Yukata by minä perhonen

Yukata by minä perhonen

Friday, 22 June 2012

 

All above images are from mina-perhonen.jp

I accidentally found these new yukata by minä perhonen and could not resist sharing them here. I have to have one of these. This is bad, very bad.....

In case you wonder what yukata is, it's a casual version of kimono often made of cotton fabric which we wear in summer in Japan. I had one made some years ago but I have been wanting to get a new one for a long time now this seems to be "the one" but, oh, well let's see.

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Comments: 8

Goshugi-bukuro

Goshugi-bukuro

Thursday, 4 November 2010

I thought I might post about a little something traditional today as I don't think I've done that for a long time now.

These pretty things you see here are called Goshugi-bukuro, which literally means "celebration money sleeves". It's very common in Japan to give money as gift at weddings, and Goshugi-bukuro is always used for this occasion with the sender's name written on the skinny white paper you see on each Goshugi-bukuro. (Yes we write our names from top to bottom, vertically.) Each one has a plane envelope to slip money in inside and the envelope is wrapped with a big piece of good washi paper folded in its special way.

Goshugi-bukuro are sold everywhere in Japan even at the 100yen shops or convenience sotres, but I like to choose nicer ones and these 3 are my recent favourites. I bought the one with pretty gold cranes printed on really beautiful washi paper (the one on the left seen in the first photo) a while ago at ITO-YA, it was the loveliest Goshugi-bukuro I had ever seen!

But when I became the one to receive Goshugi-bukuro, I realised what a huge waste all these things become! They say you can not re-use them for when you go to someone's wedding and not just all the papers but all the beautiful "mizuhiki" (the special decorative cord to tie around the envelopes) are only to be thrown away afterwords and that made me feel sad! We only had a very small wedding but still there were many Goshugi-bukuro to be wasted. Well I haven't thrown them away, trying to think of the ways to use them for something.

Anyway, we received one Goshugi-bukuro which used handkerchief instead of paper and I was so happy to see it! I think it's such a wonderful idea, the handkerchief can be used over and over afterward! So, for my friend's wedding I went last weekend I used a recyclable cloth Goshugi-bukuro, I actually found the one that is like a pocket sleeve so I bought that too. They cost a lot more than the average paper ones but I still think they are better. I have 2 more weddings to go to this month so I'm all set for now!

Comments: 6

Nanakusa-gayu

Nanakusa-gayu

Friday, 8 January 2010

I meant to post this yesterday, but in Japan 7th January is the day we eat "Nanakusa-gayu" （七草粥） which literally means seven-herb rice porridge. Another Japanese customs/traditions from the part of (or the end of) NewYear Celebrations.

People tend to eat and drink A LOT during the new years in Japan, so to eat something light and healthy like Nanakusa-gayu on the 7th day of the new year is thought to give worn-out stomach a good rest. But actually it is believed to bring longevity and health if you eat it on this day. I do it mainly for the former reason though.

The New Year is really important in Japan and there are SO MANY customs and traditons regarding New Year, but there aren't so many that I follow. This one is nice and easy (and tasty!), the seven-herb is sold at the suparmarkets so I do this every year :) (Actually we are supposed to eat it in the morning of 7th Jan but I couldn't be bothered cooking when i woke up so I cheated by doing it in the evening for a quick and easy dinner.)

The seven herbs (edible wild herbs they are) are:
Japanese parsley (seri), Shepherd's purse (nazuna), Jersey Cudweed (gogyō), Common chickweed (hakobera), Henbit (hotokenoza), Turnip (suzuna), and Daikon (suzushiro).

Comments: 17

Akemashite Omedeto 2010!

Akemashite Omedeto 2010!

Monday, 4 January 2010

Akemashite Omedeto (Happy New Year) everyone!!!! I hope you're all having a wonderful start to the new year as I am :)

The last couple of weeks of 2009 were just way too stressful for me. On new year's eve I rushed into Takashimaya (department store) to do my new year shopping, I was planning to get some Japanese sweets at Toraya as 2010 is the year of tiger, but as soon as I saw the big big queue I gave up (it was CRAZY!) and settled to Eitaro, another traditional Japanese confectionery. In the new year in Japan, we give "onenga" gifts as the new year greetings usually to parents or the ones we received special cares from - in my case, our landload who always give us fruit and vegetables they grow! Of course there is "otoshidama" too, which we give out to the little ones -pocket money slipped into little pochibukuro (paper envelopes). Being a child it was the best thing about the New Year, but not really as an adult :(

Anyway, when I finished my very last-minuite shopping, it was finally time to relax! We opened a bottle of champagne and had some beautiful sashimi :) And when the new year came, I just made a very shimple ozoni breakfast and then off to our parents homes for never-ending eating and drinking! That is the typical Japanese New Year :)

I also received such sweet "Dear Santa" letter from my friend's little girl from Australia. Yep I was the santa!

I wish you all a very happy 2010 and I really thank you for your wonderful support to this blog, your sweetest comments always make me happy :)

Also, new post here and here.

Comments: 16

Shichi-Go-San

Shichi-Go-San

Tuesday, 10 November 2009

Shichi-Go-San literally means "7-5-3" and is an anual event in Japan which parents celebrate their childrens' growth when they are 3, 5 and 7 years old. (3 and 7 for girls and 5 for boys.) And these photos are from my Shichi-Go-San when I was turning 7 taken with my brothers and mum. I really loved my kimono my grandmother had made for me, I still have it somewhere in my parents house. If I ever will have a daughter I want her to wear it for her Shichi-Go-San :)

November 15th is the original date for this festivity, but most people do it on the closest weekends to this day. So if you are in Japan this weekend there is a good chance you might see cute little children dressed up in their kimonos going to the shrines with their parents!

Comments: 14

Bonsai Uchu

Bonsai Uchu

Monday, 5 October 2009

I am dying to take a look at this amazing book called "Bonsai Uchu (盆栽宇宙)" which literally means "Bonsai Universe". Bonsai has been taken that it's something retired older men do as their hobby and that it's not so cool but rather boring. But oh the world of bonsai is so deep and more younger people are into it these days, bonsai is a true art!

Here is another book from the same author which I have. Aren't these tiny bonsais so cute!?
And the bottom images are from my favourite bonsai shop in Jiyugaoka called "shinajina". It's a small shop but their modern interior and the garden full of beautiful bonsai is truly wonderful!

Images are from Shinajina website.

Comments: 9

Noren

Noren

Saturday, 1 August 2009

暖簾：のれん
Noren are Japanese fabric dividers traditionally used by shops and restaurants in front of the entrance usually with their logo printed. It's not hard to find shops that hang Noren all over Japan, but usually traditional type shops use them.

The noren you see in the top photo is from a traditonal Japanese confectionery called "Toraya", and this particular shop of Toraya uses Noren very differently. It's probably about 6-7 meters wide and is working as a room devider/screen/front door/shop sign/curtains. It works so well! I love it when I enter the shop through this noren, somehow it feels very nice :)

The first 3 photos are found in Tokyo and the bottom five from my recent trip to Kanazawa.

You can also see a wonderful post on Noren here at ii-ne-kore. So check that out too!

Comments: 17

Kyo Uchiwa

Kyo Uchiwa

Friday, 17 July 2009

All images are from http://www.kyo-aiba.jp/

京うちわ。
"Uchiwa" is a paper fan which is one of the symbolic items of Japanese summer, it's part of our culture. We are often given them for free on the streets these days, the ones that have advertisements on them. But I'm talking about a different type of Uchiwa now - Kyoto style Uchiwa.

Kyo Uchiwa Aiba is the oldest paper fan maker in Japan that has 300 years of history. They do make Uchiwas for daily use, but they make Uchiwas more for decorative and artistic purposes. It's really amazing how Uchiwas can be such beautiful pieces of artwork, they are just superb!

The caption for the first image from Kyo Uchiwa Aiba's website was "Uchiwa gift as substitute for a flower bouquet". Well I've told you how horrible our summer is already, keeping fresh flower at home can be a difficult thing at this time of year. How wounderful would it be to receive a gift like this in summer! Well it'll be much more expensive than sending fresh flowers, but if you want to really please someone I think Kyo Uchiwa would be a perfect gift choice!

Kyo Uchiwa Aiba (Japanese Only)
More about Uchiwa here in English

Comments: 6

Trip to Kanazawa #01: Chaya District

Trip to Kanazawa #01: Chaya District

Tuesday, 23 June 2009

Kanazawa is an old city full of history and culture, it's much much smaller but some parts of Kanazawa reminds me of Kyoto. Kanazawa has three well preserved Chaya districts, "Chaya" literally means "teahouse" but is actually something like an exclusive type of restaurant where geisha entertains the guests with dance and songs. These pictures are from Higashi Chaya District, the biggest chaya-gai out of three. I just loved walking around the narrow backstreets there. All the buildings you see around here are so beautiful and very well preserved, some of them are nearly 200 years old.

Most of the chayas are run by the "ichigensan okotowari" system, this means unless you are referred by someone who is already a customer there, you can't enter the chaya. But there are a few chayas that are open to tourists to have a look inside during the daytime so people can learn about the secret chaya culture. The one I went into was called "Kaikaro" and the each room was very beautifully decorated and was really interesting to see. Guided tour must be booked in advance so I only helped myself looking around taking photos with not much information, but I would've loved to take a tour to learn about this not-so-known unique culture of chaya.

I'm just adding this map from kanazawa-tourism.com so you get the idea of where Kanazawa is. It's one hour flight from Tokyo.

Comments: 11