Travel Alphabet History (K) Kimono
In 2010, I went to Japan with Shamma, my best friend from high school. We had always talked about going ever since we were in high school and had been actively planning the trip for two years.
My favorite city in Japan was Kyoto. It was modern but it had this strong cultural and historical feel to it. It was very common to see women walking around wearing kimonos as natural as everyday clothing. We walked through the Ponto Cho district with our tour guide and she pointed out the geisha theater and suggested that we check out a nightly performance there. Back at our hotel after our walking tour was over, she mentioned that there was a kimono rental shop and for the equivalent of 30 dollars we could rent a kimono for a full day. Shamma and I had bought yukata’s in Tokyo, which are cheaper lightweight cotton summer kimonos. The kind you can actually afford. But the rental shop was for the real deal genuine article.
We decided to check out the geisha performance and have a ceremonial tea before the show started. Shamma insisted that we rent kimonos and wear them to the theater. I was a bit on the fence about the idea. Although it sounded awesome I wasn’t sure how we would look wearing kimonos. Would we look utterly ridiculous or out of place? Would the Japanese people gawk at us? Shamma really wanted to wear them to the performance so we went ahead and scheduled an appointment for the next day.
I was really impressed by Shamma. The sales lady spoke a little English, but Shamma met her halfway and talked to her in Japanese like it was her second language. I don’t really know what they talked about, but Shamma set up the appointment for us. The next day we went over. Shamma was able to pick out her kimono right away. I had some trouble trying to decide. There were so many different colors and designs. I settled on a light blue one with pink and black flowers on it.
The sales ladies were so kind. Everything about the culture of Japan is polite, proper and happy. I’ve never met a sales person so genuinely enthusiastic. We walked over to the dressing room. I forgot to take my shoes off before entering and felt so bad when they kindly asked me to take them off I rushed back out to take them off before returning. They proceeded to dress us. I couldn’t believe how many belts putting on a kimono involved until my waist was non-existent. They let us pick out what shoes we wanted and I rented a purse to go with my outfit. One of the ladies even did my hair up. They offered to take our picture and make us a photo book for the equivalent of 20 dollars.
As we left the rental shop fully dressed I said to Shamma, “Walk it like you own it” in confidence. I still wasn’t sure how we’d be received by the Japanese but I did feel good. We went back to our hotel room for a few minutes to take some pictures and get some things. Then we headed to the theater. We were actually quite well received. All the Japanese people we interacted with seemed happy and impressed by us. We took a taxi and as soon as we got in the driver looked at us and said, “Very nice.” While at the theater, I had sat down and crushed the bow on the back of my kimono. As I got up and started walking, I suddenly felt someone on my back. I turned around and there was a woman helping to fix it. It was such a small but prominent act of kindness from a total stranger. I’ll never forget it.
We watched the geisha make the tea during the ceremony, drank some and ate a bean paste cake. After drinking the tea and eating the cake, everyone in the theater wrapped up their plate in the tissue paper on the table and took it with them. Although it seemed odd at first, Shamma and I followed suit. The first half of the show was like a narrative play about a criminal who takes refuge in a geisha house and meets his childhood sweetheart there. After hiding him from the guards, they decide to flee together. I did not understand a word of anything anyone said, but the story was self explanatory. The second half was all performance. The geishas danced with fans and musical instruments showing off their talents. There was a very colorful climax with kimonos of every color, golden fans, flowers and high vocal singing.
It was even interesting to see the other people in the theater. Some of the men even had geishas on their arm as their escorts. One even had two. They didn’t really want to have their pictures taken by tourists though. Even though I wish I had had the time to sneak a picture of a real life geisha, we were cutting it close to returning the kimono rentals and had to jet to a taxi to get back. Shamma was already overheating from all the layers and belts.
Back at the shop, the sales ladies undressed us and gave us our photo books. They also gave us a gift of socks after ringing us up. It was so sweet. The whole experience was amazing. The sales ladies bowed to us smiling all the way until we exited the store. I’m so glad Shamma suggested we rent the kimonos. It’s my absolute favorite memory from Japan and the picture book is my most prized souvenir.
My favorite city in Japan was Kyoto. It was modern but it had this strong cultural and historical feel to it. It was very common to see women walking around wearing kimonos as natural as everyday clothing. We walked through the Ponto Cho district with our tour guide and she pointed out the geisha theater and suggested that we check out a nightly performance there. Back at our hotel after our walking tour was over, she mentioned that there was a kimono rental shop and for the equivalent of 30 dollars we could rent a kimono for a full day. Shamma and I had bought yukata’s in Tokyo, which are cheaper lightweight cotton summer kimonos. The kind you can actually afford. But the rental shop was for the real deal genuine article.
We decided to check out the geisha performance and have a ceremonial tea before the show started. Shamma insisted that we rent kimonos and wear them to the theater. I was a bit on the fence about the idea. Although it sounded awesome I wasn’t sure how we would look wearing kimonos. Would we look utterly ridiculous or out of place? Would the Japanese people gawk at us? Shamma really wanted to wear them to the performance so we went ahead and scheduled an appointment for the next day.
I was really impressed by Shamma. The sales lady spoke a little English, but Shamma met her halfway and talked to her in Japanese like it was her second language. I don’t really know what they talked about, but Shamma set up the appointment for us. The next day we went over. Shamma was able to pick out her kimono right away. I had some trouble trying to decide. There were so many different colors and designs. I settled on a light blue one with pink and black flowers on it.
The sales ladies were so kind. Everything about the culture of Japan is polite, proper and happy. I’ve never met a sales person so genuinely enthusiastic. We walked over to the dressing room. I forgot to take my shoes off before entering and felt so bad when they kindly asked me to take them off I rushed back out to take them off before returning. They proceeded to dress us. I couldn’t believe how many belts putting on a kimono involved until my waist was non-existent. They let us pick out what shoes we wanted and I rented a purse to go with my outfit. One of the ladies even did my hair up. They offered to take our picture and make us a photo book for the equivalent of 20 dollars.
As we left the rental shop fully dressed I said to Shamma, “Walk it like you own it” in confidence. I still wasn’t sure how we’d be received by the Japanese but I did feel good. We went back to our hotel room for a few minutes to take some pictures and get some things. Then we headed to the theater. We were actually quite well received. All the Japanese people we interacted with seemed happy and impressed by us. We took a taxi and as soon as we got in the driver looked at us and said, “Very nice.” While at the theater, I had sat down and crushed the bow on the back of my kimono. As I got up and started walking, I suddenly felt someone on my back. I turned around and there was a woman helping to fix it. It was such a small but prominent act of kindness from a total stranger. I’ll never forget it.
We watched the geisha make the tea during the ceremony, drank some and ate a bean paste cake. After drinking the tea and eating the cake, everyone in the theater wrapped up their plate in the tissue paper on the table and took it with them. Although it seemed odd at first, Shamma and I followed suit. The first half of the show was like a narrative play about a criminal who takes refuge in a geisha house and meets his childhood sweetheart there. After hiding him from the guards, they decide to flee together. I did not understand a word of anything anyone said, but the story was self explanatory. The second half was all performance. The geishas danced with fans and musical instruments showing off their talents. There was a very colorful climax with kimonos of every color, golden fans, flowers and high vocal singing.
It was even interesting to see the other people in the theater. Some of the men even had geishas on their arm as their escorts. One even had two. They didn’t really want to have their pictures taken by tourists though. Even though I wish I had had the time to sneak a picture of a real life geisha, we were cutting it close to returning the kimono rentals and had to jet to a taxi to get back. Shamma was already overheating from all the layers and belts.
Back at the shop, the sales ladies undressed us and gave us our photo books. They also gave us a gift of socks after ringing us up. It was so sweet. The whole experience was amazing. The sales ladies bowed to us smiling all the way until we exited the store. I’m so glad Shamma suggested we rent the kimonos. It’s my absolute favorite memory from Japan and the picture book is my most prized souvenir.