“Dorobou-mawari,” Oyama-sensei said as she gestured with an anti-clockwise motion. We were going to take turns answering our homework questions. But the term dorobou-mawari confused us, despite the gesture. We know both words: ‘robber’ & ‘going around’ but why did she say that? Oyama-sensei explained.

“Back when people wore kimono, they tucked their wallets in the fold above their sash where the kimono overlapped. Robbers could easily slide a hand in to pick this “pocket” if they approached from the correct direction.”

We continued with our class from there, but I’m still not clear. Kimono are worn left over right, making an opening on the right. If dorobou-mawari is anti-clockwise, then the robber would come from the left and not reach the wallet… Posted by kuri at August 31, 2001 08:25 AM