In this beautiful wedding portrait, the groom wears a Western suit, while the bride is clad in a gorgeously decorated wedding kimono.
For more information about Japanese wedding customs, see 1920s • Bride and Groom.
Published
Updated
Reader Supported
Old Photos of Japan aims to be your personal museum for Japan's visual heritage and to bring the experiences of everyday life in old Japan to you.
To enhance our understanding of Japanese culture and society I track down, acquire, archive, and research images of everyday life, and give them context.
I share what I have found for free on this site, without ads or selling your data.
Your support helps me to continue doing so, and ensures that this exceptional visual heritage will not be lost and forgotten.
Thank you,
Kjeld Duits
Reference for Citations
Duits, Kjeld (). 1920s: Bride and Groom, OLD PHOTOS of JAPAN. Retrieved on August 21, 2026 (GMT) from https://www.oldphotosjapan.com/photos/323/bride-and-groom
Tornadoes28
She looks beautiful in her kimono. The man does not look right in the western suit. He would have looked better in a kimono.
#000342 ·
*shrug*
Interesting you should say that. The modern black formal kimono, with its striped hakama, clearly draws its inspiration from Western morning dress, as in this picture. What’s interesting to me is that you usually don’t see this anymore: either both are wearing kimono (as in the kamimae-shiki), or both are wearing Western wedding attire (in a Christian or secular ceremony). Mixed Western- and Japanese attire is only seen at things like university graduations and Coming-of-Age Day.
#000378 ·
*shrug*
…Shinzen-shiki, rather. (Ah, the wonders of multiple kanji readings.) And I guess HTML doesn’t work on this site.
#000379 ·
Kjeld Duits (Author)
Hi shrug,
Yes, html doesn’t work. The site uses something called textile. Click Formatting Help for details.
#000380 ·
kelly
I’m intrigued by the formal kimonos. I have one my grandfather brought back from Okinawa after World War 2. We have no idea how old it is, but the woman’s above is the closest thing I have ever seen to it. Do you, or do any readers have any idea how I can find out more about this precious family heirloom? Thanks!
#000390 ·
Kjeld Duits (Author)
Have you already done a search on Google? I got more than 17,000 hits with this search.
#000391 ·
kelly
Kjeld: thanks so much for researching that for me! Actually, by your post I was able to find out it was a wedding kimono….so now I have a starting place! I’ll keep visiting; I love your gorgeous blog! Thanks! kel
#000392 ·
Kjeld Duits (Author)
You are very welcome. Thanks for the nice words about Old Photos of Japan and hope to see a lot of you!
#000393 ·
Technic
Good post. Thanks.
#000570 ·