OBI /OWE.bee/ n. in traditional Japanese dress, a sash or tie wrapped around the waist

Today’s word will often be clued in a very literal way, like [Kimono sash], [Japanese wraparound], or the slightly trickier [Geisha's tie]. But, as you can see from the sampling of previous newspaper clues below, to really foolproof yourself you’ll have to dip into the abyss of Japanese culture…

• Piece of kabuki costumery
• Shizuoka sash
• Part of a “Mikado” costume
• Traditional keikogi accessory
• Sash worn in a ryokan inn
• Noh tie

I’ll let you do the research on those! If it helps motivate you, I’ll just mention in passing that KABUKI, MIKADO, RYOKAN, and NOH are all good in Scrabble ;-)

But here’s a bit of research I have done for you…

You’ve probably noticed that traditional Japanese garb is kind of lacking in the pocket department, right? So you may have wondered where they put things. Well, for small items at least, here’s a popular answer…

 

An INRO (pronounced exactly as it should be) is a crafted container hung from an obi by a pair of cords. Now the cords need to attach to the obi somehow, and this is achieved by a decorative button-like fastener called a NETSUKE (variously pronounced /NET.skee/, /NET.skay/, or /NET.suh.kee/). Finally, you need to be able to secure the inro, and this is achieved by cord-fastening beads which are usually referred to collectively as OJIME (/OWE.ji.may/).