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A new record: 11 hours, 27 minutes
Jul. 13th, 2008 09:59 pmFrom the moment I finished tying my hanhaba obi this morning to the moment I got home and peeled off obi and yukata this event. That's officially the longest I've been in modern wafuku ever. I wore my navy yukata with the red and white pinstripes and the yellow blue and red plaid obi. (It sounds like it should be a train wreck, but I think they work together).
Met K&A and their friend Will at the Original Pancake House for brunch. K&A both apologized for opting not to dress. Seriously, it was going to be hot, there was going to be a lot of walking and standing involved and doing it in wooden geta would've been killer (I was in zori, myself). There was nothing to apologize for.
We left the cars to take light rail into downtown San Jose. I had an obi malfunction when I got out of the truck - I KNEW I should have double knotted the sucker. It was probably caused by the fact that I pull the knot around to the front when I drive. I fixed the problem and was good to go. It was about four or five blocks from the light rail line to the Obon festival in Japantown and we arrived just as UC Irvine's taiko group started up. (I didn't take any pictures all day. It was too crowded to really bother and there weren't all that many people dressed in yukata. Andy says he shot a couple, but it's a lot easier for him to shoot over people's heads. )
We did check out some of the shops in the neighborhood. First stop was Nichi Bei Bussan on Jackson Street. The guys were able to find some tatami zori that would work for them. There was a woman being helped by one of the sales ladies as she chose yukata for her two little girls. I was browsing fans when the sales lady, said, "Pardon me, would you turn around?" So I did. Evidently my cho-cho musubi (the butterfly bow in my obi) was good enough to show the customer, even with the hasty parking-lot repair.
I selected an uchiwa - the paddle shaped fans that are popular for festivals. Of the ones they had for sale, it was simple and very pretty. A swath of indigo with pale streaks against a mostly white background with delicate sprinkles of gold. The other sales lady asked if I was going to be staying for the dancing that evening. I said I didn't think so. (I would've enjoyed it, but I don't know if the guys would've been into it.)
Those was the only verbal comments I got, but I did catch several smiles from strangers during the day, so I must've looked reasonably presentable. Folks, it's one thing dressing for SCA or cosplay or Halloween or something, it's quite another to go into a Japanese-American community in their traditional dress when one is clearly non-Japanese.
There was another gift shop on the side street, upstairs from a restaurant. I cannot remember the name, but they had some very nice serveware and gifts, along with a section devoted to manga and anime DVDs.
Lance turned up at some point, having come in by bicycle. We also stopped in Kogura. Andy picked up a couple of cook books. They had pickle presses in several sizes. Having just had good book shopping karma yesterday, I decided to not get one. It would be nice to have and I would like to make pickles, but it's not urgent.
We picked up some edibles at the food vendors, then went outside to listen to San Jose taiko's high energy performance. K& I were trying to stay in the shade and pretty much all of the performance I could actually SEE was the back of people's heads.
A vote was taken and the group decided to take light rail back downtown to the multiplex. There was a showing of "Wall-E" at a convenient time, so we paused for snacks at a frozen yogurt place, then luxuriated in the air conditioning and the animation. It's Pixar, it's funny, absorbing, and some scenes are exquisitely beautiful. It also comes with a short about a magician and his very hungry rabbit. Definitely worth your time.
(For the curious, I watched the movie with my obi spun around to the front. Two hours with a knot against my spine? No thank you.)
Ah, I see the Buddhist Church of Oakland has finally put up THEIR Obon announcement online. August 2.
Met K&A and their friend Will at the Original Pancake House for brunch. K&A both apologized for opting not to dress. Seriously, it was going to be hot, there was going to be a lot of walking and standing involved and doing it in wooden geta would've been killer (I was in zori, myself). There was nothing to apologize for.
We left the cars to take light rail into downtown San Jose. I had an obi malfunction when I got out of the truck - I KNEW I should have double knotted the sucker. It was probably caused by the fact that I pull the knot around to the front when I drive. I fixed the problem and was good to go. It was about four or five blocks from the light rail line to the Obon festival in Japantown and we arrived just as UC Irvine's taiko group started up. (I didn't take any pictures all day. It was too crowded to really bother and there weren't all that many people dressed in yukata. Andy says he shot a couple, but it's a lot easier for him to shoot over people's heads. )
We did check out some of the shops in the neighborhood. First stop was Nichi Bei Bussan on Jackson Street. The guys were able to find some tatami zori that would work for them. There was a woman being helped by one of the sales ladies as she chose yukata for her two little girls. I was browsing fans when the sales lady, said, "Pardon me, would you turn around?" So I did. Evidently my cho-cho musubi (the butterfly bow in my obi) was good enough to show the customer, even with the hasty parking-lot repair.
I selected an uchiwa - the paddle shaped fans that are popular for festivals. Of the ones they had for sale, it was simple and very pretty. A swath of indigo with pale streaks against a mostly white background with delicate sprinkles of gold. The other sales lady asked if I was going to be staying for the dancing that evening. I said I didn't think so. (I would've enjoyed it, but I don't know if the guys would've been into it.)
Those was the only verbal comments I got, but I did catch several smiles from strangers during the day, so I must've looked reasonably presentable. Folks, it's one thing dressing for SCA or cosplay or Halloween or something, it's quite another to go into a Japanese-American community in their traditional dress when one is clearly non-Japanese.
There was another gift shop on the side street, upstairs from a restaurant. I cannot remember the name, but they had some very nice serveware and gifts, along with a section devoted to manga and anime DVDs.
Lance turned up at some point, having come in by bicycle. We also stopped in Kogura. Andy picked up a couple of cook books. They had pickle presses in several sizes. Having just had good book shopping karma yesterday, I decided to not get one. It would be nice to have and I would like to make pickles, but it's not urgent.
We picked up some edibles at the food vendors, then went outside to listen to San Jose taiko's high energy performance. K& I were trying to stay in the shade and pretty much all of the performance I could actually SEE was the back of people's heads.
A vote was taken and the group decided to take light rail back downtown to the multiplex. There was a showing of "Wall-E" at a convenient time, so we paused for snacks at a frozen yogurt place, then luxuriated in the air conditioning and the animation. It's Pixar, it's funny, absorbing, and some scenes are exquisitely beautiful. It also comes with a short about a magician and his very hungry rabbit. Definitely worth your time.
(For the curious, I watched the movie with my obi spun around to the front. Two hours with a knot against my spine? No thank you.)
Ah, I see the Buddhist Church of Oakland has finally put up THEIR Obon announcement online. August 2.
