"Aren't they somethin? They're like butterflies, or little pieces of wrapping paper blowing around"

The Saturday after we came back from Tokyo, FRIENDS had organized quite the outing: "Kimono Sightseeing at Kiyomizudera Temple." That is, going sightseeing in kimono. I'm pretty sure that's what they called it anyhow.

The night before I'd been asking a few of the Japanese students if I could just go to get my hair done, since I had my own yukata that I wanted to wear. The problem was that it was a package deal basically: rent a kimono, and they dress you and do your hair. (And the price range they gave us for the entire kimono-rental and hairdo was rather...exorbitant and frightening. About $60--although it turned out to be half as much for the people who did get the entire set.)

Finally someone straight up told me I could bring my own things, and that it would probably bring the price down--which it did, even if only by a little. It was significantly cheaper than I was expecting anyway. And the whole experience of having someone dress me up and do crazy things to my hair was definitely worth around $25.

 

Those of use who were coming from I-House left around 11 am, and sampled pretty much the entirety of the local transportation in getting to Kiyomizudera. (We took a bus, the subway, and a taxi. And I'm going to pretend for a moment that trains aren't a type of local transportation, haha.) We strolled up the hilly streets up to Kiyomizudera to wait for the rest of the group before heading to the kimono-rental shop.

the front gate to Kiyomizudera 

 

An absolutely fabulous portrait of Tina, if I do say so, which I do. Très genki.

(This is the small alley-walkway to the rental shop.)

Since I'd brought my yukata, obi, and geta, the ladies working there sent me on ahead upstairs while the other girls were picking out their kimono and handbags. Having a stranger dress you is a little bit, well, strange, but interesting--plus I got to watch how she dressed me in the yukata in the mirror. If I pick up the couple of items I was missing from, namely the under-kimono slip and some of the auxiliary belts which go under the obi, and write down what I remember, I could probably dress myself. Maybe.

Eh, I'd probably need help with the obi still.

So here's the skinny on how to wear a yukata: first, you put on a kimono slip (which can be substituted for Western-style slips or a two-piece slip set), and they wrap a thin sash around you to secure it. Then they wrap a towel around your waist--which essentially flattens you out unless you're a fantastically well-endowed girl like Tina. (Tina shared a funny story about the last Japanese lady who dressed her up in a kimono asking her with some astonishment, "Are these yours?!"...Tina had really wanted to reply, "Of course. Who else's would they be?" XD) Now, after they've made you cylindrical, the yukata goes on. Always, always, the left side goes over the right. The reason, if you haven't heard it already, is that only dead people wear their kimono with the right over the left.

No joke.

Kimono seem too long initially when you put them on; you have to hike it up to your ankles, secure it just below your bust, and then fold the "extra" material down over the tie. (You can see the fold of fabric peeking out under the bottom of the obi.) You secure the fold in place with a tie around your waist, and then the obi ita goes on, a flexible kind of board with an elastic band around the back which keeps the obi from wrinkling.

Then there's the really fun part: tying the obi. You fold the obi in half, lengthwise, and wrap it around your waist twice. My obi is, and the other girls' obis were as well, double sided, and judging by the thickness and texture, probably made of some kind of polyester. So the lady asked me which side I wanted showing. I arbitrarily picked the whiter side, and realized as she was folding the top layer of the obi before tying the bow in back, that she actually folded it so that the underside accented the outside. The whole obi business sort of reminded me of origami...

After my midsection was all bound and tied up proper--the obi is really a bit like a corset I think, without the body-shape-changing whalebone--I went over to the room across from the dressing room to have my hair styled.
First they combed it out my hair, separated and sprayed strands, then rolled them in layers. I'll admit, it was way exciting...never had my hair done before really. Home dye jobs, trims, and cuts--nothing fancy. A perm once when I was really young. And while I was waiting for my hair to set, the ladies told me to pick out a hair accessory. They were all very pretty, fabric flowers and beads, or traditional painted lacquer or metal hair sticks, sorted by color and type.
Ended up going with a beady flowery hair stick with dangly fabric flowers. After five minutes, they took out the rollers, teased out the waves, arranged and pinned them in place. I was truthfully a bit amazed--I never knew once released from a roller, you could comb hair backwards and achieve quite an attractive whorl.
The end result:

Olga (Polish) and I; photo courtesy of Sabine

A good shot of the obi bow; courtesy of Tina

And thus commenced the Japanese tradition of endless photo shooting in the small garden outside the rental shop. Well, part of it was just keeping ourselves occupied while waiting for the people who were still getting dolled up. But honestly, it's a tradition. Get dressed up. Take pictures. Lots of pictures. For about an hour literally. And would be pausing a couple more times later that day...for even more pictures. Here's a small sampling from my camera:

Heidi (German), Tina, and me

 

Sarah (Australian), Sabine (German), (one of the Japanese girls
whose name I can't recall ><), and Heidi

 

We finally set out into the streets surrounding Kiyomizudera, in search for food. The weather was gorgeous, although it was slightly warm. I was glad I was wearing my yukata instead of a kimono, which comprises 3 layers of fabric, although I discovered I was being slightly gauche in wearing a yukata in May, while it was still technically spring.

But I was ok with my small fashion faux pas, in exchange for being less uncomfortable in the heat; besides, I probably blended in with the rest of the group, and the Japanese fairly forgiving of foreigner's foibles....oh my, alliteration is fun isn't it?

We walked down these stairs (above), which have a rather interesting myth attached. It is said if you trip and fall while climbing or descending these stairs, you'll die within a year. Cheery little tale, isn't it? As it was, we were all shuffling along in our kimono, but I'm wasn't quite sure if it was an advantage or not. Most of use aren't particularly used to taking so little steps, so stumbling probably would have been quite easy, but when you actually have to pay attention to the way you're walking...

 

After I devoured a thin, medium-sized not-really pizza at the cafe, we went wandered towards Kodaiji temple before heading over to Kiyomizudera.

 

Little statues of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Nene which you can touch to pray for a happy marriage. Kodaiji temple was founded by Nene, also know as Kita no Mandokoro or Kodaiin, after her husband's death to pray for his peaceful rest.

 

You circle around the three sides of this structure, spinning the wheels...
probably for some kind of luck.

Yasaka pagoda between Kiyomizudera and Kodaiji

 

And then there was a little ninja dog along the way...

 

Approaching Kiyomizudera, as evening was starting to set in

 

 

Kiyomizudera is set into the hills, offering a beautiful view of Kyoto

These look a lot to me like iron geta...currently unsure of the story behind these beauties.

View of the Otowa waterfall from the main hall. The three streams of water are believed have magical properties, granting longevity, wisdom, and health.

 

Entrance to Jishu Jinja, a shrine within Kiyomizudera grounds which people visit
to pray for success in love.

Tina and I exchanged glamour shots here, one art student to another. As she said, "If we don't indulge ourselves, who will?" Wise, wise words. And if I may say so, we indulged ourselves well, with good composition and framing.

 

Before the sun started to set, we shuffled back over to the kimono rental place, disrobed, and returned what we had rented. They didn't undo our hair or take any of the pins back besides the hair ornaments;

it would be unsanitary to reuse the pins, I suppose.
Tina and I also snuck in a couple of photos looking into the main room of the kimono rental shop.

I think I probably looked a little silly, walking down the streets with my hair still elegantly pinned up, wearing a tank top and stripey pajama pants.

...But that's just how I am.