mi kimono es su kimono

literally, that is how it is with my landlord's wife, azuko. i paid them a visit over the weekend to make them their first tacos. as i've said before mexican food is limited over here, a novelty, if you will. isaac came with and "helped" by drinking beer with mr. sekiguchi while mrs. sekiguchi and i cooked. so much for gender equality over here in japan. the tacos turned out surprisingly good and it was also surprisingly good to the sekigichis. whew. they are definitely an unusual couple in that 1) they like foreigners and have a ton of foreign friends* 2) they speak great english considering the educational system they learned from and 3) they are always up to try new things/food/roller coasters/etc.

*Disclaimer: Not all Japanese people dislike foreigners, in fact, most do. It's just that to actively seek out and gain foreign friendships is "against the grain" here.

so after some chatting and drinking and eating, mrs. sekiguchi invited me to view her kimono collection. they are rather rich people so she has quite a few. kimonos are the traditional attire for ladies in japan. they usually just wear them for formal events like weddings, graduations, and festivals; but when i lived in nagano i saw the same family every sunday morning on their way to church with mother and daughter in full kimono. i digress, anyway, i tried on a couple of her kimonos. it took her about 20-30 minutes to help me put the first one on. what takes so long is situating the obi which is a long, beautiful piece of fabric (usually silk) that decorates the waist.

the second one i tried was a summer kimono called a yukata. yukata are made from cotton thus they are the summer wear as summertime in japan is a little like being trapped in a giant sauna. this one was my favorite and i think she read it in my eyes because....she gave it to me! i wish i would have gotten some photos of the two of them, but they weren't having any of that. do any grandmas like their picture to be taken? in my experience, no.