Embroidered spring flowers, butterflies and paulownia flower pattern.

Fukuro obi (袋帯, "pouch obi") is the most formal obi actually used today.  The fukuro obi has replaced the heavy traditional formal maru obi.  Fukuro obi is made so that the part that will not be visible when worn is of smooth, thinner and lighter silk.  When worn, a fukuro obi is almost impossible to tell from a traditional maru obi.  This Fukuro obi has patterns only in the parts that will be prominent when the obi is worn in the common taiko musubi, and much lighter than the traditional maru obi.

Width: 12 inches

Length:  14 feet

* Paulownia is known in Japanese as kiri (桐), specifically referring to P. tomentosa; it is also known as the "princess tree".  It was once customary to plant a Paulownia tree when a baby girl was born, and then to make it into a dresser as a wedding present when she married