71st International Astronautical Congress (IAC) – The CyberSpace Edition, 12-14 October 2020.

Copyright ©2020 by ASTRAX, Inc. All rights reserved.

IAC-20- E1.9.2 (x59614)

THE IMPORTANCE OF KIMONO IN SPACE

Taiko Kawakamia*, Taichi Yamazakib

a
General Manager, ASTRAX, Inc., 1-26-10-102, Hakusan, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan, 113-0001,
taiko.kawakami@iss-japan.com
b
CEO and commercial astronaut, International Space Services, Inc. and ASTRAX, Inc., 2-23-17 Komachi,
Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, 248-0006, taichi.yamazaki@iss-japan.com
* Corresponding Author

Abstract
As the era of commercial space travel approaches, people from all generations from different countries will have
opportunities to experience space tour. When we go to space, we will become one of the “earthlings” no matter
where we are from. If that is the case, how will we represent our identities? We believe clothing is one symbolic
identification tool. When people want to express themselves through clothing, kimono, a traditional Japanese dress,
is likely to be chosen by Japanese people. In this paper, we will explain the importance of kimono in space travel.
Keywords: Kimono, Japanese Identity, Space travel, Zero Gravity Flight Service, ASTRAX,

became unable to wear them by themselves. Today,

1. Background and Overview only few people wear them on a daily basis in Japan.

1.1 History of Kimono 1.2 Kimono Situation Today

Kimono is one of the most well-known symbols of
Japanese culture in the world, along with foods such as
sushi, tempura and soba noodles, or sports such as
kendo, judo and karate. People in Japan have been
wearing the kimono for a long time because they were
once a daily wear until some time ago. (See Fig. 1)
Nowadays, only one in five people can wear a kimono
by themselves.[1] One of the main reasons not wearing
the kimono is because they cannot wear them by
themselves. In addition, people in their over 30s have a
strong perception that the kimono are quite expensive,
difficult to wear and store, thus not something they can
try out easily.[2]

However, there are many people in their 20s who want

to wear kimono. This is because inexpensive kimono
began to appear in the market as a cheap fashion item
and also the kimono can be rented instead of purchasing
one. Since those in their 20s do not have a bias towards
kimono compared to those in their over 30s, they begin
to introduce the kimono into their lives as a fashion item
and trend.

1.3 Japanese Identity and Kimono

Many Japanese believe they can express their identity of

Fig. 1. Japanese who are in Kimono
The kimono took its present form around the Genroku
era (approximately 1700 A.D.) and worn until the
Second World War. Naturally, people could wear them
by themselves back then. However, after the war,
Western clothes became daily wear in Japan and people
gradually lost opportunities to wear the kimono and
Japan by wearing kimono, and according to one survey,
65% of all age groups, regardless of gender, support
this.[3] In addition, Japanese people often choose to
wear kimono as formal attire when attending
international events. For example, many Japanese
women wear them when they attend the Nobel Prize
ceremony as a winner or as a partner of the winner. In
enthronement ceremony of the emperor, too, almost all
Japanese women wore kimono. There was also a time
when first class cabin attendants on international flights
of airlines used to serve their passengers in kimono. In

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 71st International Astronautical Congress (IAC) – The CyberSpace Edition, 12-14 October 2020.
Copyright ©2020 by ASTRAX, Inc. All rights reserved.

other words, kimono, as being a national dress, is part of The reason why ASTRAX is able to provide such a
the culture of Japan. flexible service is that Japanese zero-gravity flight
services use small aircrafts, which are about the size of
1.4 The Coming Era of Commercial Space Travel a private plane, and only six people can fly at a time,
and Kimono which makes it easier to control the service compared to
zero-gravity services in other countries, which usually
As the era of commercial space travel is about to begin, allow about 50 people flying at once.
people from all over the world including Japanese will Out of such 34, four wore kimono. Fig. 3 to 6 show the
be traveling more in space. It is likely that travelers participants wearing kimono.
from different countries will fly together in the same
spacecraft, and they may even stay in a same space
hotel. There will also be those traveling to the Moon
and Mars. It is considered that Japanese travelers would
then wear kimono to express their national identity.
Based on the long history of zero-gravity flight service
by ASTRAX, I will explore the needs and challenges of
Japanese people wearing kimono in space.

2. Zero-gravity flight service and clothing in Japan

2.1 Realizing dream in zero-gravity and clothing

ASTRAX has been providing a zero-gravity

experimental service in Japan for eight years since 2012.
One of its features is that it not only allows the Fig. 3. A participant in kimono at zero-gravity flight
participants to experience the sensation of
weightlessness by wearing the same flight suit as in
other countries, it also supports them in realizing their
dreams in zero gravity. For example, participants can
wear what they want. As seen in the photo, one may
wear a wedding dress, a ballroom dance dress, a
Superman or a Spider-Man costume, or even a wizard
costume, flying on a broomstick. (See Fig. 2)

Fig. 4. Participants in kimono at zero-gravity flight

Fig.2. Image of the ASTRAX zero-gravity program

Among approximately 130 people participated in zero-

gravity flights, 34 flew in their favorite clothes instead
of flight suits.
Fig. 5. A participant in kimono at zero-gravity flight

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 71st International Astronautical Congress (IAC) – The CyberSpace Edition, 12-14 October 2020.
Copyright ©2020 by ASTRAX, Inc. All rights reserved.
Fig. 6. A participant in kimono at zero-gravity flight
2.2 Why Choosing Kimono for Zero-Gravity Flight
2.2.1 Kimono as Fashion
As described in section 1.2, Japanese women in their
20s choose to wear summer kimono as a fashion item
because they see it as casual attire. It is possible that
Japanese women in their 20s wear kimono as a fashion
item for zero-gravity flight.
2.2.2 Kimono as Identity Expression of Japanese
As mentioned in section 1.3, many Japanese people
think that they can show their Japanese identity by
wearing kimono. They also believe that wearing the
kimono makes people around them recognize their
Japanese identity. This is why many people wear
kimono in international and official occasions. The
question is why do people flying zero-gravity want to
wear them? The reason is that any new challenge in
zero-gravity flight will be a "world’s-first" challenge or
experiment, no matter what it is. In other words, zero-
gravity flight is an effective means of international self-
promotion and the videos or photographs could be used
to self-promote globally. This is why some people want
to wear kimono for zero-gravity flight.
2.2.3 Kimono as Cosplay
Some people may choose to wear kimono when they
want to express themselves during zero-gravity flight as
a stronger form of self-expression than wearing it as
fashion described in 2.2.1. They would still wear the
kimono even if the flight is reserved for Japanese
customers only. In this case, rather than based on a
desire to express their Japanese identity, they wear
kimono because of the desire to feel special or to enjoy
a completely extraordinary self by dressing up
differently from others or differently than usual.
IAC-20- E1.9.2 (x59614)
In a way, cosplay is a new culture in Japan, along with
manga and anime and there are more people in Japan
who like cosplay in Japan than in other countries.
People may want to enjoy cosplay or dress differently
also in zero-gravity environment.
3. Necessity of Kimono in Space Travel
In a way, space travel can be seen as an extension of the
experience of zero-gravity flight. For Japanese people,
space travel may be an extension of overseas travel.
Therefore, the same thing we discussed in section 2 can
be said for space travel, which is, there will be a certain
amount of demand to wear kimono for space travel
instead of dedicated flight suits provided by the space
travel company.
This is because, as described in section 2.2, people want
to wear kimono as fashion, to express their Japanese
identity or to enjoy as cosplay.
In particular, since upcoming commercial spaceflights
are much more appealing and attract more attention than
zero-gravity flight services which have been carried out
for many years, and because they offer more
opportunities to be the “world's-first” achievers for
participants, demand for Japanese people to wear
kimono will increase as a means to show their Japanese
identity during space travel. The need for wearing
kimono may be even higher than for zero-gravity flight.
Especially in case of space travel, the number of
travelers will be limited and they are likely to fly with
other passengers from different countries, unless they
fly on a chartered spacecraft. Therefore, it is likely that
more Japanese customers will wear kimono to present
their identity. This is because, as examined in section
1.3, more people will want to express their identity as
Japanese among multiple nationalities by wearing
kimono.
Furthermore, as the amount of time spent in space travel
increases and more travelers stay in space hotels or
when a travel to the Moon and Mars becomes available,
this trend is likely to become even stronger. It may be
easy to imagine this as an extension of a round-the-
world trip on a luxury cruise ship. The passengers
would probably carry kimono or traditional clothing in
their bags.
4. Conclusion
As mentioned above, if going to space is considered as a
unique, international event, more Japanese will want to
wear kimono for the trip as a means for self-expression
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 71st International Astronautical Congress (IAC) – The CyberSpace Edition, 12-14 October 2020.
Copyright ©2020 by ASTRAX, Inc. All rights reserved.
and to demonstrate their Japanese identity among
international travelers.
ASTRAX is preparing to address the possible increasing
needs of Japanese travelers to wear kimono in space.
We are working to create kimono that are easy to put on
and take off in zero-gravity and easy to carry in zero-
gravity flight or space flight. We also examine how
comfortable they are to wear in zero-gravity, how to
wear fashionably and list up challenges of wearing
kimono in zero-gravity to improve the quality of future
zero-gravity flight and space flight services. We even
discuss the potential needs of a kimono rental service
for space travel if there is certain level of needs (to also
reduce the amount of luggage carrying to space).
While Japanese people feel wearing kimono is about
demonstrating their own culture and self-expression,
people from other countries also have their own ethnic
attire, which they wear on a daily basis or for special
occasions. Thus, the same assumption we have made
applies to non-Japanese customers of zero-gravity flight
and space travel. From that aspect, there are many
things to consider in the areas of space travel and world
ethnic costumes in addition to the areas of space travel
and kimono.
We hope that this paper provides an opportunity to meet
the needs of customers more flexibly in the future
global zero-gravity flight and space travel services, and
to help create an era in which people around the world
enjoy space travel freely in their national attire and
favorite clothes.
References
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[1] Questionnaire on Kimono (my voice.com). 31
January 2018,
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000550.000007815
.html,(accessed 22.09.20).
[2] Report on the Current State of Kimono in Japan by
the Japanese Kimono Promotion Study Group (2015,
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry). 6 June 2015.
https://www.meti.go.jp/committee/kenkyukai/seizou/wa
sou_shinkou/report_001.html,(accessed 26.07.20).
[3] Nandemo Kenkyu Dan, Questionnaire and Ranking
of Japanese Clothing. 4 January 2019,
https://chosa.nifty.com/hobby/chosa_report_A20190104
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Reference to a textbook:
IAC-20- E1.9.2 (x59614)
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Copyright ©2020 by ASTRAX, Inc. All rights reserved.

Road to Space, International Space Development LEANED FROM THE COVID-19 PROBLEM IN
Conference 2019, Washington D.C., USA, 2019, 5-9 JAPAN AND APPLICATION TO SPACE TRAVEL,
June. IAC-20-A1.3.15, 71st International Astronautical
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Nagase, ASTRAX UNIVERSAL SERVICE October.
PLATFORM BY USING BLOCKCHAIN [27] Taichi Yamazaki, ZERO-G-NAUT AND
TECHNOLOGY, IAC-19- E6.5-GST.1.6, 70th MISSION COMMANDER TO SUPPORT
International Astronautical Congress (IAC), COMMERCIAL SPACE MISSION AND CUSTOMER
Washington D.C., United States, 2019, 21-25 October. ACTIVITIES INSIDE CABIN, IAC-20-B3.2.13, 71st
[17] Taichi Yamazaki, MISSION CONTROL International Astronautical Congress (IAC), The
CENTER TO SUPPORT COMMERCIAL SPACE CyberSpace Edition, 2020, 12-14 October.
MISSIONS AND PASSENGER’S ACTIVITIES [28] Chieko Takahashi, Yuko Kirihara, Creating a new
INSIDE OF THE CABIN, IAC-19-B3.2.3, 70th business of Space Flight Attendant service & SFA
International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Academy, IAC-20-B3.2.10, 71st International
Washington D.C., United States, 2019, 21-25 October. Astronautical Congress (IAC), The CyberSpace Edition,
[18] Taichi Yamazaki, ASTRAX ACADEMY and 2020, 12-14 October.
Space Business and Space Flight Support Educational [29] Taiko Kawakami, Taichi Yamazaki, WHAT
System, Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers WOMEN NEED FOR SPACE TRAVEL, IAC-20-
Conference (NSRC), Broomfield, CO, United States, B3.2.9, 71st International Astronautical Congress (IAC),
2020, 2-4 March. The CyberSpace Edition, 2020, 12-14 October.
[19] Taichi Yamazaki, Mission Support Control Center [30] Masahiko Takehara, Taichi Yamazaki,
and Suborbital Spacecraft Simulator to support Methodologies for Making “Takoyaki” Under Zero
commercial space missions and customer activities, gravity and Making Lunar Shaped “Takoyaki.”, IAC-
Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference 20-D4.2.14, 71st International Astronautical Congress
(NSRC), Broomfield, CO, United States, 2020, 2-4 (IAC), The CyberSpace Edition, 2020, 12-14 October.
March.
[20] Taichi Yamazaki, ZeroG-Naut and Mission
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customer activities inside cabin, Next-Generation
Suborbital Researchers Conference (NSRC),
Broomfield, CO, United States, 2020, 2-4 March.
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MOBILITY SYSTEM USED IN SPACE HOTELS
AND SPACE STATIONS, IAC-20-B3.7.17, 71st
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CyberSpace Edition, 2020, 12-14 October.
[22] Taichi Yamazaki, ASTRAX LUNAR CITY
DEVELOPMENT PROJECT 2020, IAC-20-D4.2.11,
71st International Astronautical Congress (IAC), The
CyberSpace Edition, 2020, 12-14 October.
[23] Taichi Yamazaki, ASTRAX LUNAR CITY
ECONOMIC SYSTEM BY USING BLOCKCHAIN
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2020, 12-14 October.
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