February 14th, Valentine's Day, I had an opportunity to demonstrate how to put on Kimono at my friend’s Valentine’s party. It was a wonderful party full of creative, beautiful and delicious food cooked with her secret recipe; love.
I love Kimonos, and I used to go to Kimono School when I was in Japan. Let me talk about a bit about the history of Kimonos. Deriving great influence from China and Korea, Japanese created the basic of what we call Kimonos today. It was called “Kosode”, and was a kind of undergarment which was worn under longer robes, the bottom part brushing the floor. It was at the end of the Muromachi Period that women started wearing “Kosode” without the robes, and very similar ones with today’s Kimonos appeared in Edo Period (1603-1867).
The sense of the season showing on the patterns of the Kimono, Sash (obi) and other accessories create a piece of art, and they demonstrate the intelligence and taste of the person wearing the Kimono. With practice, it takes only 5 to 10 minutes to put on Kimono with Taiko-obi, a type of decoration of sash, which shows in the photo.
Nowadays, kimonos are only worn as formal wear on special occasions such as New Year's, weddings and funerals in Japan.
I don’t have many opportunities to wear Kimonos in Canada, but I am hoping to demonstrate Kimonos again.
２月１４日（バレンタインデー）に、友人宅で着物の着方を披露する機会がありました。
私は着物が大好きで、日本にいた頃は着付け教室に通っていました。
着物の歴史は、中国や韓国からの影響を受けながら、平安時代（７９４−１１９２）にその基本（小袖と呼ばれる長いローブの下に着る下着のようなもの）が作られ、室町時代（１３３８−１５７３）の後期に単独で着られる小袖が完成したと言われています。江戸時代（１６０３−１８６７）に現在の着物とほとんど変らない形の小袖が生まれたそうです。
着物の季節感のある柄と帯や小物の色あわせに着る人のセンスがうかがわれます。着物を着慣れた人は、太鼓帯なら５分から１０分で着物の着用を完了できると思います。
近頃の日本では、お正月や結婚式やお葬式などの礼服として用いるほかは着物を着る機会が少なくなりました。
カナダでは着物を着る機会はほとんどありませんが, また着物をカナダの皆さんに見ていただいと思います。
