Special Thanks to my teacher

Today, I finished my social media & web2.0 class. I started my blog because it was part of my assignment...Mmmm yes it was the reason at the beginning of the class.

As time passed, I began to realize how valuable knowledge I was learning from the class.

Peter, one of my influential & greatest teachers in my life, made always me laugh (in a good way) and learn so many interesting stuff during his class.

Because of him, I have started my new exciting jouney - "blog." Also, I have started thinking what I can do for my future as I use this web 2.0 and social media technology.

Again, Thank you Peter... I will try to keep up with my blog.

Keep in touch.

Kimono + dress

I love kimono because I have dreamed about it since I was a kid, but how about people from other countries? Do they like them? Are they even interested in trying to wear kimono?

Although they are interested in Kimono, most of them probably will never try in their lives... but Why not? No chance? Too expensive? Hard to find? Difficult to wear? ....

I understand that some people don't care about wearing kimono because maybe Kimono is too JAPANESE...

Well, Ok, so if those are the reasons, here is the great news!
There is "Kimono-dress" instead.

Kimono has been influencing the dress designs in fashion industry these days.



Some famous celebrities also wear kimono-dresses , and they look much sexier and feminine.










There are also the shoes made of Kimono fabric.

Although kimono itself could be too cultural for some people, the spirits of Kimono might already have been spreading out and accepted worldwide without cultural boundaries.

* Pictures are from Google images.

Kimono + dog

In Japan, dogs also wear kimono!!

I also bought the cute little yukata for Ai, my dog, of course.

When I went to the summer firework festival, I saw several gods wearing cute little kimono like their owners. Dogs wearing kimono were amazingly cute!

Well, here is the cute example...



(Oh... I miss my dog...)

You can buy dog's kimono at any pet stores in Japan or from online store.

For more information about dog kimono...
http://www.gramercypet.com/DogKimono-JapaneseTraditional.html


* Pictures are from Google image
* Video from YouTube

kimono + kids

There is special years for Japanese kids to enjoy wearing kimono.















We call the children's event as "Shichi-Go-San" in Japanese.

It is a traditional festival cerebrating three and seven year-old girls and five year-old boys.

Parents drees their kids with colorful kimono and take them to the shrines to play for kids' good future health.

I remember that I wore the sky blue kimono with flower prints for my seven year-old cerebration. I felt so proud of myself wearing the kimono, but I still remember that my special Japanese wooden flip flap, called "Geta," was very tiny and hurt my feet. It was cute flip flap, though.

Other than wearing kimono, I also looked forward to eating "Chitose-Ame" which given at a shrine on Shichi-Go-San.

Chitose-Ame is long, thin red and white candy, which symbolizes healthy growth and longevity. The special candy is given in a bag on which has the picture of a crane and a turtle, which represent the symbol of long life.

The candy was only for kids, so I don't remember the taste. However, I still remember that it was irresistible tasty...I believe that still many Japanese kids love eating "Chitose-Ame" at their cerebration.

Shichi-Go-San is one of the cutest children's cerebration in Japan.


More information, you can access to the following line;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shichi-Go-San


*Pictures are from Google image

kimono + Green tea Part II

Have you ever seen Wagashi, also called "Neri-mono" before? You can eat it, but before putting it into your mouth, I highly recommend to enjoy the beauty its detailed figures and color!!! You will be amazed!!!

Of course, my most interest part of the Japanese tea ceremony is eating "Neri-mono" which usually comes with Matcha!!!

"Neri-mono" is a traditional Japanese snack, often served with tea. It is made of natural ingredient mochi rice, red bean paste, and sometimes fruits.

"Neri-mono" can be any shapes... such as flowers, animal and gold fish in the water( like th epicture below)??? ...etc

The tastes is not too sweat but delicate. Perhaps, I would like to say that it tastes like "Japanese." You can eat "Neri-mono" anywhere, but especially in Kyoto. I would like to enjoy eating "Neri-mono" with Matcha at the outside in Kyoto.

I belieave that Wagashi refrects the part of Japanese culture and beauty.

There is more information about wagashi here...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagashi

*Picture is from google image.

Kimono + Green tea (抹茶)

The Japanese tea ceremony is very famous part of Japanese culture!

Unfortunately, unlike my mother, I haven't had chance to learned the traditional tea ceremony. Although I don't know the tea ceremony etiquette, I have enjoyed its rich and bitter taste of "Matcha,"powdered green tea, since I was a kid.

In Japan, I used to drink "Matcha" at a Japanese restaurant. These day, people can enjoy Matcha anywhere. Well, perhaps it would be better if I could drink Matcha at the special tea ceremony room, though. Well, maybe someday... when I go to Kyoto in Japan.

By the way, the Japanese tea ceremony is also called sadō or chadō, or chanoyu, meaning "hot water for tea" in Japanese. It is a multifaceted traditional activity in which matcha is ceremonially prepared and served.

The Wearing of kimono is associated with many of the movements and components of tea ceremony. Although today it is not uncommon for students to wear western clothes for practice, most will practice in kimono at least some of the time because it is essential to learn the prescribed motions properly.

Reese Witherspoon, my one of the favorite actresses, also enjoyed the Japanese tea ceremony as she wore beautiful kimono on her visit in Japan!

More detail information about the Japanese tea ceremony, here is the web site...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_tea_ceremony

*Pictures are from Google image, respectively.

Yukata + Nail Arts

Like many other Japanese girls, I am falling love with nail art.

I remember that it was very hard to make an appointment at the nail salon during the summer festival season in Japan. Many Japanese girls made plan to put nail art on their fingernails and toenails to prepare for summer festival.

The design of Japanese nail art is very delicate and in a tiny print.

Unfortunately, I have not had a chance to enjoy nail art since I came to the U.S.

I know there are some nail salon in Berkeley or San Francisco, but I have never been motivated to go to any of those salons.

I simply love and trust the way how Japanese nail artists decorate my fingernails.

Japanese nail art is absolutely beautiful and creative.

I am sure that too much decoration won't allow me to cook or type keybord, but I can not stop loving the great artworks!

Last year, I sent the latest magazine of a special edition about Japanese nail art collection to my American host sister for her birthday. She is also a nail art lover, so she was sooooo excited to see all sorts of collection of Japanese nail arts. She told me that she wished to try some of the nail designs when she visits me in Japan.

By the way, some Japanese girls also love to decorate their celluar phone, too!

Today, nail art has become part of new cultures among Japanese girls.




For more picture of Japanese nail art, I found websites as following;

http://www.es-shibuya.com/nailart/japanese/

* It's Japanese website but you can see variety of artworks!!

* Pictures are from Google image

Tanabata Festival

On July 7th, Japanese people wear Yukata to escape from its typical hot and humid summer temperature and enjoy Tanabata Festival!

Tanabata, also known as "Star Festival," is one of the biggest and funniest summer festivals in Japan.

Japanese people generally celebrate this day by writing wishes, sometimes in the form of poetry, on "tanzaku", small pieces of paper, and hanging them on bamboo. The bamboo and decorations are often set afloat on a river or burned after the festival, around midnight or on the next day.

The story behind Tanabta is very sad but romantic.

Ok, so here is the brief story behind the Tanabata.....

Princess Orihime, daughter of the Sky King Tentei, wove beautiful clothes by the bank of the Amanogawa, "Milky Way". Since her father loved the cloth that she wove, she worked very hard to weave it everyday. However, because of her hard work, Orihime was sad that she was not able to meet and fall in love with any men.

Concerned about his daughter, Tentei arranged for her to meet Hikoboshi who lived and worked on the other side of the Amanogawa. When they met, instantly they fell in love with each other and married shortly thereafter.

Once they got married, Orihime no longer wove cloth for Tentei, and Hikoboshi allowed his cows to stray all over Heaven. In anger, Tentei separated the two lovers across the Amanogawa and forbade them to meet.

Orihime became despondent at the loss of her husband and begged her father to let her meet him again. Tentei was moved by his daughter’s tears and allowed the two to meet on the 7th day of the 7th month if Orihime worked hard and finished her weaving. The first time they tried to meet, however, they found that they could not cross the Amanogawa because there was no bridge. Orihime cried so hard that a flock of magpies came and promised to make a bridge with their wings so that she could cross the river.

It is said that if it rains on Tanabata, the magpies cannot come and the two lovers must wait until another year to meet.

When I was a child, I always worried about the weather on July 7th.

I looked up the sky and hoped Orihime and Hikoboshi could meet again.
Yup, I was really pure at that time, wasn' I?

Therefore, Tanabata is usually celebrated on July 7th, but it is still celebrated on August 7th in some regions of Japan.

Among the biggest and most famous ones are the Tanabata Festivals in Sendai from August 5 th to 7th and in Hiratsuka near Tokyo in July.

I was working in Sendai for three years, and of course I enjoyed Sendai Tanabata Festival.

I saw many people wearing Yukata everywhere in Sendai to enjoy the festival.

The most I liked about Sendai Tanabata Festival was its large and colorful streamers which are held in many places along shopping malls and streets. It was quite amazing to see the decoration of streamers in detail. They were actually great art of works!

More detail stories about Tanabata....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanabata

* Pictures are from google image

Wedding Kimono Part 2

If I have a chance to get married with Shiromuku in Japan, there are several places where I dream of having my wedding ceremony.

One of them is "Heian Jingu Shrine," a Shinto Shrine which locates in Kyoto, Japan.

Heian Jingu Shrine is one of the beautiful shrines in Kyoto. I am always amazed by the beautiful scenery of the garden at Heian Jingu Shrine.

The main gate infront of Heian Jungu Shrine is called "Torii." It is one of the largest torii in Japan

The Heian Jingu was built in 1895 for the 1,100th anniversary of the establishment of Heiankyō, the old name of Kyoto. The shrine is dedicated to Emperor Kanmu and Emperor Komei.

Meiji Jingu Shrine is another great place for Japanese traditional wedding.

Unlike splendid Heian Jingu, the Meiji Jingu looks more calm down and soiemn.



Meiji Shrine located in hibuya, Tokyo. It is also the Shinto Shrine dedicating to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife. When Emperor Meiji died in 1912 and his wife in 1914, the
Japanese people wished to pay their respects to the two influential Japanese figures. It was for this reason that Meiji Shrine was constructed and their souls enshrined in 1920.


The original building was destroyed during the World War II. The present iteration of the shrine was funded through a public fund raising effort and completed in 1958.

In 2009 Hillary Clinton also visited Meiji Jingu Shrineon on her first foreign trip representing the newly elected President Obama.

Meiji Shrine has a forest covering an area of 700,000 square-meters (about 175 acres). There is an evergreen forest that consists of 120,000 trees of 365 different species on the Shrine site, which were donated by people from all parts of Japan when the shrine was established.

The shrine itself is comprised of two major areas- Naien and Gaien, respectively.

The Naien is the inner precinct, which is centered on the shrine buildings and includes a treasure museum that houses articles of the Emperor and Empress.



The Gaien is the outer precinct, which includes the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery that houses a collection of 80 large murals illustrative of the events in the lives of the Emperor and his consort.










Today Gaien is used for the Japanese traditional wedding.















The wedding at a shrine with Shiromuku is part of the Japanese beauties and my admiration.

* Pictures are from Google image



http://www.heianjingu.or.jp/english/0401.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_Shrine