Last weekend I went to a Japan festival in Cardiff, South Wales. the drive is actually quite a nice one. Nice landscape and not too busy. When I got there, it turned out to be fairly small scale. There were a few stands with Calligraphy, writing, painting. Some origami and wrapping. There was a stand with some cooking books and a stand with bento meals.
They had some demonstrations, most of which I missed. I only got to see a kimono show. Nice, but not exactly thrilling. There are some music performances and movie displays spread over Cardiff Bay. the whole event lasts 2 weeks, with the most interesting stuff last sunday.
The photo on top is a group photo of all the models that showed their kimonos. The photo below is one of the young girls showing her kimono.
I was a little surprised there were no men posing. Afterall, there are also kimonos for men.
The younger participants were quite shy, which was kind of cute to be honest.
I have the feeling that they could make so much more of such festivals. For some reason most asian festivals are rather...amateuristic... I went to one in London, which was good. I'll discuss that one in a future post.
3 comments:
Hi ksporry. The reason why no men were posing is that men's kimonos are usually black and kind of plain. The women's kinonos, on the otherhand, are often elaborately decorated with Japanese flowers and are very colorful as can be seen in your photos. A woman's Japanese kimono will often run anywhere from US$1,000 to upwards of US$10,000 depending on the design! All Japanese Kimonos are made of 100% silk, usually imported from China.
The show may have seemed kind of amatuerish because they are run by the Japanese locals living there temporarily in order to share their customs with the local folk. Much the same as here in the states. They are often run by the local Japanese group living in a particular country/area such as the Japanese/American/English wives club and such.
Hope you got to try some of the bento. They are usually good. Did you buy any cooking books?
I'm surprised they didn't have an exhibition of the Taiko Drums. They are really fantastic and wonderful to listen to and watch. However, they are professionals and must be hired or brought in.
Pachipro
Hi pachipro,
I learned that the Japanese imported silk from China. they have been doing that since the portuguese discovered Asia (as the chinese didn't want to trade directly with the Japanese).
I'm quite surprised the kimonos are that expensive though.
Actually I should not have been surprised about the small scale of the operation. As you said, it is done by locals, and in all fairness, I did enjoy watching those Kimonos being paraded around. Last summer though I went to a Japanese festival in london, which was quite impressive with Kyudo, kendo, aikido, lots of cooking! Tea ceremony, Taiko (indeed very nice, I bought several CDs in taiwan) and I don't know what more. It was open air and the weather , well, couldn't get much better, so I had a fantastic day back tthen! Anyway, I'll put up a post about that event next, with som epics to accompany it.
By the way, I appreciate your comments!
Yes, they really are that expensive. The kimono my wife used for our traditional Japanese wedding was rented. The cost for renting it for 3 hours was 250,000 yen!!! Luckily her father paid for that as well as the wedding which must've cost a fortune! I'll post some pictures in a future post.
Glad you enjoyed the Taiko drums. They really are fantastic and I love listening to and watching them in action. Pure poetry in motion.
Pachipro
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