"Junihitoe" kimono of beauty and burden-a topic to share from my Cambly online English lesso
Today I would like to talk about a certain type of kimono called "Junihitoe", which was
the formal costume for women in royal court of Japan centuries ago.
These are pictures of dolls in Junihitoe kimono, which you can see in girls festival season in Japan.
The reason I chose this topic is because there is a TV drama going on in Japan (#nhk_hikarukimie), and it is based on a true story of a court lady in the late 10th-early 11th century. Her name is Murasaki Shikibu.
She is the author of "The tale of Genji".
She was a highly educated person and served as lady in waiting for one of the wives of the emperor.
In this TV drama people often wear formal costumes of that era, which was "Junihitoe" for the women.
Junihitoe is said to have double meaning; 'twelve' and 'more than enough'.
So basically, after putting on the white top part and scarlet bottoms, you wear layers and layers of wide and long sleeved kimono in different colors.
They are not exactly 'twelve' layers of kimono. At one time the fashion got too far and in some cases there were ladies who wore over 20 layers! That overuse was settled in time.
People expressed their sense of fashion and the beauty of seasons by the color variation they chose to wear.
They didn't only enjoy it for one's own fashion, but it also served as display and decoration for the court itself.
it's made of silk,
it's fabulous,
it's colorful,
but here is my point:
It was unbelievably heavy!!
It could sometimes weigh up to 20 kg.
Court ladies served and in some cases presented dances to the emperor in this outfit.
Can you imagine that?
In those days it was uncommon, or even taboo, for women to show their face in public, so women's beauty was assessed by sense of fashion of these kimono, how long and beautiful their hair is, poetry and handwriting, how sophisticated and elegant they were.
That was ok in those days, I can understand.
I think it is well acknowledged that there were many cultures in history of the world where women were forced to be submissive, to be treated lower or weaker. So one aspect to this Junihitoe is that,
although it's beautiful and need abundance of wealth to create it too,
it physically forces women to be submissive.
You can't even walk around quickly wearing a 20kg clothes, can you?
Anyway, today we can enjoy it as fashion and it's pretty to look at, so it's fine!
Thank you for reading.
I hope you found my story of this unique and interesting kimono as much as I did.
Today we can see this Junihitoe kimono mainly in girls festival dolls and in some ceremonies for the emperor of Japan, like the wedding or enthronement ceremony.
There are some places in Kyoto where tourists can enjoy wearing this Junihitoe kimono.
Do you want a try?
#japan
#girlsfestival
#kimono
#junihitoe
#murasakishikibu
#光る君へ
#紫式部
#十二単
#英語で日本を紹介
#cambly
This is a game
Morning routines:
・wake up at 5:30
・cup of hot water
・turn on the washing machine
・practice piano (with headphones!)
・read aloud 2 pages from Legal text books
・read aloud one topic from BBC world news
・prepare bento box lunches
・prepare breakfast
・scrub the floor
before my family gets up.
It's a game just by myself.
If I do everything on the list,
I'm the winner of the day ♪
see also↓
https://osamposampo.hatenablog.com/
#piano #routines #practicemakes perfect
#英語日記
my favorite workouts
I found a wonderful book by Ms. Hiroi Muraki,
and using her methods I have been doing exercises to adjust muscles around my face for about a month now.
It really works!
So,I am MORE beautiful than me a month ago lol，but no one in the house must see me doing the exercises! It's hilarious🤣
see also↓
https://osamposampo.hatenablog.com/
#beauty #exercise #massage #goodday
#英語日記#村木宏衣
Self respect..?
My mother&my mother-in-law are "Super women". They are like Goddess of Love
and Selflessness. I love them and respect them very much, but my goal is a little different. I think that MY " likes and dislikes " "comfortable"
is also important. I tell that to my teenage daughters, too. Associate with people who respect feelings of each other.
see also↓
https://osamposampo.hatenablog.com/
#self esteem #self respect #friendship #family
#英語日記 #langtwt
【Story Challenge 】 No.3 Making sweets with Lil Bottles
Japanese version↓↓↓
https://osamposampo.hatenablog.com/entry/2021/06/07/171219
Aya and Chii are in the kitchen, looking cross.
There are big mixing bowls, whisks, and some baking molds and things on the kitchen work surface.
They had some lumps of egg white from last night,
so mother said they can do baking by themselves.
The girls were excited.
Aya and Chii can cook very well because they had helped mother many times.
“Just call me when you use the oven, ok?”
She went out of the kitchen.
But there was one problem.
Aya wanted to make financiers with oblong molds.
Chii wanted to make them with heart shaped molds.
Aya said,
“Because that’s what it should look like.”
Chii said,
“Heart shaped ones are better because there are more zig-zags all around.”
Lil Bottle Rose and Lil Bottle Lavender looked at the girls in turn.
“I know!”
The girls cried at the same time.
“We can each make our own. We have Lil Bottles to help us”
, and started laughing together.
…What do they mean?
Aya took out rum from the fridge and poured some in Lil Bottle Rose and Lil Bottle Lavender.
They were surprised!
Scent of liquor filled the Lil Bottles.
“Just wait here until we call you.”
, she said.
...What’s going to happen?
The girls began weighing the ingredients
.
Two lumps of egg white
80 grams of granulated sugar
100grams of butter
40 grams of flour
40 grams of almond powder
Flour and almond powder should be sifted and mixed very well.
Butter should be melted well.
Then Aya and Chii each held their whisks and beat the eggs and sugar in their own bowls, very hard.
The girls put the flour into the bowl.
When it was done nicely mixed,
The girls said,
“Now!”
Lil Bottle Rose and Lil Bottle Lavender, very promptly, poured rum into the girls’ mixing bowls.
What a lovely scent!
The girls kept on mixing while they poured in melted butter.
The batter was nice and ready.
Aya put hers in oblong molds.
Chii put hers in heart shaped molds.
“Mommy”
,Chii called. Mother came in and preheated the oven at190 ℃.
The molds were placed on the baking tray.
It’s not hot yet.
Aya, who is the taller of the two, opened the oven door and mother put the tray in.
Aya, Chii, and the Lil Bottles waited excitedly.
The Room was filled with sweet smell.
Mother took out the burning hot baking tray and laid the baked financiers on cake racks on the dining table. The edges are golden brown.
It’s perfect.
Aya and Chii sat by the table and swayed together while they were waiting for their financiers to cool and thinking, if they shared it to grandpa, grandma, father and mother, how many can they eat?
Lil Bottles swayed together with the girls, wishing that the girls would forget to wash them.
They were still filled with the scent of rum.
What a lovely scent!
Story by Nao♪
No.4
https://osamposampo393.hateblo.jp/entry/2021/08/17/160043
【Story Challenge 】 No.4 Gold medals to Lil Bottles
Japanese version↓↓↓
https://osamposampo.hatenablog.com/entry/2021/08/02/171825
Lil Bottle Rose is Aya’s .
Lil Bottle Lavender is Chii’s .
They both have pretty little bow on their pink cap.
They are just the right size for a little child to hold and play along.
Aya and Chii, the mischievous little sisters,
are sleeping in the bed.
Their room is cluttered and comfortable,
as always.
The Lil Bottles are awake, standing on the girls' desks.
The clock on the wall is tick-tocking.
Lil Bottle Rose could not sleep.
She was watching the Olympic games on TV today with everyone.
Lil Bottle Rose was thrilled to see the gymnastics.
The athletes were so cool!
The athlete ran and jumped onto something like a long bar, whirled and did all sorts of unbelievable performances and jumped off.
It was so cool!
Lil Bottle Lavender could not sleep.
The long ribbon the lady athlete held drew circles in the air after her
when she ran acround on the stage. She tossed it and landed in her hands again.
It seemed magical.
How elegant!
No, Lavender could not sleep, she was too excited.
The Lil Bottles looked at each other and nodded.
They walked quietly toward a box of Lego blocks in the corner of the room.
In the box were many partly made stuffs and bits.
Dolls and small basket and other things were in the box, too.
Rose found some perfect pieces for her and placed them in front of her.
Lavender found a ribbon with sticks attached to it. Chii got it at a summer festival.
Lavender held the stick with ribbon and waited elegantly for her turn.
Rose took a deep breath and ran toward the blocks, jumped, and with a beautiful turn landed on the bar!
She almost lost balance but she didn’t fall off.
She was so excited. She jumped off the blocks and posed an athlete pose.
Lavender whirled the ribbon.
It was shorter than the Olympian’s , but it was colorful and pretty!
When Lavender ran from one end of the line on the floor to the other end,
the ribbon followed her!
“ It’s fun!”
They enjoyed it so much that they did it over and over again.
It’s morning.
Aya and Chii woke up,
and with their sleepy eyes, they said
“Didn’t we put Lil Bottle here last night?”
The girls always have breakfast with them where could they be?
“ Look Aya!”
, said Chii.
There, in the corner of the room, Lil Bottle Rose was fast asleep on the floor,
In front of Lego blocks laid like a balance beam.
Lavender was wrapped up in the ribbon stick.
The girls understood what had happened.
They looked at each other, smiled, and hurried to their writing desks.
From the drawer, they pulled out shiny gold medals they got at kindergarten sports festival.
Very quietly, they laid the gold medals beside the sleeping bottles.
“ Well done Lil Bottles♪ Gold medals to you！“
The girls went out of the room by themselves and said let’s have breakfast by ourselves,
just for today.
The Lil Bottles must be very tired and sleepy today♪
Story by Nao♪
back to No.1 \( ˆoˆ )/
https://osamposampo393.hateblo.jp/entry/2021/08/12/204914
#gold medal
