Dear Ichiroya newsletter readers,
Konnichiwa, this is Mari from Ichiroya.
It has been hot and humid in Osaka.
We are still in rainy season though.
On July 7th, we celebrate "Tanabata" in Japan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanabata
We believe in that our wishes will be realized by writing wishes on
pieces of paper, hanging them on bamboo.
Most of kids in Japan write their wished on tanzaku(small pieces of paper),
and hang them on bamboo at school.
It is the season to wear Yukata. We go to those Tanabana festivals in Yukata.
Today, I would like to introduce one of my favorite Hanhaba-obi tying styles
which is called "Fusen(balloon)-Taiko".
*I'm showing how to tie in front of your body by yourself.
1) Put a clip at about 19"(50cm) (length of about 3 times of the obi width) from
obi end, and fold it up.
2) Fold the other side of the obi up from the backside.
3) Fold it from the back side again.
4) Put clips on it to keep the shape. It will be Otaiko.
5) Take 15"(40cm) long 'tesaki'(the end of folded, narrow belt) and hold is
on your shoulder. Wrap your waist twice with the obi.
6) Tie the 'tesaki' and the other end. The 'tesaki'sould be on top after tying.
7) Fold the longer end of obi like a ribbon.
*I show the other side of the obi by flipping it to use the reversible obi efficiently.
You will see what I'm talking about later.
8) Tie the ribbon with the 'tesaki'.
The left wing is a loop.
The right wing is not a loop which is the end of obi.
9) Put the 'otaiko'(square bow) which you made at the beggining on the ribbon.
10)Put a cord on the top loop of the otaiko.
The cord could be any kind, like koshihimo, decoration cord or so.
Thinner one is easier to hide. I use a thin "Kazari-himo"(decoration cord).
11) Tie the cord. Then rotate the obi around your body. Now, you have the 'otaiko'(square bow) on your back. Hide the cord by putting it in between
yukata and obi.
12) Put Obijime on the bottom loop of the Otaiko.
Tie it in fron.
13) Here is the "Fusen (balloon)-otaoko"! (the photo on top)
It was named after folding paper ballon(origami fusen), you can see the photo on top. The otaiko looks like these origami paper balloon
Now, you see the reason why I fliped the obi when I made the ribbon.
If I didn't flip it, the ribbon would be the blue side with plover pattern
which is the same pattern as the left and right side of the otaiko.
I think it is a better look to have the different patterns alternately.
I used "Sanbu-himo" and "Obidome" for fun.
You can also flip front part of obi to show the wrong side of it.
It will be more playful.
Hanhaba obi(half width obi) with two different colors on the right and wrong
sides are more suitable for this stule for making the otaiko
colorful.
We have many different colors of Hanhaba obi.
Followings are some of them.
https://www.ichiroya.com/item/list2/303910/
https://www.ichiroya.com/item/list2/331535/
https://www.ichiroya.com/item/list2/330791/
You think it is a little bit complicated, right?
Try it! It is easy once you remember how to do it.
It will make your Yukata style different for sure!