This woven silk piece, Karaori, is renowned for its use in Noh shōzoku. Noh shōzoku are costumes for one of Japan's classical performing art forms, Noh, dating back to the 14th century. Featuring a lightweight base weave, thicker threads are woven into the design, accentuating a three-dimensional and voluminous texture. Despite its appearance it is lightweight: a key design feature for its purpose use. Typically, a spectrum of colors is employed to depict the pattern; however, for this piece, threads of varied black textures only are used to convey the design.