Haori and Hakama

This past Sunday my friend Hideko invited me to visit her hometown Ishinomaki, on the coast of Miyagi. Her mother, brother and sister-in-law still live there, and own a kimono shop that has been in the family for 5 generations, about 140 years.

First we visited an old school friend of Hideko, who made an incredible lunch of "soba-maki", like nori-maki sushi rolls, but with the rice replaced by soba / Japanese buckwheat noodles. Soba-maki is a creation so good, Will Ferrell's James Lipton would describe it as "scrumtrulescent". I ate way past the point of full.

After we drove over to the kimono shop, where Hideko's family was waiting for us. Being a Sunday, the shop was quiet and without customers. Until then I had not had the opportunity to wear Japanese traditional dress, so Hideko suggested it would be the perfect place. Her brother recently added a photo studio to the shop and offered to take some pictures after I was dressed. So, after choosing a kimono (really they chose it for me), the sister-in-law led me to the fitting room. Changing out of my jeans and polo, the sister-in-law helped me into a thin silk robe/underkimono, of which I've forgotten the name. Next, "Obi"(a sash) #1 was wrapped around my waist. Then came the first part of the kimono, a pale blue-gray robe, again tightly wrapped with obi #2. Next, I stepped into the "hakama", which my dictionary calls Japanese trousers, but really is a thick, pleated skirt. The hakama also was tied tightly around me, first in the back and then in front. Finally, I put on the "haori", a formal coat of the same pale blue-gray silk, with several embroidered yellow seals. Having rather large feet by Japanese standards, I had to painfully squeeze into some faux-tabi (Japanese socks) and Japanese sandals. Fully dressed, the kimono was heavier than I expected, but also loose fitting and easy to move in. Certainly it was more comfortable than its Western equivalent, a suit and necktie. I am not sure what the kimono I was wearing cost, but I imagine it would in the thousands of dollars, by far the most expensive garment I have ever donned.



Most of the photos on my camera came out blurry, so I'll post only two for now. When I receive the professionally taken shots, I recount the story of my first photo shoot, a most humorous event...