ICHIROYAのブログ

元気が出る海外の最新トピックや、ウジウジ考えたこととか、たまに着物のこと! 

★★★当ブログはじつはリサイクル/アンティーク着物屋のブログです。記事をお楽しみいただけましたら最高。いつか、着物が必要になった時に思い出していただければ、なお喜びます!お店はこちらになります。★★★


Kimono Flea Market ICHIROYA's News Letter No.714

 

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Hi! This is Nanae from Ichiroya.
We had a typhoon two weeks ago, and it became the first typhoon in recorded history to hit four main islands of Japan. When it hit Kyusyu island, it was really strong storm with pouring so I prepared for it. The typhoon without rain did no harm in Tondabayashi city. My friend said her laundry dried. I don’t know why she hung her laundry out in such a day…

Leaving that aside, I visited Guam with my friends in order to escape from summer in Japan.
Guam is one of five American territories. Located in the western Pacific Ocean and it is the largest island in Micronesia. The weather is generally very warm with little seasonal temperature variation. The mean high temperature is 86℉ (30℃) and mean low is 76℉ (24℃). The relative humidity commonly exceeds 84 percent at night throughout the year. Wearing yukata is nice to this climate.
Yes! It was hotter and more humid. Yeah I know it was a good idea. Lol

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We did snorkeling at Fish Eye Marine Park this time. It is one of the famous and popular dive spots in Guam. There are some holes, 30feet (10m) water, and become the natural coral gardens. We can see an abundance of fishes under the calm sea.
We got fresh squids to feed the fish before entering the water.
We were warned not to put our hands into the water holding the fresh squid otherwise the fish would bite our hands. We all made sure and got it!

 

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We tore the squids into small pieces and spread them in the water. Soon we saw plenty of fishes hastily swimming towards the food. We were told to spread the fish food a distance away from us if we were too frightened by the school of fish.
I was so excited because turtles and many fishes came closer as in the picture.
I could see plenty of beautiful and colorful fishes and I totally forgot I was holding a squid.
“Ouch!” A spear liked fish bit my hand and took the squid!
Yes, I raised my bleeding hand and screamed “bitten!!!” with the snorkel still in my mouth.
Why? All my friends, even the lifeguard laughed at me!!

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The cut smarts from the sea water …. One lifeguard came up with me after we took shower and he gave me some Band-Aid. He was so nice he put one on my hand!
Another lifeguard said to me, “you will be OK. He is a doctor.”
I replied, “Oh really?! He said he is a stripper.”…….:p
We laughed and danced like strippers. We surely got six-pack at the moment.

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Photogenic!!!!
Sea creatures in the water are scary.

Today’s keyword ‘fish’.

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Kimono Flea Market ICHIROYA's News Letter No.712

 

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Dear Newsletter readers,

Konnichiwa, this is Mari writing this week' s newsletter.

It is getting cooler and cooler in Osaka.
Fall is just around the corner. I washed my summer kimono and yukata, then stored them for next summer. It is time to wear my white hitoe(not lined) Oshima which I washed at home. Do you remember my last article? I'm so happy to wear it again :-)

 

Sometimes, our items are introduced on kimono magazines, or used as costumes in TV dramas. This fall, our kimono and obi are introduced on the magazine called "Kimono Salon", one of the most influential kimono magazines in Japan. The top image is the cover page of the magazine. The articles are about latest kimono fashion, coordinate tips, introduction of kimono textile production areas and so on. All the articles are very interesting and educational. I learn a lot from this kind of kimono magazine.

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We are proud of our items which look great on those pages!
We get those offers through kimono stylists. They specialize kimono styling for prints and films. Some of our customers are top kimono stylists in Japan. They work for major studios, TV stations, advertising agencies and publishers.

One of them was working on a popular TV drama series called
"Kurokawa no Techo"(The black leather notebook). The heroine of the drama is a lady of a high-end hostess-bar in Ginza, a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo. Many of ladies who works at high-end hostess-bars wear gorgeous kimono. So does she.
I watched the drama every week with high interest in her kimono. You can see some of her images on the drama's website which introduce her wardrobe every week.

http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/kurokawanotecho/fashion/0003/

On the page, the kimono stylist explains the reasons why she choose the kimono, obi and other props such as bag, parasol and so on. It is very interesting to know how she came up with those kimono coordinate for each occasion. She even changes the way to dress the heroine for each scene. For night time, the collar is a little bit wide opened, and the zori sandals are high heel to be look gorgeous. For day time, the collar is tightly closed, and the zori sandals are lower to be look neat.

When the heroine visited one of her customers to celebrate opening his new office, she wore the refreshing light blue transparent summer Houmongi Kimono with wave pattern. Actually, wave is an auspicious pattern which means "eternal" or "get on track(wave)" which is good for our business and life. She encourages her customer with her kimono. To enphasize the blue kimono, she wore white obi, obiage and obijime. Even her bag and parasol were all white.
It is always good to have some kind of meaning or back ground story of our kimono coordinate. We are all kimono stylist for ourselves!

I was inspired by the drama so much!
I'm in mood of checking gorgeous Houmongi Kimono and Fukuro Obi now. They are eye candies!


Gorgeous Houmongi Kimono

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Gorgeous Obi

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I have to find a party or something to wear those gorgeous kimono to first!

Kimono Flea Market ICHIROYA's News Letter No.711

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Hello everyone, Ogenki desuka? This is Yoko writing this week's newsletter.
The top photo was taken on my way home from work last week. It was a beautiful autumn sun set, I could not resist.
By the way the big house in the photo is not mine. hahaha

August is over, and my children had returned to school. (finally!!, yokatta..)
We have three semesters, and second semester starts on first of September in most schools.
Children are normally very tired on their first day back to school from staying up too late in summer or finishing homework at the last minute without any sleeps.
I know my son finished his homework, but I am not sure if my daughter even started her homework. I will try to keep calm... sigh.....

Days are getting shorter, and season is slowly shifting to Autumn. Kaki persimmons in my garden is turning colors.
Morning breeze is a bit chiller now and soon, we start to smell the Autumn in the air, I don't know how to describe it, but air smells differently in each season. Personally, I love the summer air. I love the smell of green leaves with warmth from the sun.
It is always a bit sad and nostalgic to feel(smell?) the summer end.
See you next year Summer! Mata rainen aimasho!

Well, in this news letter, I would like to tell you more about our staff at Ichiroya.
Today, I would like to tell you about Mitsue and Nagisa. You must have seen their names in descriptions?
They both write descriptions in both English and Japanese. Here is a photo of Nagisa and Mitsue.

 

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Mitsue sits at far left corner from my desk and keeps quiet at most of the time, but when we start talking, I can tell she has information flowing in many directions.
But despite her quiet and sophisticated character, my eyes popped out when she told me that she used to take belly dance lessons!!
Oh! She also told me that she takes Zumba, yoga, and aerobics lessons!!! She is such an active and athletic person!!!
A deep bow to a lady with education and talents!!

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Nagisa sits in front of Mitsue. Nagisa loves to read. I see her reading a novel during breaks. She is shy and very quiet like Mitsue, but she keeps an eye out for everything. She knows what is lacking and what is needed and don't hesitate to share her opinion when asked.
But you know every girl has a soft spot right? She is in LOVE with American football!!!
Hope you read her newsletter about going to meet Tom Brady of New England Patriots all the way to Tokyo!!? (we are in Osaka!)
She is dedicated to work and rarely takes a day off, but you know the ONLY day she demands for an off??? Yeah, you are right!!!! Super Bowl!!!!

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Speaking of sports, you can tell what was a popular sport when Kimono was made from some of the motifs on Kimono.
Have you noticed some kimono has unique sports motifs???

 

 Tennis and ski

Men's Kimono #326276 Kimono Flea Market Ichiroya 

Baseball

Men's Kimono #361454 Kimono Flea Market Ichiroya

Baseball

Men's Kimono #359764 Kimono Flea Market Ichiroya

Baseball

Men's Kimono #361067 Kimono Flea Market Ichiroya

Ballet

Obi #379780 Kimono Flea Market Ichiroya

Sumo!

Men's Kimono #380482 Kimono Flea Market Ichiroya

 

Ichiroya original brand Kimonotte collar with Tennis and Ski motifs.
You can add a retro accent to your neckline.
 
 Kimonotte Tennis

Accessories #363622 Kimono Flea Market Ichiroya

Kimonotte Ski

Accessories #363625 Kimono Flea Market Ichiroya


Our listing hour starts at about 5:45am, hope you find unique and interesting items in new arrivals!
itsumo arigato gozaimasu for reading our newsletters.

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Kimono Flea Market ICHIROYA's News Letter No.710

Dear Ichiroya newsletter readers,

Hi! This is Nagisa from Ichiroya. How was your summer vacation? I went to Tokyo again. It was my second visit this year. There are always full of interesting spots in Tokyo, so I never get tired of there no matter how many times I go. This time, I enjoyed some art works using 'Lights'. So today, I'd like to introduce you what I saw in Tokyo.

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My first destination was here, 'Hotel Gajoen Tokyo'. It's called the Dragon Palace of Showa era(1926- 1989) because of its gorgeousness. It's also famous for 'Hyakudan Kaidan' which has 99 steps and 7 rooms. These 7 rooms are decorated so luxuriously with paintings, Raden (design in mother-of-pearl inlay) and relives on their walls, ceilings, pillars and so on. Also, unique exhibitions are often held at the 'Hyakudan Kaidan', and the 'Wanoakari' (Japanese illuminations) exhibition is held this summer. 35 kinds of lights refer to Japanese festivals, arts and traditional cultures are exhibited with retro atmosphere.

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By the way, did you notice that this place was the stage of a famous movie? Yes, 'Spirited Away' produced by Studio Ghibli is set in there!

 

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Here is one more photo which is concerned with my favorite movie. Look! What an incredible view this is! It's the Rapunzel Experience powered by Teamlab. Have you ever watched the movie 'Tangled'? I like the movie the best of all Disney Princess Movies. Especially, I love the scene that lots of lanterns fly away in the dark sky. That romantic scene was reproduced fantastically. I spent really good time like a dream only one minute! Yes, Only one minute! This installation is very popular, so it is limited to one minute for each person. I got in the line twice!

Here are some fancy items like a fairy tale...!
<< Obi >>

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I was originally going to visit 'Nikko Toshogu' to see the amazing sculptures. However, I had no choice but to changed the schedule because of record-breaking bad weather. tohoho...
I've been always wanting to meet Shuzo Matsuoka who is former professional tennis player who is called 'solar deity' because of his super positive behavior. If he were going to Nikko Toshogu, it would be sunny. I want him to share his special power with me too! I hope I could go to Nikko in the sunny sky someday...

Kimono Flea Market ICHIROYA's News Letter No.709

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Hello! This is Mituse writing.
We are finally back from the long summer holidays.

In Japan, this holidays are called Obon holidays. Obon is a Japanese religious custom to pray for ancestors usually held from the 13th to 16th of August.Spirits of ancestors come back and stay with families during the days, and they go again. So, many people go back to their hometown to visit family's graves during Obon holidays. Some people light a torch or lantern to invite the spirits, and decorate the Buddhist altar with horse made of cucumber and and ox made of eggplant.
We wish the ancestor spirits to come back fast riding a horse and go again slowly riding on an ox. We eat and drink with relatives and talk how we are doing well. Then, people light the lantern again for the spirit to not get lost on the way back. It may be similar to Halloween in the U.S, or Day of Dead in Mexico, right?

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TOTTO riccio | Flickr

As for me, I stayed at home and did my favorite things like reading, watching movies, dancing (aerobics, zumba!) and practicing musical instrument. Because my father is from Niigata prefecture and my mother is from Ishikawa prefecture, so family graves are so far to go on this HOT season!


My son is a graduate school student of pharmacy. He came back Osaka from Chiba prefecture by bicycle!! It took 4 days staying at Internet cafe in several cities at night. I was sooooo worried about him if he carried by ambulance by heatstroke. However, I had nothing to do but just wait and wait....Fortunately, he reached our home without any troubles. Thanks God! It will be one of big memories of my family.

 

Well, several years ago I visited Shirakawa-go looking for cool air on this season.
The Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go is one of Japan's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is located in Gifu Prefectures of central Japan. Shirakawa-go means White River Old-District.
The villages are well known for their houses, constructed in the architectural style of Gassho-zukuri, which are designed to easily shed snow from the roofs in winter.
'Gassho' means prayer-hands resembling two hands joined in prayer. Gassho-zukuri is characterized by a steeply slanting thatched roof and pillars, which is exceptionally strong to the weight of the region's heavy snowfalls in winter. People still live in the houses, but some are opened for tourist.

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The photo is one of a Gassho-zukuri house. When we step into the house, a hearth caught our eyes. Families gather around the hearth getting warm, cooking, eating, talking, and doing own jobs. The fire cannot die out all year. The old telephone is still used now. The mezzanine floor is for employees and the second and third floors are mainly for sericultural industry. The forth floor is for storage room. We can see earthquake-resistant tree called 'Komajiri' which is the key for the strong house. The pillars are assembled like "upside down spinning top" shape and thatched roof is just placed on them. Even if strong wind blows, the shake of roof does not reflect to the house. The smoke from the hearth keeps away bugs in the thatched roof. They have to replace the thatched roof every 15-20 years. It costs huge mount of money.

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I would like to visit there in winter to see the lit up scenery on snowy night.

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sakaki0214 | Flickr

 

Let me introduce our items with Japanese house and scenery design. We wish you feel the beauty of Japanese scenery surrounded by mountains and streams.

Fukuro obi (Gassho-zukuri)

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Fukuro obi (scenery)

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Nagoya obi (old Japanese house

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Maru obi (old Japanese house )

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Houmongi

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Komon

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Kimono Flea Market ICHIROYA's News Letter No.707

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人白彥 | Flickr

 

Dear Newsletter readers,

Hello, how are you? This is Fumie writing.
It's already August.
Fireworks displays are held in many parts of Japan at this season of year.
The other day, the fireworks display was held in Tondabayashi, where Ichiroya is located, too.
About 25,000 fireworks were set off and they were beautiful and awesome.

 

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By the way, I went to the swimming pool which is in Nagashima Spa Land with my family for two days.
http://www.nagashima-onsen.co.jp/resort/download.html/

Nagashima Spa Land is a major amusement park in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture, Japan.
The water in the swimming pool is cleansed seawater of Ise Bay.
We can experience the feeling of swimming in the ocean.
The park has various kinds of swimming pools such as lazy river, wave pool and water sliders.

 

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My second son who is seven y.o is not so good at swimming, and he is afraid of getting into water.
was crying whenever he went into water until two years ago.
However, he had so much fun in the swimming pool, so he forgot himself who is not good at swimming. He was going to swim in the lazy river called "Torrent" without his swim ring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpgAgq_dHJo

He made me feel very uneasy many times, but I was glad to be able to see his smile.

 

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 My first son who is ten y.o challenged the 328ft (100m) height slider that my husband and I were very scared.
When he slid down from the slider with splash of water, I was very excited.
Although it was very hot day of the midsummer, I was able to feel the coolness.
Thanks to the swimming pools!
The two days were the time while I was able to see the growth of my sons.

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Let me introduce some stream patterns like lazy river today.

Obi

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Kimono

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Haori& Coat

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Thank you for reading through. See you next time.

Kimono Flea Market ICHIROYA's News Letter No.706

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m-louis .® | Flickr


Hello again!  This is Nanae writing.  Na Na Yeah~♪How have you been?
I would like to introduce one of my favorite tourist attractions (?) in Osaka today.
I love to take my friends there and enjoy watching their first reaction.  I think ladies get excited, and somehow men get frightened.

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This is the best spot among airplane freaks to watch airplanes about to land from just underneath.  We can see the airplanes’ belly button.

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This spot is near Itami (Osaka) airport. As you walk for a while, you will see a river. Walk along the river and there you are! The best spot for airplane watching!  Though it takes 20 minutes on foot from the nearest car park, it is worthwhile as you can see many airplanes landing while walking.

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BJ TENKINZOKU | Flickr

We watched an airplane every 5 to 10 minutes and a jumbo jet every 20 minutes.  We might be able to watch extra private jet, too.
Although I don’t know if it is legal or not, there was a volunteer who had a tablet, a radio and a big rice ball.  She said
‘Next one will be landing within 10 minutes!  It is flying over Nagoya now. A big one!’
She gave us some information after she used the tablet and listened to the radio. And then she ate a rice ball.

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Photogenic!!!

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I want to visit Maho beach someday!
If you know any other good places for airplane watching, do let me know! Thanks!
Today’s keyword ‘airplane’

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