Worn Beyond the Priesthood, at the Threshold of a Rite

Unlike the kariginu, which is reserved to ordained priests, the joe is also worn by other shrine functionaries who assist at rites without holding full priestly ordination, which makes it one of the more widely worn garments in Shinto practice rather than a mark of rank as such. Its plainness suits this wider use: a garment that signals no specific grade can be worn by people who occupy no specific grade. The encyclopedic literature on Shinto practice groups the joe among the everyday working vestments of a shrine, as opposed to the small number of highly formal robes reserved for imperial rites or the grandest annual festivals, and notes that most of the visible ritual labor at an ordinary shrine, purification of worshippers, preparation of offerings, assistance at routine rites, is carried out in garments exactly like this one rather than in the more elaborate dress most visitors picture when they imagine Shinto vestment.

The garment's continuity from Heian secular wear to modern shrine service illustrates how much of Shinto material culture survives by adaptive reuse rather than by purpose built religious design. Its plain white cloth is laundered rather than replaced at the first sign of wear, since purification dress is valued for cleanliness rather than for novelty, unlike some of the more ornamented vestments reserved for major festivals.