Audiences were quietly and seriously listening (this is typical Japanese manner) during the lecture part; kimono category, kaku status and history. However, when the question and answer session started, they were completely changed. Some of them brought uncertain origin kimonos and obis from their grand mothers. What these motifs are? Can I wear this, when and how? Is this OK for my age? How can I coordinate these???
Yes it's sakura season again so I wear pink. However, when I checked Traditional Japanese Color Names, I found there is sakura color #fef4f4 and pale sakura color, #fdeff2. I realized these sakura colors are much lighter than western pink.
When I interviewed a photo studio owner in Asakusa, she confidently answered the most popular costume her customers requested were Oiran. Since Asakusa was closed to oiran's hometown. 
My another New Year Celebration is from Poland. We rarely see Kadomatsu new year pine decoration in recent Japan, (sadly Christmas trees are more popular now), so I was surprised when it came from Poland. Washi Artist Mariola made it!
Japanese want to have something new when welcoming New Year. I had planed to get new obi from my favorite kimono shop. But..when I visited second time after I made up my mind "I gonna get it!", it was disappeared.... So I wore my mother's old obi as new. Now my mother's waist is about double of mine, but the obi is a bit short for me. Does this mean that I would have triple waist size when I would become my mother's current age?
At the exhibition for Japanese cultural experience, I met a Japanese dyeing class student whose kimono design was tremendous momiji autumn leaf. She and her aunt studied Isshiki Tsujigahana tie-dyeing method and now are studying yuzen dyeing. (On the picture, the right lady wears momiji autumn leaf yuzen dyeing and the left lady wears tie-dyeing. how gorgeous kimonos they wear!) 
To show my respect to all kimono dyeing method, I wore sarasa calico dyeing. Do you know? The word sarasa calico came from Portuguese altough currently sarasa doesn't exist in Portugal any more.
I am not a crazy fan, and not a protester of Japan’s royal family, just I like watching her kimonos. All of them are state of the art. All Japan’s kimono crafting techniques are concentrated. The artisans were young and their golden age when they made these kimonos for her. And now, they are retired and have few successors.
To see wives of shogun samurai generals' kimono (kosode), I visited the exhibition “Art of the Tokugawa shogunate and the end of the feudal age” in Yokohama. It will be until Nov 23th.
Finally I could meet Berber Misuchi from Netherland. A queen of kimono kitsuke blog. She was amazing. What else I can say!? She was invited by Cultural Exchange Institute and made a speech. She talked about her history and challenge collecting kimonos and its information. I have never seen a person studying how to wear kimono only from a book. Other Japanese attendees neither. Her kitsuke, coordination and kimono manner were perfect. We (most of them were guide-interpreter) were just amazed and deeply impressed to hear how kimonos were loved by her.
(After the speech, she was like a star!)
I read an autobiography of a rakugoka comic story teller, 志ん生 Shinsho, who was born in 1890, Meiji era. Although he was a son of samurai family, he was poor because of drinking, gambling, and playing at hanamachi red district. His description about how poor he was is so funny and tell us old kimono habits in early 20 century.
I wrote about kimono for Tokyo Journal, English magazine published in Japan. I heard it was sold in some foreign cities. If you find it, please read the kimono article.
On my birthday, hoping a unique event, I asked to take me to Geisha Show! There are some reasonable tours for travelers. I heard English geisha tours were much popular than for Japanese, but this night, I met none of non-Japanese.
Too hot to wear kimono. This is my first time in August. I am afraid I would forget how to wear kimono…
At the window facing west, I grow a bitter melon, a vine plant to block scorching sun. Not only being a sunshade, it provided me a small bitter melon. I sautéed it and ate with beer. Yummy!
I joined tea ceremony which was held in English. Either in Japanese or in English, this was my first tea ceremony experience. Since I hate Japanese confectionaries, -I can’t eat sweet azuki bean paste, how poor Japanese I am!- I avoided the opportunity to attend tea ceremonies. Because I knew attendees must eat tea cakes and must appreciate them….
Do you have ice pad in your area? These sheets are so useful to cool down the body when we wear kimono in the hot season. Usually it is put on fevered kid’s forehead. I wrap my upper arms with these sheets. I can’t stand without them in summer. Insert ice block between kimono and obi knot might be cooler but obi will get wet. Only with non-silk obi, you can try ice block on back.
