Mofuku zori with nail polish. Yes, nail polish. I got the crazy idea to color the hanao of these synthetic zori the night before a meeting. I didn’t have any matching zori or time to make some custom hanao, so with this nailpolish it was spot on. It even has some very soft shimmer in it ♥

I gave these hanao two coating. I’m not a 100% sure it will hold long, but this is how they look after being worn one time in a garden last week and being transported in a big bag with other zori this weekend. So for now the nail polish holds very well. It might be different with other nail polish, depending on how hard/dry they are.

Wow April has been a very busy month for us, almost each weekend we had meeting. Yesterday we went to Shofukan’s teahouse opening in Rotterdam. The whole day was filled with workshops, demo’s and fun. It was so busy that we didn’t even have time for everything.

We all decided to dressed in iromuji and very subtle komon. It gave a nice thematic feeling and mood <3 (from left to right: Mei-ing, Stephanie, me, Tulay and Carolien) It seems Carolien and Tulay had a twin kimono. The pattern was slightly different, but it must be from the same collection. I got a change to wear my emerald green iromuji from Ichiroya. I’m very happy with it because of the sleeve size and it’s lenght. It’s 171cm long and 140cm from sleeve to sleeve, just perfect for me. Ichiro and Yuka had pointed out that she was very discoloured, but I haven’t noticed any severe discoloration. The color is just lovely and the woven pattern so stunning. I will try to make a good detail photo of it later.

I coordinated the green iromuji with a very sweet pink nagoya. It’s a very old nagoya obi, also very small. I could not get it two times round my waist. I’m happy Tulay helped me out to fix the obi on my back. I’m afraid this obi has seen it’s last nagoya day and will soon be turned into a tsuke obi. It’s a shame, but it’s the only way I will be able to wear it.

We also met some very nice new people. One of them was Aya, one of the Shofukan’s members. Her hakama was so cute. She was very pleased to see kimono in Holland. She started wearing kimono here in Holland again because she was home sick. She tried to bring all her kimono from her family home. I hope we will be able to meet her again soon.

We also met Mr. Taji. He was the sushi chef at the event. He was so happy to see so many girls in kimono, it was ‘like a dream come true’ for him he say, such a sweet comment. Because it was almost the end of the day there was no sushi left anymore, but he told us to wait outside and he came running back with some super delicious banana bread for us. Wow, I’ve never tasted something so yummie.

At the end of the day Tulay, our men and I went to a sake tasting workshop. We learned alot about it and I must say I so love the sake that is not distilled and filtered. The tast is so rich and full. After 10 kinds of sake we had a jolly ride back home hehe. It was a great day (*^_^*)/

For more information please check www.shofukan.nl and for more photo you can check here.

Today Kimono de Jack NL traveled all the way to Belgium to celebrate Hasselt’s Japanese garden being 20 years. It was a long drive (2,5 hour). Mei-ing was so kind to pick up Stephanie and me. We went to Carolien’s place to get dressed into our kimono. Her home was not so far from Hasselt as ours, so we were all very thankful we could get dressed there.

From left to right: Mei-ing, Stephanie, Alice, Carolien and me. Photo by Walter Vandijck

I was wearing my TL (tall large size, perfect for people over 170cm) striped edo komon from Rakuten, with silver fukuro and vivid purple komono. And I must say I love this TL size. I guess ones you go TL you’ll never go back hihi (^____^)/

I was also wearing mofuku zori with nail polish. Yes, nail polish. I got the crazy idea to color the hanao of these synthetic zori the night before the meeting. I didn’t have any matching zori or time to make some custom hanao, so with this nailpolish it was spot on.

It was a shame it was a very dark and grimsom day. We didn’t have rain so we were lucky on that part (^.^) At the event we saw lots of Taiko drum enternainment, a koto play and there was a very fun dance (forgot the name) where the audience could also join in. We all got a uchiwa from a lady in a very elegant blue iromuji. She and the husband (organisers) explained what was written on them. so sweet!

From left to right: Alice, Carolien(NL), Stephanie, me, Carolien(BE). Photo by Mei-ing

We also met two very nice kimono enthusiasts (*^u^*)/. Caroline from Belgium and Alice from the Netherlands. Carolien her kimono was so fresh and full of spring and the fun thing was she knew my blog! Wow I was so flattered *blush*. Alice was wearing a very pretty soft pink furisode! It was great meeting them and I hope we well be able to meet in the future.

Thank you for reading, for more photo’s please check here

Spring has finally come to Holland! Yesterday we went to Amstelveen were the 11th edition of the Sakura Matsuri was held, a great idea for a Kimono de Jack meeting. The weather was just great. We saw alot of familiar and new faces (*^-^*)/ One of the new faces was Carolien, it’s was her first time dressing in kimono. She did a great job and looked very stunning in her white houmongi.

This years Sakura Matsuri was also in sign of the tsunami remembrance. A moment of silence was kept to think of all the victims. It was a pitty that not all the trees where in bloom yet. Only a handfull had lovely flowers on their branches.

The members of the Taiko drum group Rikuzen-Takata play on stage. One was drumming so very hard and kept the sticks so tightly that at the end he had blisters and was bleeding.

I was wearing my all over blue asanoha komen, with yellow ocre komono, all over asanoha haneri and geta ♥ I had the geta’s custom made in a very small town called Tsumago beginning of march, up in the mountains near Matsumoto. (I have some detail photo of the set here and here)

We all had a great day, thanks everyone!

For more photo please check here

All over blue asanoha komen, with yellow ocre komono, all over asanoha haneri and geta ♥

I’m thinking of wearing this set sunday to the 11th edition of the sakura matsuri in Amstelveen. I’ve been thinking of what I should wear and this set came right into my mind, although I was afraid it would be a bit to casual.

I had the geta’s custom made in a very small town called Tsumago earlier this month, up in the mountains near Matsumoto. The geta’s the ladies was selling where all small for me, so she helped me in the back of her house to choose some bigger LL pieces. I was invited to sit beside her under a kokatsu (is a low, wooden table frame covered by a futon, upon which a table top sits. Underneath is a heat source) while she fixed the hanao on to them. She didn’t understood any english so I had to try my best with my basic Japanese (*^_^*)/ but It work out prefectly!

(*^-^*) She kept asking if my ‘Danna’ (Alex, my fiancee) outside was allright and if he didn’t want to come inside too. But I told her he was allright and hunting for some ‘Tabemono’ (food) and she laught!

She also told me that asanoha is a pattern that is very fertile. Tsumago has always been a town with a very good birth content.

The shop in Tsumago where I bought my geta.

If you every happen to go to Japan and you would love to travel around, staying one night in this very small and old town is a must. It’s like you a 100 years back in time (*^_^*).

During the Edo period, Tsumago was the forty-second of the sixty-nine post towns, which connected Edo (present-day Tokyo) with Kyoto. It is located in Nagiso, Kiso District, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. It has been restored to its appearance as an Edo-era post town and is now a popular tourist destination. Tsumago is also very famouse for its woodworking and lumber

Last week I had some great opportunities to wear this cute kimono Poncho, made and designed by my dear friend Yukiko Tanaka. I had the day off on monday so it was very nice to wear this poncho on some jeans. I was going to Amsterdam for a little visit to Tozai and ‘t japanse winkeltje (you can see these photo’s at the pottom of this post)

Yukiko’s kimono ponchos are so comfortable. And you can wear them on regular clothing and on top of a kimono! The one I am wearing is a soft bingata silk version that is extra large for european woman like myself. Like regular kimono’s these ponchos are made from bolts of kimono fabric. These bolts come in some width varieties from 36 up to 38 cm. For Japanese people this wide is enought but for european people it could be a bit short. So Yukiko designed this poncho with and extra bolt section at the end of both the sleeves. These sleeves measure 75.8cm (*^-^*)/

And this weekend I had some time to put on a kimono. I choose to wear one of my favorite sets, a pale green tsukesage with tachibana and a lovely fukuro obi. This obi is very dear to me. It’s a gift that I received last year from Yukiko’s mother (such a very kind lady).

Because Tachibana is a spring and summer pattern, I wanted to wait to wear it but I couldn’t wait any longer. Although it’s still winter here in Holland I paired this kimono with the poncho again and a scarf (nice comfy and warm).

You probably will not see it, but this kimono is so stained and discolored. Actually he is not wearable anymore. But I think it’s a shame, because it such a cute kimono.

I also wanted to show you a beautiful photo of Yukiko. She is wearing a lovely blue poncho on her kimono for Hatsumōde. Hatsumōde is the first shrine visit of the New Year in Japan. On this day wishes are made for the new year.

Thank you very much for reading (*^-^*)/

Please check out Yukiko Tanaka’s Kimono ponchos pages
Kimono poncho website
Kimono poncho Facebook page
Kimono poncho blog