Japan Day 16: Kimonos and A Tanuki

During work today, we (the other intern from Harvard and I) got a chance to visit the kimono club at Showa! It was really interesting to see the club members put on their kimonos (all of which were made from detailed, pretty fabric); there is a certain grace and art to wearing so many layers! They were also having a competition to see who could put a kimono on in 4 minutes, which seemed impossible to us onlookers. Next week, I believe, we are going to go back and try on yukata (summer kimonos that take less time to put on). I am very excited!

After work, we walked around Sangenjaya (the neighborhood of Showa). Luckily, the rain still has not resumed, and the streets were bustling with pedestrians! We passed by a ceramics shop, which had a sculpture of a tanuki (raccoon dog). According to popular legend, the large testicles of a tanuki symbolize financial luck. (This is the feature that made me realize that the sculpture was of a tanuki!) What a funny discovery!