Seijin-No-Hi & Other Bits & Pieces

Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu – A Very Happy New Year

wafuku – noun: traditional Japanese clothing

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We’ve had incredible winds here of over 100 miles per hour as Hurricane Katia reaches us here in Scotland. I hear there is even worse to come, so we’ll see. It’s frequently wet and windy in Scotland but it has been much wetter and windier than usual this year. I don’t know if it is anything to do with global warming or simply a natural cycle that happens every generation or whatever but the grey skies that have been close to constant since late summer have become depressing and make one reluctant to go outside. Scotland does not have great weather at the best of times but this has been much more severe than usual.

Below is a photograph, from http://www.sott.net, of a wind turbine in Ardrossan, not so very far from where I am, which burst into flames because of the force of the winds making it spin in the wrong direction.

Still, there has been relatively little damage, despite the roaring winds; the hut is in a bad way, a small amount of tile repair required on the roof, a huge tree came down in our adjacent little field and about 6 foot or so was blown off the tops of a few of the pines growing further down the field, where there is a small wood entirely of very tall pine trees. There are smallish branches, from the old trees surrounding the house, littering the place, the plant covered metal mesh arches have blown over, etc. but no drastic damage. An acquaintance’s car, in a tiny village about 3 miles from here, was flattened when a large tree fell on it but it was empty and parked outside his home when it happened.

There’s been some flooding in the town, which is in a valley, but my home is on a hill on the edge of the countryside, so is never going to flood.

When I think of Japan’s tsunami and other natural disasters around the world, I do admit we have been let off lightly.

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Seijin-no-Hi

January 10th was Seijin-no-Hi in Japan. Seijin-no-Hi is the Coming of Age Day when people who will have their 20th birthday in the present year all celebrate. The celebration begins by going to local government office, then to a shrine with their parents, then partying the rest of the day away with friends. Young women usually dress up in wafuku (traditional Japanese clothing) for the day, which means wearing a furisode kimono, which has exceedingly deep sleeves and beautiful patterns on it. Young men may wear wafuku too, with an ensemble of kimono, hakama and haori, though most seem to choose to wear yofuku (clothing that is not traditional Japanese clothing), usually a standard suit. Of those young men who do wear wafuku, some wear the more usual, formal ensembles, comprising montsuki kimono and haori in black and hakama with black and white or grey stripes, but some turn it up a notch and wear even more striking versions, with brightly coloured kimono and haori and hakama of bold patterns and gold brocade, sometimes seen with very contemporary hairstyles, such as spikey blonde styles etc. I love both the more sedate versions and these more gaudy ones and the mix of traditional and contemporary.

Tokyo Fashion as a blog post about Seijin-n-Hi in Tokyo so, as I’ve written about it before on this blog, you may want to visit theirs, as they have lots of lovely photos such as the one below.

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You can see more photos here on Akakusa Diary, which has, amongst others, the picture below, with young men in both contemporary and traditional clothes and both colourful (front left) and serene (front right) versions of the traditional outfit.

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Now for just a few of the furisode kimonos on my Wafuku.co.uk website…

Floral Bands

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Rainbow Peacocks with Rhinestones

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Bouquets on Purple

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Soft yellow with Fabulous Flowers

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Bright Peacocks & Rhinestone Details

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Detail on Bright Peacocks & Rhinestone Details

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Furisode Kimonos

Furisode means ‘swinging sleeves’ and there are three styles of furisode kimono, all only worn by young, umarried women:

type 1 – Ko-Furisode: the shortest sleeved furisode, with sleeves that are around 85cm in length, one might wear a ko furisode, for example, with hakama for a graduation ceremony

type 2 – Chu-Furisode: a furisode with sleeves that are around 100cm in length. “Chu” means “medium”.

Type 3 – Oh-Furisode: “oh” means big, therefore oh-furisode means big, swinging sleeves, with the longest sleeves of all the furisode type kimonos. Oh-furisode have sleeves of 114 – 115cm. This is the type that would be worn for Seijin-no-Hi. all the kimonos shown above are oh-furisode.

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3D paintings

Check out the 3D paintings by Riusuke Fukahori; he paints a layer, pours on thick layer clear lacquer, paints on that and repeats the process  until done. You can see pictures of his work here on the www.thisiscolossal.com design website, as well as a short film of him doing the work.

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Snow Monsters

It is worth having a look at these trees covered in snow and rime ice in Japan, known as “snow monsters”. You can see one photo below and lots more here on the Pink Tentacle website.

Japan’s Snow Monsters

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I really like this photograph from tokyotimes.org 

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wishing you all the best for 2012

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Haori Worn With Style + Hanami – Japan’s Cherry Blossom Viewing

wafuku – noun: traditional Japanese clothing

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Haori  Kimono Jacket – Worn With Style

Susie Lau Wearing a Japanese Haori

Style Bubble’s Susie Lau can  be seen above wearing a Japanese haori kimono jacket, with a pattern of little flying cranes all over it, over a light blue jacket and a striking dress and with amazing shoes and Bebaroque gemstone tights.  That mixing and wearing together of different patterns is a very Japanese thing. She looks extremely stylish.

This may give you an idea of the length of haori jackets and the look of their swinging, kimono sleeves. Haori jackets are very useful garments, striking when dressed up, such as Susie is, and fabulous when dressed casually in jeans or the like. Some haoris are patterned all over like Susie’s one, many have a dramatic design on the back on an otherwise plain background and some are simply self coloured with no pattern other than one in the texture of the weave of the silk. The variety is amazing and they tend to be very beautiful and eye-catching.

You can also see lots of photos of other haori being modelled, in my haori photo shoot post.

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Hanami – Japan’s Cherry Blossom Viewing.

The sakura blooms briefly, then scatters to the winds

Hanami means ‘flower viewing’ and refers to the annual tradition of cherry blossom (sakura) viewing in Japan. Originally it was plum blossom that was viewed this way in Japan but, in time, cherry blossom succeeded it and Hanami is now always cherry blossom viewing time.

The geographical location is the main factor determining blossom blooming time. The milder the climate, the earlier the blossom.

On Japan’s southern, subtropical islands of Okinawa, cherry blossoms open as early as January, while on the northern island of Hokkaido, they bloom as late as May. In most major cities in between, including Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, the cherry blossom season usually takes place around the end of March and early April.

Osaka Castle

The blossoming time also differs from year to year, depending on the weather. If the weather preceding the cherry blossom season is mild, blossoms will open early. If it is cold, blossoms will open later. From year to year, the start of the blossom season can vary by as much as two weeks.

Cherry blossom season is relatively short. Full bloom (mankai) is usually reached within about one week after the opening of the first blossoms (kaika). Another week later, the blooming peak is over and the blossoms are falling from the trees. Strong wind and rain can cut the blooming season even shorter.

How Do They Know When Hanami Will Take Place?
Not every tree in an area opens on the same day, as trees in shadowy places, for example, bloom several days later than trees in sunny places. For this reason, a set of representative sample trees is selected to define the date of kaika (the opening of the first blossoms) for each city. In Tokyo, the sample trees are located at Yasukuni Shrine. A chart is produced showing the average time of the first opening of the blossom in each area.

Cherry Blossom Kimono
Once cherry trees are in bud, it is too late in the year to wear a kimono with a cherry blossom buds design on it but one can wear a pattern of them in full bloom. When the trees are in full bloom, one can wear a design of falling cherry blossom petals. Once the petals have fallen, one stops wearing cherry blossom design until shortly before the next cherry blossom season. The pattern must stay at least one stage ahead of the blossom.

Enjoying Hanami
In some places the blossoms are lit up in the evening, which makes a glorious sight. From a distance, the trees appear as beautiful clouds, while the beauty of single blossoms can be enjoyed from close up. Hanami can be just a stroll in the park, but it traditionally also involves a picnic party under the blossoming trees. Hanami parties have been held in Japan for many centuries.

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