During Japan’s Edo period (1600-1868), it was customary for young, unmarried women to wear furisode, a type of robe with long, hanging sleeves. Young women of the merchant and warrior classes preferred opulent, even somewhat flamboyant designs. The design and decoration of this robe suggest that it was once a furisode for a younger woman, but it's sleeves were probably shortened so that its owner could continue to wear it after she was married. It is lavishly decorated with an overall pattern of peonies, chrysanthemums, wisteria, and chu_kei (a type of folding fan). The underlying figured silk damask has been dyed with benihana (safflower), to produce the robe's beautiful, reddish-orange color, appropriate for young women.