Kimono Flea Market ICHIROYA's News Letter No572

Hello from Yuka from Ichiroya.

Our office (stockrooms, photo room and office) is in Tondabayashi city, which is in southern Osaka. We wish we had but we do not have an open store for public.

Our office is near Tondabayashi station and across the railroad, there is an old town called Jinai cho.

http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~heritage/english.html

Jinai cho has old houses and one of the house (Sugiyama House) is a National important cultural property. The house was built in mid Edo period and Sugiyama was a sake brewer and also one of the famous poet from Meiji, Tsuyuko Isonokami was from this family. The area has old houses and narrow road-as if time has stopped, but people live and have ordinary lives. There are some new houses in between and there seem two ideas-people who like to invite tourists and wish to invigorate the community and people with opposite idea--they do not like the change and like to keep the quiet life with local people.

The city is trying to activate the area and doing some new event. One of the event is demonstrating `old time wedding'.  The event started three years ago, and one of the staff was looking for the old kimono and came to us. 

Today, the demo-wedding was held. The wedding was proceeded according to the way they had from meiji(1868-1912). The bride and bridegroom with her parents and nakodo(a go-between) did the wedding procession to the bridegroom's house. The two small girls walked and guided the porcession. The neighbors waited and celebrated the wedding. In front of the house(this time, they used Sugiyama house which is the biggest house in the town), the bridegroom stood and welcomed the procession. They entered and sat on a tatami room in front of gold folding screen. The priest of shrine started to play Sho, Japanese traditional panpipe, and two girls carried sake and cups for each one to exchange sake as a pledge of the ties of marriage. Then father started the chant Takasagoya. Then a dance was performed.The demo wedding has ended shortly but at real wedding, after the ceremony, people enjoyed the wedding reception for hours.

The bride wore the black furisode(from Ichiroya!) and on her head, she was wearing tsunokakushi(headbelt), kougai and kannzashi (hair accessroies), with fukuro obi, red shibori obiage and red shigoki sash was added, obijime was maruguke white cord.

The bride and the bridegroom were a real couple who recently got married. It is not yet decided, but the city representative was saying, they like to have `real' wedding in jinaicho using Sugiyama House in future.

It is so interesing, recently, young people have unique stores and cafe in Jinai cho

It used to be some stores, may be around five stores (except the ones from the local people) about five years ago, but we heard there are around 30 small stores now. They rent old houses and some sell crafts, some have cafe. We went to one of the cafe there full of vintage goods from abroad! They said the them of the cafe is TABI(trip).

http://jinaimachi-sanpo.seesaa.net/category/8275648-1.html

There is Osaka University of Arts near Jinaicho and some stores are run by the students and graduates. There are still only few people visit Jinaicho but very slowly the town might change little by little.