The header picture we have on the home page is from the Ryoan-ji Temple, which is found in in the northwest section of Kyoto, Japan.  The temple has one of the absolute masterpieces of Japanese culture, the Zen Garden. One of the arts that flourished under the influence of Zen philosophy was garden architecture. Although the Japanese garden was always a replica of nature in miniature, in the 14th century the size was further reduced and the trees and shrubs replaced by rocks and sand.

The stone garden of Ryoan-ji temple in Kyoto, laid out in the 15th century after the Onin Wars, is the most famous. It’s 15 rocks are arranged in five groups. Each group comprising five, two, three, two and three rocks on raked white sand. The garden contains 15 rocks arranged on the surface of white in such a manner that visitors can see only 14 of them at once, no matter what angle the garden is viewed from. It is said that only when you attain spiritual enlightenment as a result of deep Zen meditation, can you see the last invisible stone. The harmony in color, shape, and size of the rocks makes this one of the most subtle and powerful gardens in Japan. The rocks can be interpreted as an island in a river or as high peaks soaring over clouds.

To understand the effect of the garden, you have to go there as I was able to do a few years ago. The longer I sat the more the garden fascinated me. The branches of the trees beyond the earthen wall cast wonderful shadows across the garden. The raked lines are circles around the rock groups and yet straight elsewhere. There is not a single misplaced pebble of white when the patterns meet. The garden changes with the season-cherry trees beyond the wall blooming in spring, snow clinging to the moss in winter. The garden is never the same twice. I witnessed that on my 6 trips to Kyoto, a city that I grew to love.

I’m including a few pics from my visit. It’s me with darker, shorter hair! Loved that day at the Zen Garden!

I have a woodblock print of the Zen Rock Garden of Ryoan-ji. I keep it in my bedroom and every morning when I awake I can see it. The woodblock takes me back to my visit to the beautiful Zen Garden of Ryoan-ji.

Sharon

One of our Kokeshi Designs customers, Alison, sent us these beautiful pictures from her October 28, 2008 wedding. She used the Sayonara doll, Style 1 White as a guest book. She also purchased the fabulous Special Edition Wedding Set that she displayed by her cake. Thanks Alison for letting Kokeshi Designs be part of your wedding!

“We had our wedding on the 18th of October and everything went so well. I’ve attached a picutre of the wedding couple we used by the cake. It was such a huge hit that even the cake girl has asked for your details and she put our wedding on her website as her favorite for the month.” ~Alison

The National Cherry Blossom Festival is an annual two-week event that celebrates springtime in Washington, DC as well as the 1912 gift of the cherry blossom trees and the friendship between the people of the United States and Japan. Kokeshi Designs is going to be there!!  Naomi and I are so excited to have a booth at the 49th Annual Sakura Matsuri-Japanese Street Festival.  The Street Festival will be on Saturday April 4, 2009 from 11 am – 6 pm and it’s free!  We’ll have a variety of our kokeshi dolls there including the Kokeshi Nativity Sets and many cherry blossom kokeshi dolls. Kokeshi Designs will be located at the Ginza Marketplace around 12th & Pennslvania.

The festival has something for everyone~Japanese products and arts and crafts, traditional music and dancing, taiko drums and great food.  You can check out all the details on their website at: www.nationalcherryblossom.org   

It is going to be a great day as the peak blooming period of the trees has been forecast from April 3-April 9. Naomi and I look forward to seeing you there! We’ll be in pink shirts, of course!  ~Sharon

Kokeshi Designs is honored to have our  9-pc Kokeshi Nativity displayed at the Presepi Del Mondo in Italy. The Presepi Del Mondo is a private collection belonging to Carlo Battista Castellini. The museum features over 800 displays. You can visit their website at www.presepidelmondo.it 

“Many compliments for the punctuality and mainly, many compliments for the wonderful work. It is one of the best Nativity shown in my museum. Attached you can find one image of it, located in my museum, but it will be better you come in Italy to watch it “of a live”!!! ~ Carlo Castellini  

Christmas 2008

A special thank you to Andrea for sending us a picture of her Kokeshi Nativity Set beautifully displayed in her home. We love to hear from our customers!

“I just received the Nativity set yesterday. The figures are amazingly beautiful, thank you! This is the first big Christmas purchase my husband and I have made, and it is certainly special to us.” ~Andrea

No perfect outfit is complete without the right accessories and the kimono is no exception. Here’s what you need to accompany the modern kimono.

 Obi

A sash, worn at the waist to hold the kimono in place. Some obis are up to 15 feet long and must be carefully and intricately wrapped and folded into place. Like kimono there are many different obi, each with its own level of formality and detail. Maru are elegant and formal, fukuro are patterend on only one side and idea for either formal or semi-formal occasions, and nagoya are simple, light and easy to tie.

 Obi-age and Obi-jime

The pad and cords used add heigth and accentuate the obi.

 Tabi

The white, split toed socks worn with kimono.

Zori or Geta

Zori are leather, vinyl or cloth sandals, whose color usually match some element of the kimono. Geta, on the other hand, are the traditional raised wooden sandals, worn with more casual kimono.

Many years ago, when she started attending Japanese bazaars and shrine sales, Sharon began to notice the seemingly endless types of kimono. Varying lengths, colors and fabrics told her that these kimonos must be more than just beautiful pieces of clothing, they must have meaning.

Here’s a quick primer on the types of kimono seen in modern Japan.

Furisode

Brightly colored, with long flowing sleeves and the most recognizable of the kimono, furisode are worn by unmarried women. Their bright colors are meant to declare the women’s availability for marriage.

Shiromuku

The pure white kimono of the Japanese bride. This white kimono symbolizes the bride’s willingness to the “dyed” to the ways of her new husband’s family. During the ceremony, brides wear a white tsuno kakushi (horn concealer) or white wedding hood, symbolizing her humility and obedience. At the reception, brides typically wear and ornate, brocade kimono called an uchikake.

Tomesode

The modest kimono of the married woman, is characterized by shorter sleeves,  more subdued fabrics and less pattern. Though tomesode are made in a variety of colors, black is perhaps the most popular.

Before 794 AD, the word kimono simply meant clothing. Simple trousers, shirts and skirts, as well as some one piece garments all fell under this general description of kimono. The grandeur of the Heian period, changed all that however. Gone were the simple styles of dress and precursors of the modern kimono, long, flowing colorful robes, took their place.

Opulence and beauty replaced practicality and women of the Heian court begin to adorn themselves in colorful robes, sometimes layering up to 20 robes! Because women of the Heian court were rarely seen in public the colors and arrangements of these luxurious robes became important. “…as sleeves and skirts peeping from behind carriage doors quietly proclaimed to the public the owner’s social persona, court rank, even character and beauty.” (Okinawa Living, May 2003)

Surprisingly, the modern kimono did not grow out of these flowing outer robes, but rather the kosode, the smaller robe worn as an undergarment during that time. It went through some modifications, but as the sleeves got smaller and the fabrics got more beautiful the kosode became the modern kimono we know today.

How much did you spend on your wedding? Here are some average figures for a Japanese wedding, according to Okinawa Magazine.

3 Million yen – Ceremony

2 Million yen – living accommodations

1.5 Million yen – engagement

Grand total 8 million yen (that’s roughly $80,000!)

Couples offset these expenses a bit, though. Depending on the relationship to the couple wedding guests give the happy couple ceremonial envelopes containing anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 yen.

As June wraps up, so does the most popular wedding month in Japan. Here’s an interesting fact – it is estimated that up to 20% of marriages in Japan are arranged. While the western idea of arranged marriage is fairly negative, there are many positive aspects of arranged marriage in Japan.

Anciently, an arranged marriage was a way to merge two families. Love and happiness were ideal, but hardly a requirement.

Today an arranged marriage is mix of Japanese and Western traditions. It’s actually a way for men and women to meet. They are introduced through an intermediary. Their backgrounds, personal histories, even pictures are shared before they meet for the first time. Then unlike the arranged marriages of old, both parties decide if they are interested, a face-to-face meeting is the next step.