Koromogae refers to the change in one’s wardrobe to adapt to seasonal changes in weather. It includes a change in the clothing worn as well as putting away the previous season’s clothes and taking out the new season’s clothes. Generally, warmer and darker coloured clothing worn during winter are exchanged for lighter and brighter coloured clothes in summer.
Whilst Koromogae day falls on 1st June and 1st October, a transitional period of 2 weeks to 1 month is common. Students and workers who are required to don uniforms have summer uniforms (夏服 “natsu fuku”) to be worn from June to September and winter uniforms (冬服 “fuyu fuku”) from October to May.
 | ||||||||
| E.g. of Koromogae |
Koromogae is a tradition which dates all the way back to the Heian period (794 to 1185) where the Emperor had different sets of clothing for summer and winter. This practice was referred to as 更衣（”koui”）and took place on 1st April and 1st October of the lunar calendar. Since 更衣 (”koui”) referred only to the seasonal change in clothing for the Emperor, the change for the people was called koromogae instead. Over time, the change was not only restricted to clothing but also extended to furniture as well.
The Meiji period (1868 to 1912) saw the seasonal change in clothing revert back to two times a year. The government issued 2 sets of uniforms to government officials, military and police. In 1873, Japan started using the solar calendar instead of the lunar calendar. With this change, the designated dates of Koromogae came to be on 1st June and 1st October of each year.
During the Edo period (1603 to 1868), 2 more changes in clothing were introduced. These were short transitional changes preceding the changes for summer and winter respectively. This led to an increase in the types of kimonos worn as well as the sets of uniforms issued to the military.
