Wakamono Kimono Global

Hi, here are questions on Youtbe and Facebook, and my answers.

Q. Why those Sleeves are so big?

A. In my understanding, the higher class you belong to, the longer sleeves you have. You can employ servant if you in a high class, and don’t have to do washing, cooking and cleaning, that can dirt your sleeves.

You can tell that from Japanese historical movies. Physical workers have shorter sleeves generally.

Q. hahaha its hot to wear …..

A. Right, it used be colder than now in Japan. 😀

Q. its hard to go in a bathroom or using a bathroom

A. It’s not to hard, it’s easy. But I don’t want to show how I use a bathroom on youtube :p

Q. I am looking around on all the websites for second hand kimono, but I am worried nothing will fit well.
(He said to me his size, and he’s taller than normal Japanese men)
With my measurements, it seems difficult to find a good second hand kimono. Is there a course of action you maybe able to recommend?

A. I’m 178cm tall, and it’s hard even for me to find a second hand kimono because old people in Japan were shorter than now. How about Oatsurae(made-to-order)?

if you need a formal (silk) kimono for tea ceremony, I can introduce a good shop in Atsugi-shi Kanagawa-ken (http://www.kimonosugata.info/) for you, which may cost 35,000 yen and more. If you just need a casual one for only lessons, I can make denim or cotton kimono, which may cost 20,000 yen and more.

As you may know, even Japanese people don’t know how to start Kimono experience, and are afraid of failing shopping like buying too expensive ones. So I think my role is to answer questions from starters.

Also, I myself say to beginners that you don’t have to start with such expensive order-made kimono, but you can start with this machine-made one. https://item.rakuten.co.jp/kyoetsu-orosiya/otokomuji04/ I have one from this shop, but the quality is enough good but the price is…. only about 5,000 yen! 😀 It may not perfectly fit your size but you could also start with this kind of light stuff (I mean small start).

The above kimono is polyester, and you cannot wear it in a really formal place. But sometimes I hold tea ceremony and wear polyester kimono as long as it’s not toooooo formal lol And 2 months ago, I had my own wedding, but the kimono was polyester lol Nobody can tell actually.

I got more questions at youtube comments lol. Here’re the answers.

Q. Can men wear more colorful kimonos? I don’t really like brown/blues :s

A. Yes, you could choose a little more colorful kimonos. But people here would think like “ah that man is a foreigner. He’s different from us but that’s also good.” Or if you were a Japanese, they would think “that man doesn’t know how to coordinate kimonos…omg” lol It’s up to you cause it’s fashion nowadays 😉

Q2. Thank you!!! I’m from Paraguay, and Japanese people thinking I’m just foreigner is super fine to me 🙂 thank you!!!

A2.  I see. Then it’ll be alright, and you’ll add more style to Japanese fashion. Good luck!

Q. why so many layers? what is the history meaning and reason for each layer and belt tie???

A. As for kimono for men, I don’t think there’re many layers. There’re just Juban (underwear) and Nagagi(Shirt). It’s similar to Western fashion, isn’t it?

Belt tie used to be a thin string before such as 1000 years ago, but little by little it became thicker and now it’s big 😀

Q: but Samurai Jack has just one piece of clothing

A: That may be simplified for animation. Sometimes you wear a jacket, sometimes you don’t, do you? It’s like that. If you don’t wear a jacket (Haori, in this case), it’s casual. If you do, it’s formal.

Q. Is it seen as strange if someone wanted to wear the haori jacket by itself with other clothes? I gues what im wondering, is it strange or not polite to wear just the Haori or is it just fine?

A. No, it’s not that strange. Sometimes I see people with western fashion plus Haori, which looks like “like-Japanese”. Do you see what I mean? lol When people want to wear Kimono or something to show “Hey this is a day for Japanese culture” like festivals, they just wear Haori. Or some shop staff selling Japanese things do like this, too.

OK, Good luck, everybody! 😀

Q. I was wondering something, it’s about the belts… if you’re going to eat or sit down or something while wearing a kimono, won’t those belts being so tightened, make your belly hurt or have bad digestion? Just curious since you seemed to tighten them up very hard haha. Maybe it’s just might imagination, but i’m still curious.

A. Ah good question 🙂 I sit down and stand up many times while I wear kimono, but I haven’t felt that way by sitting down. I think that’s because the tightened part is not the center of waist but it’s the bottom area of waist. It’s like putting your stomach on the belt. When I first started to wear kimono, I didn’t know this trick and had kinda stomach ache when I wore kimono all day.

Q. I’m looking to buy a haori or something of Japanese origin for my husband. We have a Japanese wedding to attend and would like to dress in Japanese outfits. Can you suggest where I can buy one or do you sell it? I’m looking for a yukata for myself.

A. I make and sell kimono but it’s order-made and expensive, so I would recommend another shop to sell ready-made products. If you search by “kimono men” on rakuten global, you can find some products; http://global.rakuten.com/en/search/?k=kimono+men&l-id=search_regular

What do you think? 😉

Also, as for your yukata,

http://global.rakuten.com/en/search/?k=yukata+women&l-id=search_regular

Q. Can you make a DIY video of a men’s yukata or kimono?

A. Well, I’m sorry but the length of such a video would be more than two hours if I explain how you make kimono/yukata. It takes so much time. Making Obi belt doesn’t take that time so maybe I could make a video for obi 🙂

Hi, as usual, I copy and paste Q&A from my youtube comments.

This is not about kimono, but I was asked about tofu, lol.

Q: May I ask you… how much tofu do people normally eat? How often during a week?

A: I eat tofu almost everyday. it’s cheap. I buy it twice or three times a week.

Q1: can I wear作務衣(Samue) as the Juban?

A1: 1. If it’s casual situation, yes. For men kimono, the basic purpose of juban in appearance is to show collar. Samue also has its collar, so you can show Samue’s collar instead of Juban’s collar. But if it’s formal, the material of Samue is too casual and people around you will notice you don’t wear Juban through your sleeves and bottom edge.

Q2: does作務衣(Samue) goes with作業袴(SagyouBakama)or野袴(NoBakama)?

A2: 2. Kind of Yes. Top half of samue looks similar to normal kimono, except for string of Samue. Maybe people won’t notice actually you wear Samue. Especially SagyouBakama is used for casual situations like cleaning, and NoBakama is like for riding a horuse, so people wouldn’t care 🙂

Good luck for your kimono life! 😀

Hi,

I got two more questions on the youtube, and am sharing the answer here.

Q: So interesting, thanks! Who wears the kimono nowadays? When is it normal to wear it? Thank you very much in advance.

A: Hi Sandra, thank you for the compliment 🙂 Nowadays a part of Japanese still wear it usually and all of Japanese sometimes face occasions to wear kimono.

A part of Japanese: we just like to wear it and go everywhere like cafe and even a workplace! 😀 Another part of Japanese: we learn Japanese culture like tea ceremony and traditional dance and, arrow sport. In order to correctly behave and move our bodies according to the culture, we have to wear kimono. Especially how you walk is totally different from when you wear western cloth.

Sometimes all of Japanese: when you want to have Japanese style wedding, you have to wear kimono, both of husband and wife. And when you grow up and your age is 3, 5 and 7, you go to shrines to celebrate the growth. There the children have to wear kimono generally.

Q: can you wear it without the haori?

A: Yes, you can. Generally it’s more formal to wear haori, but you don’t have to in a casual situation. It’s like you wear a jacket at a formal restaurant or ceremony in western culture. Also, there’s a special rule that you should NOT wear haori in a tea ceremony room though it’s formal.

I hope they’ll help you understand more about kimono 🙂

Hi everybody,

I get some questions and answer them every week, and am sharing them so people around the world can know it.

It seems that there’s no detailed information about how you wear and coordinate kimono and yukata in English.

Q. Juban means underwear? So in the old times, no underwear on the bottom? right?

A. Yes, Juban does mean underwear. But yes, people do wear underwear on the bottom, which is Suteteko. It looks like this; http://www.uniqlo.com/us/search.html?q=steteco

Q. Should the tabi (socks) colour match the nagajuban collar colour? I only have white tabis and black nagajuban..

A. Oh there’s no rule and you should wear what you want. But let’s think of it from coordinate perspective; what if you wear black tie and white socks in western fashion? I don’t think that coordination isn’t bad, though there may be other better coordination. It’s up to you 😀

Q. Could you show how to fold a yukata/kimono and other cloth. Does the Yukata need to be iron before folding. (How to iron) Arigatō gozaimasu

A. Well, you can wear Yukata without a juban. Usually we don’t wear a juban in yukata. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERQ8JKuqMxs This is how you fold a yukata/kimono for men in Japanese but what do you think?

We hang yukata/juban on a hanger right after washing, and you don’t have to iron because it becomes straight because of its weight when it’s wet. But if you still see wrinkle on yukata/kimono, this is how you iron. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKxoxZ-OOmc

Q1. I have recently bought a second-hand kimono to wear during tea-ceremony, but I have a few doubts. Can I ask you a couple of question? When you wear a hakama on your kimono, do you have to wear necessarily a haori too?

A1. No, it’s not necessary. you can wear hakama without haori and visa versa.
But as you may know, in a tea ceremony room, it’s rule to take off your haori before going into the root, and to wear hakama always from your home to the room.

Q2. And does your hakama cover all the obi, or do you leave a little bit out just to show it under the hakama?

A2. The latter is correct. Please show a little bit of obi. FYI, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ7Rd9wSV3Y

And other compliments

• goood
• thank you for this, i am sansei, but i wasnt really taught most stuff, so i learn some stuff from youtube. it helps to connect to my heritage. very good video
• Thanks for the useful video!
• very beautiful. thank you for sharing
• Very nice and kawaii.
• I’ve watched your video on how to wear a kimono and appreciated it a lot.

You can ask me questions on Facebook Page message or a comment here any time you want to, so that I share it on this blog and people can know it!

(英語圏のための記事です)

Hi guys,

The other day I created this video about how you wear Kimono for men. And many comments were made to ask questions about Kimono. So I gathered and summarized the questions and answers.

Q. the juban is optional??

A. No. Everytime you wear Kimono, you should wear juban under kimono. Otherwise it’ll be interpreted as you wearing yukata instead of Kimono.

Q. Hello, can you say a name of the music, please??

A. Hi, this music is what I created for this video as background music. here it is 🙂
http://wkimono.tokyo/data/20150804kimono1.wav

Q. nice thanks for the tips but i have some question about the obi cause i see that girls have a node in the back when you plaice it

A. ok, if you make a comment here or email me info@wkimono.tokyo, I could answer.

Q. how would you wear it if the kimono is a bit longer? I’m a bit short for it……. I need help and btw this video is very useful

A. If you’re a man and the kimono size is different, you shouldn’t wear it or should order to fix the size. What part is longer like bottom or sleeve? If bottom is a little longer, you could roll a stomach part inside Obi belt. 😉

Q. Can a non Japanese where this? ( I’m Australian but living in Kyoto)?

A. Of course they can wear kimono even if they’re non japanese 🙂 Especially we often see foreigners wear kimon and walk outside in Kyoto. You can contact me when you visit Tokyo 😉

Q. I love this tutorial! I’m just fascinated with the Japanese culture! However I’m African American and I was wondering if it were to be ok for me to wear kimono? People here in America say it’s racist. 🙁 I really wanna wear one?

A. so you live in America and people there may say that’s bad? Well, I hope you can wear it and it’s alright 😉

Q2. It definitely depends on the group of people you’re with/around. From what I’ve heard, you’re more likely to get odd looks/assistance from Japanese individuals if worn wrong than have someone being offended by you wearing the  kimono wrong.

A2. I see some people feels it’s odd but some people feel it’s ok. Yes, if you wear kimono in a very wrong way, you may look odd. But the wrong part isn’t that big, it’s ok and you don’t have to be perfect 😉

Also, many people praised the video and I summarized it as follows.

• very beautiful. thank you for sharing
• Many thanks for this video! I Brought two Kimonos from Japan and I was trying to learn how to tie the obi! You explained it very well!
• It’s an elegant, refined outfit that reminds me of a classical western formal suit and its code of wearing. The collars, the fold, the tie, and all that. I suppose the desire to codify and refine fashion is universal.
• thanks I have a history project on Asia and I did kimono and some yukata
• Am wesring it on my birthday. So excited and its so beautiful
• Very elegant ,arigatugozaimasu
• it’s beautiful
• i loooooove it!!!!!!
• So handsome
• Simple and practical. You teach very well. Arigatou Gozaimasu!!!
• Sugoi! So fast! I usually take 15 minutes ~ and I wear kimono everyday …

You can ask further questions or contact me on Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/wkimonoglobal