono, where the long fabric is folded at the waist to adjust the length just above the floor, hikizuri are worn with the hem trailing on the ground. Because of the length, walking is difficult and requires assistance from attendants, but the appearance from behind is very elegant. They were considered extremely noble garments that only women of high status, with many attendants, could wear.  When I was working in the industry, many customers chose to wear hikizuri for commemorative photographs, but on the actual wedding day, they usually wore a kimono of standard length or a wedding dress.  In Japanese weddings, the preferred colors are white and black.  White symbolizes the bride’s readiness to be “dyed” into any color as she enters her husband’s family life, while black expresses a mixture of tradition with more modern independence.”

The honor for me to deal with the two kimonos on my friend’s behalf, has given me an opportunity to reflect on the long friendship of over 45 years between our families, that originated with our association at church and the attendance of our children in the same private school.  I was always aware of the connections with Japan shared by our ancestors.  My great, great, great, uncle, Commodore Matthew C. Perry, had used the combination of power and diplomacy to negotiate peace and amity between our two countries.  My friend’s great uncle, General Douglas MacArthur, had also used power and diplomacy to negotiate a peace agreement and supervise reconstruction of Japan following World War II.

In General MacArthur’s radio address to the USA following the end of the War, he referred to Commodore Perry’s mission of peace in 1853-54.  When the Opening-of-Japan memorial park in Shimoda was dedicated in 1954, General MacArthur had the words of Perry, 

“I have come here as a peacemaker,” inscribed on the monument.  It is an honor that I have this opportunity with two kimonos, owned by MacArthur ancestors, to reestablish the historic connections of our families with Japan.  The historian, Samuel Eliot Morrison stated in his book “Old Bruin” that “Perry and MacArthur are the two most respected foreigners in Japanese history.”

I feel that one of the reasons they were respected in the past and are respected today is that they personally understood and respected the different culture of the Japanese people.  The kimono is a traditional form of dress that remains popular in Japan.  The wearing of kimonos by Americans reflects the acceptance of another culture and epitomizes the friendship among people of our two great countries.