Meisen appeared in the 1910s and first became something close to a uniform for schoolgirls. More than that, the sharp rise in the number of young women entering higher education was what set the demand for this affordable silk kimono on fire. The... Read More | Share it now!
Among the patterns on kimono and obi, kikkō (the tortoise-shell hexagon) is one of the most frequently seen. The hexagonal shape has long been a symbol of unchanging strength. It is the same hexagon that is called the tortoise’s shell in East... Read More | Share it now!
At a fair of long-established Kyoto shops in a Sapporo department store,, I bought an early-summer fresh sweet. A green leaf wrapped around smooth red-bean paste. It is called otoshibumi. Jōnamagashi are the highest grade of wagashi, served at the... Read More | Share it now!
From the port of Yokohama, Japanese raw silk took two roads. One ran east across the Pacific—the modern Silk Road that carried Japanese silk to the factories of New York. The other ran north to Gunma Prefecture, where the government’s model... Read More | Share it now!
When my wife and I were running a vintage kimono shop, an order for a fukuro obi came in from Bhutan. I took the package to the small post office near our home, and the woman at the counter looked at the address and tilted her head. “Bhutan…?... Read More | Share it now!