This is a kesa’, the rectangular garment worn by Japanese Buddhist priests. Kesa are made of a sewn patchwork of cloth, the arrangement of the sections of fabric into columns surrounded by a border serving as a mandala, a symbolic rendering of the universe. The central column represents the Buddha, the two columns either side his attendants, and the four patches at the corners the cardinal directions. The act of sewing the garment is in itself a devotional pursuit.

During the Edo period (1603-1868) kesa fabric was often specially woven in Kyoto, but kesa were also made from cloth donated to temples. The fabric of this kesa was originally fashioned as a theatrical robe worn by the Komparu troup of No actors and dates to the late sixteenth-early seventeeth century. The Tokyo National Museum has such a robe made of identical fabric.