Rebecca’s Reflections
Japanese Dance, Kimono, and Folded Memories: The Dancing Fan
The dancer enters the stage slowly, her feet sliding across the polished wood of the stage. With silent, measured movements she opens her paper fan, one fold at a time, turns her back and waits for the strum of the shamisen to fill the theater. Holding her fan above...
Learning Kimono
Most Japanese today do not wear kimono, and when they do, it is only for special occasions like weddings or graduations. And then, the wearer is almost always a woman. Because women wear kimono so infrequently, they have lost confidence in their ability to wear the...
Kimono Culture
What interests me about the kimono (and the many accoutrements that attend the wearing of the garment), is the way it is always much more than just a covering for the body. As with all garments, it carries meaning beyond its mere functionality. Let’s look a little...
Kimono Language
Kimonos exist in both tangible and intangible forms. Having worked on modern Japanese women’s writing for several decades now, I am constantly aware of the attention to the detail of dress—more often than not to kimono. And the references are there not just to provide...
Kimono Spirit
A kimono is more than just a garment. It’s a container of memory. For many it’s a living entity. By that, I don’t mean kimonos get up and walk on their own. No, they are animated by the body that wears them. But in some sense, the kimono also absorbs the energy that...