Japan🇯🇵 a reminder of the connecting with the world👘
I bring you this post as a Christmas gift🎅 I'm not sure where to start. The basic premise is that Kimono Project is a private initiative. The aim was to complete a kimono representing each of the participating regions by the time of the 2020 Olympic Games, which were expected to attract a large number of spectat.
It was not confirmed that the kimonos would be used at the Olympics ceremonies and they didn't make it happened (it's a long story), but as the kimonos gradually became available, the project became better known and was actually used at international conferences and big events as the Rugby World Cup 2019.
The founder of the project, Mr. Takakura was inspired by the many women who wore their own kimonos to award medals at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. I also saw many women in beautiful kimonos in a film commemorating the former Tokyo Olympics. Their kimonos called 振り袖 (Furisode), the first formal dress for single women, which is made of silk and is quite expensive. The kimonos made by Kimono Project are also Furisode.
着物 (Kimono), is a generic term for traditional Japanese costumes, is now not worn on a daily basis, and the low demand for it has meant that there is no successor for the craftsmen, and the precious craft is disappearing. In fact, a craftsman who participated in the project has passed away after making the kimono, and his skills have been lost. Kimono Project was started out of concern for this situation in 2014.
Image reference: 京都市京セラ美術館にて「2020着物に世界を映す」展開催
Now let me introduce you to the kimono of Japan 🇯🇵 By the way, am I the only one who can't find Japan in the kimono list? I can't find it even in the Asian category. So here's a quote from another article. The person in the photo with the kimono is the founder, Mr. Takakura.
When it came to expressing Japan's national pattern in a kimono, the design chosen was not Mount Fuji or traditional performing arts, but the bundle noshi (熨斗 noshi; long thin strip), which has been widely used in ceremonial dress as an auspicious pattern. He says, 'As a kimono that adorns the closing of all the countries and regions we produce for the project, we hope that it will be Japan that connects the world.'
The kimono was made by 千總 Chiso (Kyoto), a long-established Kyoyuzen company, and depicts flowers from 47 prefectures of Japan and around the world, expressing the diversity and the shape of the ribbon is a reminder of the connecting with the world.
The obi is based on the technique used for 円文白虎 (Enmon Byakko; a design of white tigers in circles), a masterpiece by Tatsumura Heizo I. The fourth generation of Tatsumura Heizo made improvements to the obi. For the warp, three types of white silk thread were used, in addition to gold and silver threads, and five different colours of foil were used.
The obi (sash) was made by 龍村美術織物 Tatsumura Bijutsu Orimono (Kyoto), with a cherry blossom design in a variegated 七宝(shippo; cloisonne) pattern. A total of 426 items, including obis, were produced over a period of six years, with 213 themes including not only countries but also regions participating in the Rugby World Cup 2019.
Here is a quote from what the founder says in this article. This is a Japanese site, but I hope you will enjoy the many photos and videos.
I thought that there are a lot of restrictions, or constraints, that we have placed on ourselves. This phenomenon was evident in all areas. I think we have decided the range of our own work. That's why manufacturing has become so rigid. Each region has a completely different temperament, but I think the problems are the same. I think people should be able to make things more freely.
We have to take better care of our seniors, our parents, our ancestors, our forefathers. That's basically what creates a culture. If we only think about ourselves, we will not think about the future. First of all, we have to be grateful to the people of the generation above us. If we do that, we will value what they have valued, and then we will be able to talk about the future. What our predecessors have done is in our culture. I think that our predecessors have not wavered from their axis, but have worked hard in their time to protect what is important.
