So today I went to the end-of-semester/class party for the free kimono dressing lessons I've been taking. :) It was a lot of fun and I look forward to taking more classes starting next month!
Out of curiosity, when did you start learning Japanese? Although I lived in Kyoto when I was growing up, my grasp of the language is pretty shaky--about what you'd expect of a 5 year-old who never was expected to compose complex sentences or understand the nuances of polite language, which is what I was when I left. :) I'm 21 now and I've started to work on legitimately learning the language, but it feels like I'm always working against a massive uphill slope!
And again out of curiosity, how often do you get the chance to apply your (evidently excellent) kimono-dressing skills? I know it isn't common to see people wandering around in traditional dress anymore... I know it used to be that you would see some very elderly people continuing to wear kimono in their daily lives, but if my own (rather conservative) Japanese family is anything to go by, that generation has pretty much passed on by now.
I taught myself katakana and hiragana right before I came over, and that was all I knew in the beginning of my life in Japan. I've actually lived in Japan twice, this being the second time around with a large gap in-between: in total it's almost six years now.
My Japanese is certainly not fluent, but I'm trying to work on it everyday. Good luck with your studies! :)
As far as wearing kimono, (thank you for the compliment, but I have a lot to work on!) you are correct in that it isn't common, with most wearers older ladies.
However, there is a small but strong trend among young and adult women to bring kimono back as daily wear. Magazines like Nana-o, Utsukushii Kimono, and such are aimed at these women, and for example on Rakuten you can find thousands of easy-wear washable kimono. There's also the "de Jack" groups, which organize kimono meetups once a month in major cities.
As for me, I wear kimono, outside of class, once or twice a month for fun as part of this daily wear trend. :)
Not bad! :) It's encouraging to come across so many people who are able to learn the language as an adult.
I'm sure that's true (that you have a lot to work on)--kimono are, shall we say, complicated. Still, they're beautiful, unique pieces of clothing that I would love to see becoming more popular. It makes me happy that many Westerners seem to be interested as well! :D
I'm going to have to go and check out those magazines. I could probably get away with wearing kimono occasionally since I live in NYC and in NYC, there is no such thing as looking weird, haha!
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Out of curiosity, when did you start learning Japanese? Although I lived in Kyoto when I was growing up, my grasp of the language is pretty shaky--about what you'd expect of a 5 year-old who never was expected to compose complex sentences or understand the nuances of polite language, which is what I was when I left. :) I'm 21 now and I've started to work on legitimately learning the language, but it feels like I'm always working against a massive uphill slope!
And again out of curiosity, how often do you get the chance to apply your (evidently excellent) kimono-dressing skills? I know it isn't common to see people wandering around in traditional dress anymore... I know it used to be that you would see some very elderly people continuing to wear kimono in their daily lives, but if my own (rather conservative) Japanese family is anything to go by, that generation has pretty much passed on by now.
I taught myself katakana and hiragana right before I came over, and that was all I knew in the beginning of my life in Japan. I've actually lived in Japan twice, this being the second time around with a large gap in-between: in total it's almost six years now.
My Japanese is certainly not fluent, but I'm trying to work on it everyday. Good luck with your studies! :)
As far as wearing kimono, (thank you for the compliment, but I have a lot to work on!) you are correct in that it isn't common, with most wearers older ladies.
However, there is a small but strong trend among young and adult women to bring kimono back as daily wear. Magazines like Nana-o, Utsukushii Kimono, and such are aimed at these women, and for example on Rakuten you can find thousands of easy-wear washable kimono. There's also the "de Jack" groups, which organize kimono meetups once a month in major cities.
As for me, I wear kimono, outside of class, once or twice a month for fun as part of this daily wear trend. :)
Not bad! :) It's encouraging to come across so many people who are able to learn the language as an adult.
I'm sure that's true (that you have a lot to work on)--kimono are, shall we say, complicated. Still, they're beautiful, unique pieces of clothing that I would love to see becoming more popular. It makes me happy that many Westerners seem to be interested as well! :D
I'm going to have to go and check out those magazines. I could probably get away with wearing kimono occasionally since I live in NYC and in NYC, there is no such thing as looking weird, haha!
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