Noh is the classical theatre of Japan which was codified in the 14th century by the father and son actors Kan'ami and Zeami under the patronage of the Shogun (supreme military leader) Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. Under Yoshimitsu the Zen principles of restraint, understatement, economy of movement and frugality of expression became incorporated into the performance. By the early seventeenth century Noh had become an even more austere and formalised drama reserved almost exclusively for the Tokugawa family, the ruling military elite.

The term atsuita originally referred to luxury fabrics with long floating wefts of silk with gold (kinran) or silver (ginran) thread. These were imported from China as bolts rolled around thick wooden boards (atsu-ita). Around the fourteenth century warlords presented these robes to Noh actors and the costume made from such fabric became known as atsuita. The atsuita was worn under kariginu robes by male actors in the roles of warlords, gods or demons. As only small portions of the atsuita were visible their designs were often of bold geometrical patterns as on this robe.