Kimono rental in Japan: prices, what the set includes, how it works, and where to rent one in Kyoto, Tokyo and beyond

What kimono rental is

The kimono was once ordinary clothing. In the words of the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), "Kimono used to be the everyday dress for women across the country, but today it's often only worn for special occasions, like weddings or funerals." In a feature on traditional clothing, JNTO notes that the word kimono "translates to 'a thing to wear'". The style we know today goes back to the Heian period (794 to 1185), and by the Edo period (1603 to 1867) its shape was settled.

A rental shop lets you wear one without buying or learning anything. JNTO's guide to cultural experiences says: "Kimono and yukata are both possible to rent. Wear one around the town or city for a few hours". You arrive in your own clothes, pick a kimono and an obi, the wide sash, from the racks, and the staff dress you. Many shops also do your hair. Then you spend the day walking round temples, old streets and cafés, and bring the kimono back before the shop closes.

Is it all right for visitors to wear a kimono?

Yes. Shops in Kyoto and Tokyo are set up for visitors, with staff who dress you from start to finish, and many have pages and booking forms in English. JNTO says plainly: "Much of traditional Japanese culture is accessible to all visitors, even those with little to no knowledge of Japanese." Kyoto goes further and rewards people for wearing one: the Kyoto Kimono Passport gives free entry, gifts and discounts at about 250 places to anyone in a kimono, as the section on the passport explains below.

The questions of whether a foreigner can wear a kimono, and how to put one on by yourself, deserve a guide of their own. This one sticks to renting.

Kimono or yukata?

JNTO's guide to the kimono and yukata experience explains that the yukata is one kind of kimono. A kimono is made of heavier fabric, and the yukata is lighter and a little see-through.

In Kyoto many shops rent yukata only in summer. Okamoto has them from June to September, and Yumeyakata began its yukata rentals for 2026 on 1 May. If you are staying at a ryokan, a Japanese inn, you will probably be given a yukata for free during your stay. Our guide to ryokan explains what else to expect.

How much kimono rental costs

A basic kimono rental in Kyoto or Tokyo costs about 3,000 to 5,500 yen, and the price depends on the shop, the plan and how you pay. Some shops give their prices with tax and some without, so read the small print when you compare.

Okamoto, which has several shops in Kyoto and says it has 200,000 visitors a year, sets its plans out clearly. The cheaper plans give you fewer kimono to choose from; the dearer ones add more choice, extra layers and a more formal obi.

At wargo the same plan costs less if you pay when you book. Its standard plan is 3,300 yen with tax online and 4,400 yen at the shop, and its Retro Modern plan, with soft-coloured formal kimono, is 5,500 yen online and 6,600 yen at the shop. Students get a plan of their own for 4,400 yen online. wargo also prints its own comparison of the going rate: 3,900 to 5,900 yen in Tokyo, and 3,400 to 4,900 yen across Japan. Yumeyakata in Kyoto starts at 3,080 yen if you book ahead, and its standard plan is 4,180 yen booked ahead or 5,280 yen at the regular price.

Hair styling and other extras

Hair is where the price creeps up. wargo includes a simple updo and one hair ornament in every plan, but its online booking form adds a 1,100 yen hair option on its own, which you can untick if you don't want it. Okamoto charges 500 yen before tax for a basic style chosen from eight, 1,000 yen for one of eight more original styles, and 1,500 yen to have it done the way you like. At Yumeyakata a choice of eight styles costs 1,650 yen when you book ahead and 2,700 yen at the regular price.

What a kimono rental includes

You can arrive with nothing but your phone and your wallet. Okamoto says all its kimono plans include the kimono, the obi, a kinchaku drawstring bag, tabi socks and sandals, though some of its yukata plans are different. wargo's list is longer, because it also counts the layers you never see: the undergarment, the long undergarment, the waist ties, a stiff date-jime band and the collar stiffener.

The big shops add a few things that cost nothing. Okamoto's dressers are professionals and dressing is free, it looks after the clothes you take off while you are out, and in winter it lends shawls with every plan, with a haori jacket free on the Full Outfit Plan and for a fee on the others.

How kimono rental works, step by step

The whole thing is simple, and the staff do the hard part. wargo describes six stages from booking to return, and the other shops work in much the same way.

Getting ready takes longer than most people expect. wargo says: "From arrival at the shop to heading out, the process usually takes about 45 to 90 minutes." Okamoto allows between one and one and a half hours for choosing, dressing and hair, and warns that in busy seasons there can be a wait even with a booking. At Taisho Romankan in Asakusa, GO TOKYO reports, women take 40 to 60 minutes, including a choice of three to six hairstyles, and men are ready in 10 to 20.

Book an early slot if you can, because the shops stop dressing people long before they close. The Kyoto City Tourist Association's list of kimono shops shows most open from 9 or 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with the last reception one to two hours before closing. Yumeyakata's last entry is 4 p.m., wargo's last dressing time is 3:30 p.m. at its Kyoto Station shop and 5:30 p.m. in Asakusa, and COCOMO's is three hours before it closes at 7 p.m. If you are arriving with bags straight off the train, see where to leave luggage for the other options.

Returning the kimono

Most people bring the kimono back the same day, to the shop they rented it from. Okamoto's shops close at 6 p.m., and its final return time is 5:50 p.m. If you want more time, Okamoto offers three other ways to return it.

Okamoto's FAQ, written separately, says a kimono cannot be returned at another shop, so if you want that option, confirm it when you book. Not every hotel can take part either: the service may be stopped in busy seasons and is not possible at hotels without a front desk. wargo also offers next-day return as a paid add-on. Yumeyakata usually charges 1,100 yen to bring the kimono back the next day, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., but has made it free until 30 December 2026, and you can also post it back from a convenience store for 880 yen instead of 1,650 yen. Neither offer covers its premium or silk kimono.

Booking, cancelling and paying

Booking ahead gives you a time slot, which matters in the busy seasons, but the shops also leave room for people who decide on the day. GO TOKYO says of the kimono shop at Asakusa Yokocho: "Kimono rentals include a kimono, accessories and dressing. Reservations can be made online, but same-day rentals may be possible depending on availability." Okamoto and wargo also take same-day bookings, by phone or online.

The Kyoto City Tourist Association's shop list marks some shops as needing a booking in advance, so check before you turn up. Its list also reminds you that prices and opening hours change, and that you should contact each shop directly.

Where to rent a kimono in Kyoto

Kyoto is where most visitors rent a kimono, and it has plenty of choice. The list of kimono shops from the Kyoto Tourist Information Center, known as Kyo Navi, runs to three pages and about 20 businesses, many of them with several branches. Most are close to the sights you would want to walk round anyway, so choose the area first and the shop second. You will usually bring the kimono back to the same shop.

Okamoto, which calls itself the birthplace of kimono rental, keeps most of its shops in Higashiyama, between Gion and Kiyomizu-dera, and says it has over 1,000 kimono in stock. On the Kyo Navi list, many shops give the Kiyomizu-michi bus stop or Kyoto Station as their nearest stop. Okamoto's main shop near Kiyomizu-dera is a townhouse in the machiya style with a garden and stained glass, and the Gojō-zaka bus stop is 5 minutes away on foot. Arashiyama is on the western edge of the city, and Okamoto describes the sights near its shop there as "Togetsukyo Bridge, the photo-worthy Kimono Forest, and the path through the bamboo grove".

Kimono with a tea ceremony, and other special places

Some shops pair the kimono with something else to do in it. Yumeyakata, near Gojo subway station and a taxi ride of about 10 minutes from Kyoto Station, holds a tea ceremony under the same roof as its Gojo shop, and another at Oike Bettei, a machiya townhouse over 100 years old. It says it has over 30,000 kimono and more than 3,300 square metres of shop, and that its staff speak several languages. From Gojo, Gion is 10 minutes by bus, Higashiyama 15 minutes by bus, and Fushimi Inari 10 minutes on the Keihan line. Our guide to the tea ceremony walks you through a tea gathering, step by step.

JNTO traces Nishijin weaving to the 5th century, when its textiles were made for the Imperial Court. Its page on the textile centre says: "Visitors can rent and wear kimono from the center for photographic purposes or stroll the streets of Kyoto in traditional garb." Entry is free and you do not need to book a visit. From Imadegawa Station (Karasuma subway line), walk west along Imadegawa-dori for about 10 minutes, or take city bus 9 to the Horikawa Imadegawa stop, which takes about 30 minutes from Kyoto Station. The temples, gardens and districts themselves are in our guide to Kyoto.

Kimono rental in Tokyo and Asakusa

In Tokyo, the four kimono shops that GO TOKYO, the city's official guide, writes about are all in Asakusa, around Senso-ji Temple. GO TOKYO says the district "began as an entertainment area with Tokyo's oldest geisha district".

About the photos: they are stand-ins, showing Asakusa Shrine, Senso-ji and Nakamise Street, not pictures of the shops.

Taisho Romankan combines kimono rental with a café, renting light yukata in summer and heavier, warmer kimono when it turns cold. GO TOKYO reports that it has printed step-by-step guides in English, Chinese and Japanese, and options for children. Once you are dressed, there is an organic matcha café, chakura, downstairs, and next door a second café serves eight flavours of cream soda, a drink from the Taisho period.

Asakusa Yokocho is on 4F of the Tokyo Rakutenchi Asakusa Building. It puts on festival dances such as Awa Odori, Yosakoi and Eisa, and re-enactments of the Oiran Dochu, the parade of Edo-period courtesans, so you can eat and watch in your kimono. Our guide to Japanese festivals explains where these dances come from. wargo's Asakusa shop gives the same address, 2-6-7 Asakusa, fourth floor.

Three lines stop at Asakusa, Tokyo Metro's Ginza Line, the Toei subway's Asakusa Line and Tobu's Skytree Line, so follow the signs carefully. For the temple district, look for the exits marked Kaminarimon. Nakamise Street, the main street up to Senso-ji, sells everything from kimono accessories to ninja costumes for children, if you want to take something home. Our Tokyo guide covers the rest of the city.

Osaka, Kanazawa, Kawagoe and beyond

You can rent a kimono well beyond Kyoto and Tokyo. wargo also has shops in Osaka, Kanazawa and Kawagoe, and JNTO's feature on traditional clothing points to places where you can wear older or local kinds of dress.

About the photos: they are stand-ins, showing each town, not the shops. The Nikko photo is of Toshogu Shrine, not Edo Wonderland, and the Okinawa robes are dyed in the bingata style rather than the ryusou you rent.

Each of the three places JNTO picks offers a different kind of dress. Edo Wonderland recreates the Edo period, with five areas to walk round in costume, and has its own rental shop, Jiku. At Itsukinomiya Hall you can try on a jūnihitoe, the twelve-layered robe that court women wore in the Heian period (794 to 1185). In Okinawa, the ryusou was worn by the nobility of the Ryukyu Kingdom (1429 to 1879), and is still worn for weddings and for the ceremonies that mark coming of age. JNTO says it lets in more air and weighs less than other kinds of kimono, to suit the climate.

Kinosaki Onsen is different again: a small hot-spring town where you wear a yukata rather than a kimono. Visit Kinosaki, Toyooka City's official tourism site, says the majority of visitors there are dressed in yukata, and most ryokan in the town give their guests one to wear for free. If you are only there for the day, IROHA in the town rents yukata, geta sandals and an obi, does women's hair and helps you dress. Our guides to Osaka, Ishikawa, Saitama, Tochigi, Mie, Hyogo and Okinawa cover the rest of each trip.

Photo shoots, maiko makeovers and samurai

Many shops sell more than a walk in a kimono. Some send a professional photographer out with you, some make you up as a maiko or geisha, and a few will put you in samurai armour. These plans cost far more than a basic rental, so book them ahead and check what the price covers.

About the photos: they are stand-ins. They show Kiyomizu-dera and Gion at night, and the armour is a cuirass in a museum in Chiba, not a rental costume.

In Tokyo, the makeover at COCOMO in Asakusa, at the price given above, includes maiko make-up and proper hairstyling, and GO TOKYO says you can choose from "a full menu of professional photography plans". Sakura Photo Studio lets you pick a kimono from its racks and get dressed "before wandering the scenic streets of Asakusa for a photo shoot", as GO TOKYO puts it. In Kyoto, most of the plans are at the shops below.

The opening hours come from the Kyoto City Tourist Association's list, which notes that the last reception is one to two hours before closing. Ask the shop how long its plan takes before you plan the rest of the day.

Men, children, couples and larger sizes

Kimono rental is not only for women. The big Kyoto chains all have plans for men and couples, Okamoto and Yumeyakata dress children too, and all three keep larger sizes, though it is safer to give your height when you book.

Okamoto's pages give different prices and heights for children, so check the plan page when you book. If small children are coming, read our tips on travelling with children as well.

wargo keeps only some extra sizes in stock and warns that a booking may be cancelled if dressing you proves too difficult, so tell the shop your size when you book. Yumeyakata gives the top men's height as 190 cm on one page and 195 cm on another.

Couples, families and groups

Most shops sell plans for two. Okamoto has a Couples Plan and a Yukata Couples Plan, Yumeyakata's Couple plan is 8,000 yen, and wargo has Couple, Family and Student plans, so families and couples can rent together. Yumeyakata gives 10% off to groups of five or more until 30 December 2026, though not on its Casual, Couple, Student or School Trip plans and not with other offers, and 10% off to returning customers.

Formal kimono and hakama

If you want something grander, Okamoto and Yumeyakata both rent formal kimono. Okamoto lists the furisode, the long-sleeved kimono, and the hakama, formal trousers, among its formal kimono, and its Okamoto Bettei shop rents formal kimono for ceremonies.

Kimono rental in the rain and through the seasons

Rain does not have to spoil the day. Asked whether you can still go out when rain is forecast, Okamoto replies: "Our customers still go for strolls despite the rain." It adds: "Please rest assured that we do not charge cleaning fees for sightseeing kimonos that have gotten dirty from the rain." It also points to two advantages: you can carry a wagasa, a Japanese paper umbrella, which looks even more like old Kyoto, and the popular sights are often less crowded, so photos are easier.

Not every shop is as relaxed. Okamoto notes that some other shops sell a low-cost insurance plan, bought before the day, that pays for cleaning if rain or mud marks the kimono, so ask about it when you book.

All five come from Okamoto's own list, so each is near one of its shops: Kennin-ji is 4 minutes from its Kiyomizu Higashiyama shop, and Kodaiji 2 minutes from its Gion shop.

Which kimono for which season

Okamoto's guide to visiting shrines and temples also suggests what to wear in each season.

In Kyoto in July, the Gion Festival keeps the streets busy into the night. Yumeyakata stays open later on 15 and 16 July only, the festival's Yoiyoiyama and Yoiyama nights, with last entry at 6:30 p.m. and return by 7:30 p.m.

The Kyoto Kimono Passport

The Kyoto Kimono Passport rewards you simply for being out in a kimono. Its English guide calls it "a public initiative created to encourage more people to wear kimono in the city", set up to support Japan's traditional clothing industry. The committee behind it includes Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, the Kyoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the city's weaving and dyeing unions.

It runs from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027, but each place sets its own dates. Kyoto Prefecture's announcement lists free entry and other offers at prefectural museums and commemorative gifts at temples and shrines from 1 October to 25 December, and discounts at restaurants and cafés all year. Department stores and other places will also help to put right a kimono that has come loose.

You do not need an app; the website is the passport. It gives no discounts on buses or trains, and some offers are only on certain dates, so check each place on the map before you go. Questions go to the organisers through LINE.

How to walk and behave in a kimono

The dresser puts the kimono on for you, so you can rent one without knowing how to wear it. One thing is still worth knowing: which side goes on top. Visit Kinosaki's guide to the yukata, the summer kimono, says: "Wrap the right side of the yukata around to your left hip. Then wrap the left side over the right." It also warns: "Do not cross the right side of the yukata above the left. This is how Japanese traditionally dress the dead in yukata." If your kimono comes loose during the day, check that the left side is still on top when you tuck it back.

Most visitors in a kimono head for a temple or a shrine, and Okamoto has written a guide to the manners there. It starts with what you wear: in a rental you choose the kimono, the obi and the bag yourself, so pick them with the visit in mind.

At a shrine

Shrines belong to Shinto, and the order of things there is a little different from a Buddhist temple. Okamoto describes four stages, from the torii gate to the prayer.

At a temple

At a temple, press your palms together and give a small bow at the main gate, the sanmon, and use the water basin as you would at a shrine. At the main hall, make your offering and put your hands together, but do not clap. As Okamoto puts it, "Unlike at a Shinto shrine, you do not clap your hands at a Buddhist temple". You may silently say Namu Amida Butsu or Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu, and bow once more, palms together, before you leave.

Okamoto adds that its guide covers only the basics, that customs change, and that "there is no need to follow every rule strictly". Respect matters more than getting every bow right. Kyoto's own local rules, and the laws that bind every visitor, are covered in our page on what visitors must and must not do.

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