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

Guys' Summertime Kimono

Here is the boy's Yukata!

When I went to the fireworks festival in Mito, I saw some Japanese guys wearing Yukata.

They looked really handsome and gallant no matter how old they are.

The design of guys' Yukata is much simpler than girls' Yukata. The simplicity of guys' Yukata might create the image of traditional

Japanese men - like Samurai, perhaps.

I always impressed by my male friends who know how to wear Yukata by himself. Not many Japanese men know how to wear

kimono these days. It is very sad fact that Japanese have gradually

lost own culture and traditions.

I believe that people wearing Yukata at the summer festivals is very important part of the traditional Japanese scenery which need to be kept alive and passed down through generations.

* The pictures are from google images and kuishinbou meou.