When I moved to Japan last summer I remember spotting a woman dressed in a kimono on the train and thinking to myself “I’ve spotted my first geisha! But why isn’t she wearing her makeup?†Later I was informed of my rookie mistake. In fact, she was no geisha, but rather an ordinary Japanese woman…
You see them walking down the street on the way to a wedding. You see them wrapped around white-faced maiko as they flutter past you in Gion. You see them at summer festivals and accompanying the click-clack of wooden geta along the riverfront of Kinosakionsen. The Japanese kimono. There is nothing else like it. For…
Every movement in Japanese art has meaning and purpose, and is done with precision and perfection. In the simplest way I could put it, I love kitsuke because it is essentially folding fabric in beautiful shapes, creating the most flattering lines for the female body that can find a balance between being provocative and demure. …
If you read my basic 101 article, you can see how Kimono is quite an expensive tradition. If you are a gaijin girl who is not as lucky as the many J-girls in this generation who inherit a closet-full amount of kimono from their mothers, are not bloody rich, or do not have a fairy-obaa-chan, I’ll give you a quick run down on how to get real quality, traditional kimonos, at decent prices.