Suo

A suô costume from the Noh theater, on display at the Tokyo National Museum

For the placename, see Suo province.

• Japanese: 素襖 (suou)

Suô was one style of samurai outfit, consisting of a simple unlined ramie robe, paired with hakama pants. The style developed in the Kamakura period, and by the Edo period was a standard form of ceremonial or semi-formal dress for lower-class samurai.

Suô also came to be worn on the Noh stage, by actors representing low- or middle-ranking samurai characters. In Noh, stencil-dyed robes are used, decorated with patterns more elaborate than would be worn by samurai in actual (off-stage) circumstances.

References

• Gallery labels, Tokyo National Museum.[1]