Kimono shoot with Junko :)

Early in December Junko and I decided that for our last lesson before Christmas vacation we would do a brief kimono wearing and ikebana lesson, instead of our usual weekly shodo lesson. Junko wanted to get my hair professionally done kimono style (which we did) and then wanted me to wear the kimono out to a restaurant with her and her family (which we didn't do :)). The kimono were quite difficult to sit in and couldn't imagine actually having food and a beer and still being able to breath so we knixed that idea.

I enjoyed trying them on because I love the textiles and colors, but it was quite a time consuming process. I'm amazed that women were able to do it alone every morning. It was a good experience though.


Here the "obi"(fabric around the waste) is tied yukata style in a bow.

This is the calculation sketch for ikebana, much more complicated than I thought and this is just the basic style! The tallest plant must be 80cm, the second is 2/3 of that and the third is 1/2 the height of the first. The plants are always organized in a triangle and represent whatever is seasonally growing at that time.

These pictures are posed, I didn't really do this knealing as you're supposed to. Chairs are just more comfortable...

Junko tying the obi on me.