Yukata and Fireworks

With my handmade yukata finally finished, I was heading out to a yukata dressing workshop followed by fireworks to the north of Tokyo.

For those in need of a refresher, a yukata is essentially an unlined cotton kimono worn in the summer. They can be worn generally, and some people do wear them everyday, but they are specifically worn by young people at festivals and many stores/stalls/venues offer discounts during july-august for people who turn up wearing one. I made my yukata from scratch in the workshops organised by the lovely Kaori of Field Trip + who also organised this event. Previous blog posts about it here and here.

The workshop was great. The teacher had extensive experience promoting japanese traditions. She was wearing this beautiful swallow pattern yukata.

 

The rest of us fumbled along under her expert tuition. The two on the right had made their yukatas alongside me while the other two had bought theirs.

Until finally...

Cool, huh? I have to wear my obi higher than is really desirable because of my hips. Japanese ladies tend to have less curve than us englishers! Once we were all ready to go we had one last group shot before setting off. Don't we all look awesome?! They are surprisingly comfortable and cool to wear.

When we got there, the heavens opened and it POURED. We paused under shelter and admired others as they went past, attracting quite a lot of attention because it's not that common to see Gaijens dressed up.

Finally the rain eased and we were off. It was brill!

The rain continued but since it was warm it wasn't too bad, except for the concern about a potential 'wet yukata contest'.

I snapped this one just as the grand finale was going on. Everyone was holding their phone in front of their face.

Overall it was great and I now know two ways to tie an obi (the very long belt). I am hoping to find another event during the next week to wear it at and I'll be taking it home with me on my next visit to the UK so I can dress my Mum and Sisters up. Should be quite funny!