Volunteer group gathers kimonos for coming-of-age ceremony in tsunami-hit area (news)
In the news….
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20111211p2a00m0na002000c.html
Volunteer group gathers kimonos for coming-of-age ceremony in tsunami-hit area
ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi — A volunteer organization in the Tokyo metropolitan area is offering a helping hand to people in a tsunami-hit district here by collecting unused kimonos to lend to women taking part in next month’s coming-of-age ceremony.
The organization, Jinrikitai, will provide the long-sleeved kimonos to women in the Ogatsu district of Ishinomaki. It is also seeking volunteers to help style the hair of ceremony participants, and calling on people to “celebrate the start of the new lives of the people who are coming of age, who will play an important part in restoration.”
SCA – Monochrome Momoyama Era Style Scrolls
For our annual Christmas Party (aka Yule Feast) I wanted to offer some gifts to those who attended my tea tasting and history class. So, I teamed up with a local artist who is also in the SCA and created these… I did the research, she did the epic art. The artist herself did great work and Im honored to have been able to make use of her fantastic talents.
*Hand made paper
*The themes in each painting is specifically tailored to a historical poem from pre-edo
*The themes and poems are tailored to a winter tea tasting
*The painting are in the sume monochrome style made popular in the momoyama.
*The scrolls themselves are not period in style..just in spirit.
The primary themes in the paintings are….
*Hares *The Moon *Plovers *Bamboo *Pine – all of which are December / winter themes
And so I present…the mini scrolls:
Maiko and Geisha have a meal with Santa
I can’t tell to be 100% certain, but I think I have a maiko as a facebook friend….
Anyways, she just posted another series of photos of herself and it included this charming picture: Tis the Season!
PS – TAG Con was a blast!
Large version of this image:
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/5696/maikosanta.jpg
TAG Con – Dec 3rd, 2011
I will be at TAG Con! I will be having an overstock clearance bin! Another year has come and gone, and its time for me to clear out old inventory and overstock in preperation for a new year!
When: Dec 3rd, 2011
Where: Owen’s community College, exact location is on the website with a map
More info at: http://glasscitycon.com/tagfest/info.html
PS – Hope you had a good ThanksGiving! Also, this is my 200th post to the blog 
Fall Kimono Shoot – Kat
The last bits of fall are here and quickly passing. So Kat and I headed out to shoot for the last time in 2011. It’s amazing how fast 2011 has gone by, and how fun it has been. In the photos the obi Kat is wear she bought from me, the kimono she got at a ‘kimono swap meet’ we had earlier this year.
Christmas is around the corner – Im hoping to do a few Christmas sales at the upcoming TAG con.
Please remember this Halloween…
Halloween is here, and so are the many bad costumes are are culturally insensitive and frankly ignorant. I saw this and wanted to share it…
Please do not support culturally oriented Halloween costumes. Most are horrible at best. Use your costuming as a great chance to learn more about other cultures, and expand your knowledge.
Coming up…..FREE STUFF TO DO!
*Dec 3rd (Saturday), is a FREE gaming con! It is called TAG (Toledo Area Gamers), and is FREE to attend! I will be there vendoring kimono, and hosting a kimono workshop. This FREE convention is going to be smaller in size, which mean no crazy crowds to fight! Website with more info is here: http://glasscitycon.com/tagfest/info.html . This is a great time to do some personal OR Christmas shopping!
*Nov 05 (Saturday) 2:00pm-3:30pm, I am hosting a FREE lecture at the Heatherdown’s Public Library about the history, evolution and life of Geisha. I will be debunking MANY wrong misconnections about them, and discussing the hundreds of years of Japanese history that took place leading up to the creation of the Geisha and what they stood and still stand for. This lecture will start in the Momoyama period of Japan and extend up into around WW2. This class is for older audiances and is recommended that attendees be at least 16 years old due to mature topics. Website: http://catalog.toledolibrary.org/record=g1001110&searchscope=0&SORT2=R
Kimono meets corset
One of my customers gave her kimono a gothic twist. Due to her rather busty shape, she can not wear kimono traditionally, all the same she really likes kimono. The kimono shown is from around WW2, and features large floral mons in silver and black. Here are the photos of her rocking out her kimono…
Old kimono advertisements from the 1980s
While researching Momoyama textiles I came across a few advertisements from the 1980s for kimono and related textiles… enjoy.
Book review batch 3 – Cleveland Museum of Art Library
This list of book reviews stems not from my personal collection, but rather the
impressive book collection housed at the Cleveland Museum of Art Library. The
Cleveland Art Museum’s Library is free and open to the public, and is the 3rd
largest in the nation. The library houses many rare, out of print, and expensive
art books. The Japanese selection is massive, with many books that have never
been published in America or in English.
I did not have time to personally reach each and every book, so much as glance
through for info relevant to our interests. I am doing this in hopes of helping
people gain new insight about the arts and learn about books for research.
Later I will be revisiting these books to get photos to share. Enjoy.
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Title: Spectacular Helmets of Japan, 16th – 19th Century
Author: Japan House Gallery
Year Published: 1986
ISBN: 0-87011-784-X
Language: English
Pages: 193
Period: Muramachi & Momoyama & Edo
Subjects: Lavish Japanese helmets with info about each helm, and insight into their motif and construction
My Thoughts: This is an amazing book, and the perfect crowning book for a library collection about Japanese armor. The photos of each helm are large, detailed, and in full color making for a striking presentation. My only complaint is that there are not multiple shots of the elm from different sides and the inside of the helm. The ‘period’ helms are very unique and certainly creative if not fierce looking. No two helmets are like among the Japanese, and tis book really drives home how unique a helm should be for a Japanese persona.
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Title: The Rise of Bizen Ceramics in the Momoyama Period
Author: Maria Roman Navarro
Year Published: 2008
ISBN: 978-3-496-01381-5
Language: English
Pages: 212
Period: Momoyama
Subjects: History, construction, and more about Bizen Ceramics in the Momoyama Period of Japan
My Thoughts: This book is very much a scholars approach to ceramics in Momoyama Japan. The back of the book include a full color catalog that has many styles. If someone enjoys Momoyama Ceramics this book is a must. This particular subject is not of interest to me, all the same I wanted to look at this book so I could recommend it to people who might be interested – as it is a very unique and focused book.
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Title: Momoyama Jidai no Senshoku #19
Author: Unknown, due to being written in Japanese
Year Published: Early Autumn 1982
ISBN: None found that I can see
Language: Purely Japanese
Pages: 180
Period: Momoyama textiles
Subjects: Lots of Momoyama garb, the likes that I have never seen elsewhere! There is also a guide on how to do what looks like Momoyama shibori in this book – WHOW!!!!
My Thoughts: OMG! This book is packed full of stunning full color high detail photos of attire from the Momoyama period! My primary interest is the Momoyama period, and even I am seeing all new testiles and examples of attire that I had never seen before! I am so inspired! I have to buy this book! I will be revisiting this book and taking many photos for documentation, as I doubt many people in the SCA have ever seen many of these period examples!
There are stunning examples of patchwork kosode that more look like a stainglass window then a kosode!
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Title: Heian, Kamakura, Muromachi no Senshoku , #23
Author:
Year Published: 1983
ISBN: None found, most likely due to being in Japanese
Language: Japanese, I saw nothing in english at all
Pages: 168
Period: Heian to Muromachi, as the title suggests
Subjects: There are some interesting clothing items in photos that I have never seen before all through this book. Most interesting are a few pages showing what I think to be monks making and blessing silk – which means it is most likely the construction and creation of sympathy silk.
My Thoughts: This book frustrated me, its a great resource but is written in Japanese. I see a lot of interesting full color and detailed photos of period garb, but I really dont know what they are! There is a stunning selection of heian attire that simply must be documented. Wen I return to this library I am getting photos of the garb in this book, I wager some of this stuff has never before been seen within the SCA.
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Title: (English translation) Medieval Japanese Textiles, (Japanese?) Senshoku : chusei hen
Author: Unknown?
Year Published: May 1988
ISBN: Unknown due to most likely being written in Japanese
Language: Japanese
Pages: 94
Periods: Heian to Momoyama? Unknown due to lack of english in the book.
Subjects: Historical Japanese attire
My Thoughts: Tis book would be such a great resource, if only it were in english or translated. There is no english in this book at all, making it for a frustrating experience. At a glance I see many period textile examples including court wear and a heian ladies attire, I also see a stunning example of a Momoyama patchwork kimono that is very high fashion. There are a few color photos, and a few black and white ones. If someone could translate this book, it would be a great resource.
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Title: The Goda Collection – Japanese Sword Fitting
Author: Robert Hamilton Rucker
Year Published: 1924
ISBN: None (Only 500 copies of this book were printed)
Language: English
Pages: 93
Periods: Mostly 17th Century to Pre-WW2, however the info is still good for insight
Subjects: Swordmakers, Swordfittings, Insight into terms and designs for sword fittings
My Thoughts: Masauji Goda lived from 1844 – 1917. In the first pages of the book is a photo of Goda, formally dressed in his kimono, haori, and hakama with his swords by him as his sits kneeling on the ground with a folded fan before him. Though he is aged he looks noble and to have been a wide and great man. In fact the intro in the book for this man lists him as a scholarly gentleman.
This book is packed full of great antique sword fittings with history, details, and insight to each of the sittings and their designs. There also is a catalog o the families and individual swordsmiths through Japanese history such as: Umetada, Miochin, and more. There are many black and white photos of the collection, with descriptions and the source of the fittings. What I find very valuable is in te back of the book there is a nice glossary of terms in reference to their construction, and art styles – something I have not seen in any other book. This precious antique book is a must for a serious Japanese Sword Collector.
In the back of this book, it states that only 500 copies of this book were printed. Good luck finding one.
