Kimono Wearing Class in English in Meguro Tokyo

Only Three Lessons, you will be able to dress in kimono on your own. 

Lessons will be set up on request bases. 
Please read details here, and contact Shino!

Furisode lesson, beautiful results!

We had a special furisode lesson today. Furisode is formal kimono for unmarried (young) woman. Usually other(s) help dressing since it has long sleeves and a obi sash for a furisode is heavy.

 But they dressed up on their own!

Knots are arrangement of bunko tie.

Make wings in front,

Squeeze your stomach and then turn it on your back!

I am so so so happy to see these young ladies in gorgeous furisode!

Fun to select a set of kimono for a French samurai and a furisode lover

I appreciate this blog introduce me many kimono fans. Recently, I had fun kimono shopping with them.


Marine, who is eager to wear furisode on her own, enjoyed furisode watching (not shopping) at a kimono wholesale. There are various beautiful furisodes!

Brice, a samurai movie fan who just arrived in Japan, selected a set of kimono with me at Chicago in Harajuku. He got a how to tie sash lesson by me in a fitting room, and went out from the shop in kimono.  

This is in total 13,000 yen coordination with juban under kimono, kimono robe, obi sash, haori short coat and two cords. He was lucky to find a kimono for his height.

And then, we practice how to eat Japanese lunch in kimono. Since to handle kimono sleeves properly is a bit difficult for a first timer.

Sushi, kimono and culture: Dining with locals on a visit to Japan

What a honor, AP editor who came to my sushi class, wrote about me. Even The Washington Post and New York Times introduced the article.

What I was wearing was a wool kimono from my husband's grandma. It is a bit small for me, but I love to wear since smaller kimono is much better for such cooking jobs than a longer kimono!

I also wore kimono apron to hold kimono sleeves and a triangular gauze towel on my head. This is traditional housewife style when doing house chores.

Please read her article from here.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/acd1c39430a848a08bcda1b899c59ee6/sushi-and-culture-dining-locals-visit-japan

She wrote a lot about I didn't realized. I respect this is real professional job.

The quickest kimono learner from Swiｔzerland

Sahana who traveled around Japan came to learn how to wear kimono on her last day in Japan.
Please see how quickly she learned and wore kimono so nicely.

Because she was born in India and knows well about sari/saree which length is 5 meter and width is 1.2 meter, it may be easy for her to wear kimono which made of just 30 centimeter width (12 meter length).

We talked a lot about the similarity and the difference between sari and kimono. It was a great fun! Please see how she introduced our kimono moment on her facebook.

Thank you Sahana for finding me! Next time, let's shop around Harajuku/Asakusa. I know various kimono shops from 1,000 yen to hundreds thousand yen!

Sushi Lesson in Kimono

Not only how to wear kimono, I also teaching how to cook in kimono.

I and my kimono cooking mate Akiko wear kimono aprons over kimono. White head wrapping and white kimono apron are typical/classic Japanese cooking style.

American world travelers Chris and Jeff came to my house to cook and eat together.

We sliced fish for sushi and made a miso soup.

How they found us are on their media Qurious Minds. Jeff also enjoyed Japanese local craft beers he got at my nearby local liquor shop.

 Cheers! and let's eatwith!

Let's find why kimono is easy to wear!

How nice I got Miriam from Hong Kong to our kimono class. Not only practicing how to wear kimono, we enjoyed chatting about each other's traditional garments.

Kimono is also called gofuku which means Go (呉, one of the countries in ancient China) Fuku (服 clothes). Since the weaving techniques for kimono cloth came from there. What is more, kimono has similar shape with Chinese traditional garment Hanfu (漢服).

Miriam pointed some difference between Chinese qipao dress and Japanese kimono. Qipao is easy to wear, and reveals woman's figure completely.

For us, kimono is easier to wear since it hides our figure. You shouldn't go on a diet or wear a shape-up bra. Only you must consider is forming your back neck collar in the sexiest way. Kimono is easy, right?

Honeymoon Kimono Lesson!

A honeymoon couple from Canada visited my house to study how to wear kimono.

They just married 5 days ago and they just arrived Japan yesterday. Wow!

If you have a husband to tie a obi sash on your back, kimono is easy to wear.

They promised to wear kimono and would go to a party in their hometown. How lovely they are!

Thank you Caroline and Erik for your interests on kimono. Sorry for my husband's kimono was too short for 7 feet (203cm) high newly-married husband... But he studied hard and dressed his wife quite nicely and pretty. I envy you, Caroline!

What to Wear on Boat at Sea

As a reporter of Cruise Travel Magazine, I cruised 7 days round trip from Tokyo bay, visited Korea and Nagoya  with my kimono mate Rie.

I tied a boat obi and a mountain and wave obi on a tatewaku rising steam kimono. It was fun to wear obis and kimonos relate to a ship and sea.

On two formal nights, we swapped each other's homongi so we wore a different kimono every night! This is the best way to save kimono when we travel. Traveling in kimono should be with lady friends. Not with a man...

On the second formal night, Rie tied a gold kiribame tessellate hanhaba obi. I tied a silver ryusui flowing water fukuro obi. Both were gorgeous enough on near 140,000 tonnage huge cruise ship, right?

New Kimono Graduates! I almost cry...

Only three lessons, they were like long-time kimono wearers!

Anouk (left) wore her grandma in law's kimono. Kate (right) wore mine. I didn't help them to wear. I didn't touch them. Just explained how to wear. And then they made it!

I almost cried when they completed. Another two wearers joined in the kimono world. Welcome!

Thank you for friends met on internet

I was introduced on a kimono magazine as a unique person who found lots of international kimono lovers on internet. That was quite natural for me but quite strange for the magazine editor.

I explained the editor, because there were foreign kimono lovers who introduced kimono in English on Youtube or who integrate kimono into her own art, I can't stop adoring them.
The editor was so amazed. She must remember what we talked.

The editor also introduced my obi lesson DVD that I sing and show how to tie obi. It is in Japanese and very hard to do it in English. But someday, I will try!

12 Layered Kimono was Heavy!

I visited free 12 layered kimono wearing experience since a brochure was in my post box. I knew it was a kind of sales promotion of kimono school but I pretended I didn't know about it and visited them in kimono.

But they kindly dressed me 12 layered kimono which was court ladies kimono in 10th century.

Of course what I am wearing is not 1000 years old. Each one is very light silk kimono but if you have it with 12 layers, it is warm (hot) and very heavy on shoulders. 

Behind the scene of "Unexpected Kimono Experience"

Julián Medina who is a Colombian, and won the worldwide Havana Club Gap Year competition which has given him the chance to travel abroad to 12 different countries for 13 months, dropped my house.

Japan is his 6th country and he already spent about 20 days in Japan so I should think about what was the "special experience" for him to make him surprised.

Of course it was Kimono!

Please read what he thought when I told it to him. LOL!

I contacted the person that was going to teach me how to make sushi, she told me to meet her at 4pm at Meguro Station (Not Mejiro, she said) I was very careful not to go to Mejiro and made it at 4 to Meguro.

I was meeting Shino at the station, she was wearing Kimono as she said earlier when she gave me the indications.

She welcomed me and said “Thank you for coming to the kimono wearing experience and sushi making lesson”

Wait, am I going to wear a Kimono? I did not have that on my schedule, too many things came through my mind, I even thought about running away when I had a picture in my head of me wearing a dress like the one she was wearing. (I know, I should have known that there are Kimonos for men) but I didn’t.

That’s why I was so scared.

I didn't imagine I scared him at all. Really naturally and quickly, I made him dressing my husband's kimono and tied my uncle's obi sash. His hairdo was just like a samurai, wasn't it?

What unexpected for me was he could sit on knees just for 10 seconds. So we gave up to serve tea for him in our tatami room. this is the only picture shot in that rare 10 seconds.  

After tacking his sleeves with a tasuki cord, we made various vegetarian sushis. We but Julián missed fish a bit but my vegetarian sushi recipe worked well because he awarded them "Vegetarian Heaven". What an honor!

Rest of the party, please read his blog "DAY 172 / DIA 172 MY UNEXPECTED KIMONO EXPERIENCE."

It was so exciting to know his round-the-world trip story. Amazing to know he travel around just with two back-packs. Actually one front pack and one back pack! I couldn't say I traveled with a 80 litter luggage  with kimonos and obi sashes just for a week trip!!!

Not only a kimono class, I am offering sushi making class for sushi  lovers. Details, please see HERE!
>>SLICE AND ROLL THE SUSHI WAY (WITH A SUPERMARKET TOUR!)
>>SUSHI COOKING LESSON AFTER FISH MARKET TOUR 

Obi Lesson: Aha Moment After Entanglement!

We had obi lesson today.
Previous lesson which focusing on kimono was quite smooth.

You can't find some of above five wore kimono for their first time. (obi was tighten by me)

But today, obi lesson, beginning was a mess.

We bound our body with a obi, turned 3 times, clipped, tied and made a obi drum behind us with sweat (and tears...)!  

However,  once you grasp the techniques, it become much easier than the first time.
And then, please see, these beautiful obi musubi!

Autumn Kimono Class Started!

With just three times lessons, these ladies become perfect kimono wearer! I will have a same course in English in November. if you would like to join, please contact me.

I also plan to have Asakusa kimono shops tour in November. We will visit over 20 kimono retailers and wholesales in Asakusa and Nihonbashi. It is around about 3 hours short trip, but you must be excited to see both cutting-edge and quite traditional kimono industry trend in Tokyo!