Happy New Year 2021 also from my side! May this year be a fresh chapter with the hopeful fast end of the pandemic… Today I want to write about my experience of being pregnant in Japan. Even though unrelated to kimono and a little more personal, some of you said they were curious as to how it is being expecting a baby as a foreigner in Japan. The confusing start As in probably any country I found out that I am pregnant by taking a pregnancy test at home in the end of March. I had planned to have a cycling tour with my hubby and a social distance hanami (花見 = cherry blossom viewing) with my frie ..read more

This year has been a crazy ride! I can’t believe it is already November (and that I neglected my blog for such a long time!).　 One of the best things that has happened to me this year, I have yet announced here: I am pregnant and due to give birth any day now.. Now as that is something completely new in my life, I was very curious until when and also how a pregnant person can wear kimono. Now in my last 1-2 weeks before due date I feel like I can properly look back and show all the stages of pregnancy in kimono. I found out about the pregnancy in the end of March 2020. Of course in the first ..read more

Long time no see on my blog! Isn’t this year just like a crazy nightmare? Since my last entry in April not much has changed in the world of COVID it seems. Although things seemed a little better in Japan during June, we are now hitting the second wave with cases spreading all across the country.. Staying home since March (apart from maybe 3-4 careful outings and daily walks of course) and losing a lot of work gigs this year does not exactly motivate. Two bright moments for me were two work assignments in June though: A styled shoot and PR work as one of the “Yukata ambassadors” for the Isetan ..read more

What a rollercoaster of emotions we are currently trapped in, with all the COVID-19 drama, am I right? Since my return I have been basically locking myself into the apartment. Witnessing Japan’s “We won’t get a Corona outbreak!” to the unravelling of events “Cases are spreading, please stay home!”. Sadly most countries had the same mindset of not taking it serious until it was too late, so here things are starting to get bad day by day whilst Europe is slowly starting to recover. Hopefully we can return to a normal life soon ..read more

On the 29th of February 2020 the world famous Victoria & Albert Museum in London opened its doors to a new exciting exhibition. “Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk” does not only display historical kimono – the visitor will learn about kimono history and evolution throughout the centuries as well as how this traditional garment changed the world of fashion outside of Japan. こんにちは。お元気されてますか？　コロナのことで、心配な日々が続きます。早く、この世界から、コロナの問題が去るように願っています。 色々な情報が飛び交ってますが、マスク、まめな手洗い、うがい、人ごみを避けるというところは、共通しているように思えます。鬱屈とした雰囲気に気休めにでもなれたらと思って、ブログアップします。 2020年2月29日、世界的に有名なロンドンのヴィクトリア&アルバート博物館（以下、V&A ..read more

A little while ago I was invited by kimono researcher and friend Sheila Cliffe to join her on a short trip to Amanohashidate (天橋立) for some kimono fun.　 ごきげんよう。暖冬といわれていますが、やっぱり寒いですね。来週には関東地方で、雪が降るらしいです。インフル、ノロ、コロナと様々な病気がはやっています。マスクより、手洗いと人が多いところにはできるだけ行かないことが、何よりの防御策なんだそうです。体調管理お気をつけて。 さて、少し前になりますが、師匠でもあり友人でもある着物専門家　シーラ・クリフ先生（シーラさんと呼びます）からのお誘いで、丹後地域、そして、その地域を代表する観光地　日本三景・天橋立（宮津市）や与謝野町を訪問する機会をいただきました。 訪問したエリアは、丹後地方に位置し、着物づくりや伝統工芸で有名な場所です。 The town is part of the Tango (丹後) region – famous for its kimono makers and craftsmanship. If you hear about the famous Kyoto “Nishijin-ori” weave ..read more

Continuing from our exciting interview with Mr. Ono, (Please read Part 1 here first if you haven’t yet!) the head behind the celebrated Charlie Chaplin Kabuki revival in December 2019, we want to find out more details on how this project was brought to life – so grab a cup of tea and let’s continue! ２０２０年のSALZ Tokyoの記事第一弾として、昨年末に公演されたチャップリン歌舞伎の立役者、日本チャップリン協会の大野裕之さんとのインタビューの第2部をお送りいたします。(まだ読んでなければ、パート１から見ててね！） SALZ:　チャップリンの「街の灯」の歌舞伎版はどういったきっかけで始まったんですか？ How did everything start with the Kabuki adaption of Chaplins “City lights ..read more

Happy New Year! Can you believe its already 2020? Just some decades ago people thought we would have flying cars and microchips implanted in our necks.. (Although that might be coming sooner than we’d like.) こんにちは。明けましておめでとうございます。もう2020年って信じられますか？数十年前には 、空飛ぶ車や首にマイクロチップが埋め込まれていると想像した時代です（かなり近いことが起 き始めてますね）。 I had quite a long Christmas/New Years break (longer than I intended to, as well…) and I was traveling around to Shanghai, then inside of Germany as well. While I completely took off work – traveling and meeting a lot of people every day also felt quite busy to be honest! First world ..read more

On November 10th, Gyoda City (Saitama prefecture) celebrated its annual “Oshi Castle Epoch Festival” (忍城時代まつり). Since epoch festival sounds kind of weird to me, I just kept the blog title in jinglish (japanese-english) as I feel it sounds nicer. Gyoda (行田市) is a city with rich culture. Once the main producer for tabi aka. kimono socks Japan wide, the city still has many craftsmen and preserved old buildings. The pride of the city however might be the Oshi Castle which was originally constructed in 1479 and deemed indestructible…. Well, … but only until the Meiji restoration, when it was just ..read more

You probably have heard of “Madame Butterfly” – a famous short story written in 1898? Mr. Pinkerton, an American naval officer gets stationed in Nagasaki and after encouragement takes on a Japanese wife and household. After marrying and spending brief time with his wife ChoCho-san who works as a Geisha, his ship has to leave Japan. During his absence and without his knowledge ChoCho-san bears a son and patiently waits 3 years for Pinkerton to return to her as promised. Whilst everyone recommends her to file a divorce and take on a Japanese husband, she insists on his return. Finally one day h ..read more