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Trade in kimono and washi paper to Europe began in 1641, when the Netherlands became the only European country permitted by the shogunate. The clothes for export resembled Japanese yogi 夜着, with no shoulder seams. The sleeves were attached in a more typical way of Western dress. For example, in 1692, 123 such garments were sold by the shogunate, but due to increasing demand the Dutch East India Company had begun also manufacturing in India using Chinese silk. This modified kimono, went by a variety of names: in France the robe de chambre, in England the banyan, and in the Netherlands the Japonsche rok. By the end of the seventeenth century a gown in Japanese style had become a gentleman’s must-have garment.

01 Artist: Jan Steen (Dutch, 1626-1679) Artwork: 1665 – Portrait of Gerrit Gerritsz Schouten

02 Artist: Jan Steen Artwork: 1665 – Portrait of Geertruy Gael

03 Artist: Johannes Vermeer (Dutch, 1632-1675) Artwork: 1669 – The Geographer

04 Artist: Claude Deruet (French, 1588-1660) Artwork: 1615 Portrait of Hasekura Tsunega (1571–1622), a kirishitan Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune. In the years 1613 through 1620 he led a mission to Spain and Italy. Japan’s next embassy to Europe would not occur until more than 200 years later.