Crane and Red Sun Haori Jacket 'Chitose'

Three cranes under a red sun, cherry blossom in cream and orange, on tonal black

Look at the black first. It is not plain. A swirl of cloud and water runs through the ground of this haori in a black a shade lighter than the black around it, so the jacket has a pattern even where nothing is printed on it. On top of that, the print: a red sun high on the back with two bands of grey cloud across it, three cranes in cream and white with green-tinged wings and red crowns, and cherry blossom in cream on dark branches, its leaves in orange and red. The blossom climbs both sleeves and both fronts. The cranes cross the back, the left sleeve and both fronts.

It is the classical composition, sun and crane and blossom, done with more restraint than most: cream instead of white, orange leaves instead of pink flowers, a tonal ground instead of a flat one. The result reads as expensive from a distance, which is not something every printed jacket manages.

The name, Chitose, means a thousand years, the lifespan the old poems gave to the crane, and the wish that comes with it. It is the name written on the bags of sweets given to children at shrine visits, and it means the same thing here.

It is printed, not embroidered, with the cranes shaded feather by feather and the tonal swirl printed under everything so it shows through the black. The cloth is polyester with a smooth surface and a dry hand, chosen because a tonal black needs a ground that keeps both blacks distinct, and because a haori this light should hang rather than stand. Three-quarter sleeves, open front with a flat band, no fastening, hem at the hip.

At three metres it is a black jacket with a red dot and pale birds. At thirty centimetres the swirl in the ground appears, the blossom shows its stamens, and the cranes show the green in their wings. It is the haori in the range that most rewards standing close.

The cut is a short open haori, square at the shoulder and relaxed through the body. Over a white tee, the cream cranes and the white tee sit together and the front reads clean. Over black, the tonal ground and the tee merge and the sun and the blossom float. It goes with black trousers, dark denim, cream in summer, and plain shoes.

Sizes run from M to 5XL. It is cut to Asian sizing and runs small, so take one size up from your usual. Between two sizes, take the larger.