Outer Noh robe of grape vines with autumn grasses

Richly brocaded garments known as karaori, literally Chinese weaving, are reserved for women's roles in Japanese Nō dramas. Although they resemble embroidery, they are actually woven by a difficult technique of floating weft threads of glossed silk to form a dense, colorful pattern against a solid ground. In this case, grape vines and autumn grasses intertwine with a bamboo lattice pattern. The difficult and time-consuming nature of karaori weaving made these garments the rarest and most expensive of all.