Ask for “something wintery” when putting together a kimono outfit, and nine times out of ten you’ll be handed a tanmono (a bolt of kimono cloth) patterned with nanten (sacred bamboo) or camellia. Both are beautiful, certainly—but if you’ve worn kimono through many winters, you may have felt a quiet “not this again” at the sight of the same two motifs. Beyond nanten and camellia, there really are other patterns suited to winter.

Winter motifs go well beyond nanten and camellia

The motifs known for winter include pine, camellia, plum, tachibana (mandarin orange blossom), nanten, bamboo, narcissus, orchid, pine needles, and snow—quite a lineup. On top of these, snow-shaped motifs such as yukiwa (snow rings) and yukimochi-zasa (snow-laden bamboo grass) are also winter standards. The choices are not limited to one or two—they’re actually quite rich. Nanten and camellia stand out simply because their red berries and petals shine against the cold season’s muted colors; they are by no means the only options.

  • Pine, bamboo, pine needles—motifs expressing the strength of evergreens
  • Plum, narcissus, orchid—motifs of flowers blooming amid the cold
  • Tachibana—an auspicious motif used from winter into early spring
  • Snow, yukiwa, yukimochi-zasa—motifs shaped like snowy scenery

Laid out this way, the depth of winter dress suddenly feels much broader. As for yukiwa, we go into detail—including why a visually cool-looking design is nonetheless classified as a winter motif—in What Is the Yukiwa Motif? A Gentle Guide to Why a Winter Pattern Can Also Be Worn in Summer.

The origin of nanten, and when to wear it

Part of why nanten is so beloved comes down to wordplay: the name sounds like the phrase for “turning away misfortune” in Japanese, so the word nanten itself carries good fortune. In the Edo period, many households reportedly planted nanten in their gardens as protection against fire and evil spirits, so its history as an auspicious motif runs quite deep. There’s something endearing about the way nanten’s red berries glow, almost like a small light, against winter’s otherwise sparse palette.

As a rough guide to timing, nanten is generally worn from October through December, and pairs easily with New Year’s dress as well. Camellia, on the other hand, is modeled on a spring-blooming flower, so it’s considered best worn around January and February. Even though both are winter motifs, nanten and camellia suit slightly different windows of time—the more you learn, the more you notice there’s a gradation even within the single season of winter.

Pine, plum, narcissus—motifs that bridge the seasons

Once you take into account the difference in timing between nanten and camellia, it becomes clear you don’t have to wear the same pattern all winter long. This is where motifs like pine, plum, and narcissus come in. Pine can be worn year-round, but combined with bamboo and plum to form the “pine-bamboo-plum” grouping, it becomes a distinctly festive, auspicious motif for the winter-into-New-Year period. Narcissus and orchid are flowers that themselves bloom in the cold, and can be worn a little earlier in the season than camellia.

Tachibana shouldn’t be overlooked either. Cherished as an auspicious motif from winter into early spring, it doesn’t stand out as much as nanten, but it carries a quiet elegance of its own—the understated charm of the motifs that tend to live in nanten and camellia’s shadow.

Yukiwa and yukimochi-zasa—another option altogether

If you’ve grown a little tired of flower and berry motifs, it’s worth turning your attention to snow-shaped patterns instead. Yukiwa depicts snow crystals through overlapping round indentations, while yukimochi-zasa shows bamboo grass leaves with snow piled on top. Both convey a wintery feeling visually, making them easy choices even for those who aren’t drawn to floral patterns. Looking closely, winter motifs turn out to fall into two families: “plants” and “weather.” Nanten and camellia belong to the former, yukiwa and yukimochi-zasa to the latter. Keeping this distinction in mind opens up far more room when choosing a pattern.

The art of combining—a small story within a single outfit

Playing with the seasons across your obi (the wide sash tied around a kimono) and accessories is one of the pleasures of wearing kimono. Pair a nanten-patterned kimono with a yukiwa-patterned obi, for instance, and you bring together winter’s two faces—abundant berries and snowy scenery—within a single coordination. Combine plum with a bush warbler motif, and you can get a head start on the shift from winter into spring; the bush warbler has long been depicted alongside plum blossoms as a herald of spring. When you’re unsure which pattern to choose, picking one plant motif and one weather motif to combine keeps the look from feeling monotonous.

If you’d like to explore seasonal motifs further, take a look at our piece on autumn dress, What Autumn Motifs Are There Besides Tatsutagawa? How to Choose Seasonal Patterns. The more you learn about motifs season by season, the richer conversations about choosing kimono become.


If this has you looking at winter motifs more closely, this introduction is organized by the season each motif belongs to, with hundreds of photographs of kimono and notes on the motifs, a handy way to keep going through the rest of the year. Please check the product page for current details.


In closing

Nanten and camellia are, without question, the representative motifs of winter. But once you factor in pine, plum, narcissus, tachibana, bamboo, and even yukiwa and yukimochi-zasa, the range of choices for winter dress opens up considerably. Keep in mind the rough guide of nanten from October to December and camellia around January and February, and you’ll have a useful reference the next time you’re choosing a bolt of cloth. In this season of cold winter winds, why not add a small story to today’s outfit?