My First Kimono

My First Kimono

by | Sep 23, 2020 | Japanese Culture

Mother bought me a kimono of my own for my birthday. When she understood my love of Japanese dance and my deep and growing interest in Japanese culture, she wanted me to have a kimono. She had one. Or at least she had, had one. When she lived in Japan in the 1950s a...
Cherry Blossoms and Samurai Drinking Songs

Cherry Blossoms and Samurai Drinking Songs

by | Sep 9, 2020 | Japanese Culture

I learned three dances that year. I started with “Sakura” (Cherry blossom). Everyone starts with “Sakura.” Lydia was ahead of me in her lessons. So Ura Sensei taught her the more difficult “Kuroda bushi” or “Song of the Kuroda Samurai,” ostensibly a “drinking song”...
First Steps in Dance and Kimono

First Steps in Dance and Kimono

by | Aug 26, 2020 | Japanese Culture

I had my first experience with Japanese dance, or Nihon buyō, in 1976. I was 19 and living in Fukuoka with my missionary parents. It was my third trip to Japan, but the first one I really remembered. My first trip was in 1956, when I was born on the kitchen table in...
Learning Kimono

Learning Kimono

by | Jul 15, 2020 | Japanese Culture

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...