Obi (Sash)

"Obi (Sash)" — the broad decorative belt that is the defining element of the kimono ensemble — is treated by Onchi as both a material object and a formal subject: the obi's width, its patterning, its specific quality of silk brocade offering the kind of surface richness that woodblock printing could render with particular effectiveness. The obi as a subject also participates in the Japanese aesthetic tradition of kimono-and-textile appreciation, where garment elements were understood as carriers of cultural meaning as well as decorative objects.