Is the same kimono worn until the final day of the run?

A kabuki run lasts about a month, with many days carrying two performances. Whether the same costume is worn from first day to last is a natural question, and the answer is: it depends on the layer.

The principal outer garment — the sumptuous part the audience sees — is, as a rule, the same one throughout, because a hand-made great piece cannot simply be duplicated. In compensation it is aired after every curtain and the damp of sweat drawn out, while the inner layers are built to stop the sweat before it reaches the outer garment at all. Between these two measures the month is carried.

The inner layers — under-robe, half-collar, tabi — are kept in multiples and rotated. They are of washable material and go to the laundry when soiled; the half-collar, which takes the makeup, is changed frequently. So "the same costume" describes what is visible from outside; inside, it is replaced daily. And after senshūraku the outer garment returns to the company that keeps it, receives its full maintenance, and waits for the next occasion. Note in passing that the character used to write senshūraku is said to have been chosen to avoid the one for "autumn," which contains the element for fire. In a wooden playhouse, fire was the great enemy. The costume, too, has always been wished safely to the last day.