Some friends have taken up kitsuke and gotten licensure in the discipline of kimono dressing. They look awesome when they turn up for events all dolled up in carefully put together.Some friends have taken up Nihon Buyo, traditional dance in various genres. I haven't made time for it myself, but I sometimes attend performances. It's fabulous.Me, I put in decades working on a martial art. It's a bottomless source of culture and language learning besides the martial training itself. Some senior teachers depend on me to translate for visiting students which demands a lot of my language, culture, and martial knowledge. A source I return to is Ogasawara-ryu, the martial school that transmits samurai etiquette and was adopted by the imperial house and some corporations. It's intricate and fascinating covering everything from how to bow correctly to table manners to how to handle money.
I've done more in pottery than any other Japanese craft. I've helped out at a lot of different wood-fired kilns. There are many places all over Japan where you can try out making pottery. Most of them fire your works in a gas or electric kiln, but it's still a lot of fun. I've added two photos I took on Monday (April 24) at Takatori Hassen kiln in Koishiwara, Asakura-gun in Fukuoka prefecture. The kiln that was fired on Sunday/Monday was a tan-gama (単窯) a single chamber kiln with furnace on both sides of the central chamber where the ceramics are housed. The climbing kiln below it is multi-chambered (four for the ceramics) and fired at the bottom. Because of its massive size, the climbing kiln isn't fired very often. I do quite a few crafts, including making dried flowers, ikebana, leather crafts, and wearing kimono. I have three kimono–denim, silk, and wool. Because I am fairly big, most used kimono don't fit, so I had all three made for me. I wear the kimono at events. Most recently, I wore the denim kimono during an event I organized featuring a kamishibai (paper drama) that I have produced during the past two years. The drawings are all made by students (high school and university) and when we do another reading this year at the university, I plan to wear kimono again.
Personally I dont think I have. but a lot of my (foreign) friends have fallen in love with kimono. Some of them took kitsuke (wearing) lessons, some others just figured it out by themselves. my friends say it’s very easy to find affordable kimono in secondhand stores and love to collect them ^^
Some friends have taken up kitsuke and gotten licensure in the discipline of kimono dressing. They look awesome when they turn up for events all dolled up in carefully put together. Some friends have taken up Nihon Buyo, traditional dance in various genres. I haven't made time for it myself, but I sometimes attend performances. It's fabulous. Me, I put in decades working on a martial art. It's a bottomless source of culture and language learning besides the martial training itself. Some senior teachers depend on me to translate for visiting students which demands a lot of my language, culture, and martial knowledge. A source I return to is Ogasawara-ryu, the martial school that transmits samurai etiquette and was adopted by the imperial house and some corporations. It's intricate and fascinating covering everything from how to bow correctly to table manners to how to handle money.
I've done more in pottery than any other Japanese craft. I've helped out at a lot of different wood-fired kilns. There are many places all over Japan where you can try out making pottery. Most of them fire your works in a gas or electric kiln, but it's still a lot of fun. I've added two photos I took on Monday (April 24) at Takatori Hassen kiln in Koishiwara, Asakura-gun in Fukuoka prefecture. The kiln that was fired on Sunday/Monday was a tan-gama (単窯) a single chamber kiln with furnace on both sides of the central chamber where the ceramics are housed. The climbing kiln below it is multi-chambered (four for the ceramics) and fired at the bottom. Because of its massive size, the climbing kiln isn't fired very often. I do quite a few crafts, including making dried flowers, ikebana, leather crafts, and wearing kimono. I have three kimono–denim, silk, and wool. Because I am fairly big, most used kimono don't fit, so I had all three made for me. I wear the kimono at events. Most recently, I wore the denim kimono during an event I organized featuring a kamishibai (paper drama) that I have produced during the past two years. The drawings are all made by students (high school and university) and when we do another reading this year at the university, I plan to wear kimono again.
Personally I dont think I have. but a lot of my (foreign) friends have fallen in love with kimono. Some of them took kitsuke (wearing) lessons, some others just figured it out by themselves. my friends say it’s very easy to find affordable kimono in secondhand stores and love to collect them ^^