Women's Red Sun Kimono Jacket 'Hatsuhi'

A red sun on the shoulder, cranes crossing it, and waves waiting at the hem

The sun on this jacket sits high on the left shoulder blade, a red disc with a white crane crossing in front of it, and everything else on the black ground is arranged below. More cranes fly down the back and over the fronts, white with red crowns. Sprays of pink blossom hang from the shoulders. Stylised clouds, the curling kind from old lacquer boxes, drift in white and grey between the birds. And at the hem, on both fronts and across the back, grey waves roll in with white foam, so the whole jacket reads as a scene from the sky down to the sea.

It is the most complete of the women's crane prints, the one with the whole vocabulary on it: sun, crane, cloud, blossom, wave. On black, each element keeps its own colour, red, white, pink, grey, and the composition stays legible because the black gives it room.

The name, Hatsuhi, is the first sunrise of the year, the one people climb hills before dawn to see on the first of January. The red disc on the shoulder is that sun, and the cranes crossing it are the traditional wish for a long life to go with it.

It is printed, not embroidered, with the white of the cranes held crisp against the black and the pink of the blossom kept soft. The cloth is a light polyester with a smooth surface and a soft drape, chosen because a print with this many elements needs a ground that holds every edge, and because a jacket this light should hang rather than stand. Three-quarter sleeves, open front, no fastening, hem at the hip.

At three metres it is a black jacket with a red dot and some white movement on it. At thirty centimetres the clouds have curls, the cranes have legs, and the blossom has five petals. It is drawn to be read at both distances.

The cut is a short open kimono jacket for women, relaxed through the body and easy at the shoulder. Over a white tee, the white column runs up between the two fronts and rhymes with the cranes. Over black, the jacket and the tee become one dark shape and the sun is the only warm thing in the outfit. It goes with black trousers, dark denim, white in summer, and nothing else patterned.

It comes in one size, cut to drape with an easy fit. It is Asian sizing, so it sits closer than a Western one-size; if you are usually L or above, expect it to fit close rather than loose.