Recycled Kimono Sale: The Map

More than two dozen American women congregated in the Kanagawa Community Relations Center this morning for the Fiber Recycle Network's semi-annual sale of used kimono, obis, and textile scraps. When the first 100 shoppers were admitted to the sale room at 10:00 am, we attacked those racks and tables like a swarm of locusts. 

This will be my final post about the Recycled Kimono Sale since I can't think of a single (valid) reason to attend the next sale (April 25, 2012), the last one before I move back to the United States.  Here is some advice for those of you who hope to experience this event when/if you have the chance to visit or reside in Japan.

First and foremost, there are enough kimono and obis for everyone.  Don't worry if you can't get to the sale early enough to snag one of those first 100 admission tickets.  The nice volunteers hang new items on the racks almost as quickly as you can pull a kimono off a hanger and stuff it in the large clear plastic bag you were handed just before you entered the room.  Customers are admitted in groups of 25-50 at fifteen or thirty minute intervals.

How can you find out when the sale will be held?  The date is listed on the Fiber Recycle Network webpage which is in Japanese but numbers are numbers and dates are dates so just check the bottom right corner of the webpage for the date.  You should be able to go directly to that webpage by clicking on the headline of this post.

When do you need to leave Yokosuka if you want to get your hands on one of those first admission tickets?  We never failed to be among the first 100 in line when we departed the bus shelter just inside Womble Gate at 7:30 am and hopped on an express train a few minutes before 8:00.  The limited express (green) trains don't start running until 8:30 am so you'll have to settle for a "red" train which will get you to Yokohama Station around 8:45.

Follow the signs to the West Exit.  You will walk two short blocks to the Kanagawa Community Relations Center (in the upper right corner of the map below).

You are most welcome.

Inside the Center, you will line up four abreast (left) until shortly after 9:00 am when a volunteer hands you a sheet of paper with a number stapled to it. Please pardon the poor photograph; I rode up and down those escalators twice to capture the gestalt for you. Once again, you are most welcome.

With number in hand, you will have time to grab a cup of coffee and cinnamon roll at the Starbucks on the second floor of More's next to Yokohama Station.  Perhaps the Starbucks will have moved back inside the train station by the time you get here.  Be flexible, but make sure you are back in line, four abreast, by 9:50 am.

Paying for your treasures

My previous post includes photographs from inside the sale room but I don't think I've shared pictures of the check-out process before.  Once you've filled that big plastic bag, head for the end of the room opposite the entrance and a volunteer will help you empty your treasures into a laundry basket.  She will direct you to one of the four tables staffed by volunteers who will bag your purchases and write the total amount due on that little piece of paper containing your admission number.  (Don't throw away the big piece of paper until you have scanned it for and memorized the date of the next sale if you want to avoid checking the website.)

The cashiers are seated at the last table before the room's exit.

It is almost impossible to spend more than forty-five minutes inside the sale.  If you stuff your bag with the most expensive kimono, you might manage to spend $150.  I've filled a bag with a dozen children's kimono that cost me less than $50 and sometimes I've spent less than $20. 

Some Americans take rolling suitcases to the sale to make it easier to lug their purchases home on the train. The suitcases are not allowed inside the sale room; ask a volunteer to show you the nook where you can store your suitcases while you are shopping. I prefer to transport my treasures in bags like that big patchwork number Big Bird is sporting in the above photograph. A bag looks less greedy than a suitcase to me but it's really a matter of personal preference and how much you want to "fit in" with the locals.

P.S. Speaking of Big Bird, have I told you that one of her fantastic quilts has been deemed award-winning by the Yokohama Quilt Show people? We are so proud of her and will be at the award ceremony in force on November 10.

Peeking a Gift Horse in the Mouth

There are families in the Tohoku region of Japan who for several generations have earned their livings making traditional doll clothing. They lost everything in the immediate aftermath of the March 11 earthquake. The tsunami washed all their supplies out to sea.

Hearing of their sad plight, my friend boxed up all her best obis and kimono. The boxes were crammed into a van and delivered to the doll company families near Fukushima.

She said she had many kimono and obis and scraps of kimono fabric that were not good enough to be included in her humanitarian shipment. She wondered if Fearless and I would be at all interested in taking them off her hands.

She didn't have to twist any arms.  But you already knew that, didn't you?

This morning we met for breakfast at Ble Dore. After we crammed as much fresh bread into our mouths as human beings can ingest in ninety minutes, we repaired to the parking lot to transfer the sixteen 30+ pound bags from her car to mine. But we could only squeeze ten of those gigantic bags into my trunk and back seat, so she followed us back to Yokosuka where Fearless fetched her van and we completed the transfer on a parking lot roof.

It was all a bit clandestine as she didn't want any elderly Japanese ladies to catch her passing her "smelly old kimono fabric" to foreigners.

Tomorrow night Fearless and I are going to sort through those sixteen bags and decide what to do with our plunder. Some of it will undoubtedly go to the spouse club thrift shop to raise money for local charities and we'll auction off something or other to the Seventh Fleet spouses to benefit the Relay for Life this weekend, but it sure would be swell if we could figure out a way to auction off some of it to directly benefit the earthquake/tsunami victims. The base regulations are rather rigid (ie, ridiculous) in that regard.

So far the Ancient Mariner and I have lugged four of those bags from the car to the house. I taken a quick peek for triage purposes: obis in the living room, fabric scraps in the family room, kimono in the dining room. Here is what I found at the top of one of those bags:

Smelly old kimono fabric indeed.

A Kimono Exhibition with Friends

A year ago this past May Matsuzaki-san took the Shonan Ladies to a kimono artist's studio on a Kamakura hilltop. That artist was Mitsuo Haruki and his works are currently on display in an ancient gallery in Kita-Kamakura. When Matsuzaki-san proposed visiting the exhibition today, how could I possibly say no?

My Norfolk neighbors probably couldn't pick me out in a police lineup, but Haruki-san's charming wife remembered me from our previous meeting. Being the oldest American woman in Japan -- by a landslide -- is a blessing and a curse but today I counted it a blessing and endeavored to comport myself in a somewhat dignified fashion. I even asked permission before snapping pictures. What I'm sharing here, the pictures I've spent the past three hours coaxing from my computer into this post, is just the tip of the iceberg.

The kimono featured in my May 22, 2010 post

Three old houses were connected sometime in the past to form the exhibit gallery. The building alone was worth the train fare if you are fond of ancient beams and charming courtyard gardens. I certainly am.

The first floor was devoted to Haruki-san's work - his preliminary sketches and kimono in various stages of completion -- while upstairs we found children's antique kimono, some more than a century old, lavish obis, and ornate dolls. The wall spaces not filled with kimono and obis held framed squares of Haruki-san's yuzen-dyed fabric.

Child's kimono from Taijo Era (1912-1926)

The antique kimono were displayed behind glass as were the obis. My favorite child's obi was this simple purple one from the late Meiji or early Taisho period; my apologies for the reflection in the glass.

This kimono began as a bolt of white silk

Detail of narcissis on right sleeve

One of the American Shonan Ladies interviewed Haruki-san shortly after we met him in May 2010. Her interesting article appeared in the Stars and Stripes. You can read it by clicking here.

Haruki-san and Fearless

The congenial artist draped pieces of his art across the shoulders of Fearless and Artistic but ignored my shoulders and looped an exquisite length of turquoise silk around my neck instead. Maybe he was tempted to choke me. I can think of worse ways to die.

Fearless doesn't mind having her picture taken. We're going to have to drag her along on more outings this year.

The obis were incredible. My favorite -- not this orange one -- was reversible with a traditional Japanese bridge and cherry blossoms on one side and cheerful contemporary patterns on the other.

Not my favorite, but you're getting warmer.

Here we go!  This is Side A.

Here's a tiny glimpse of Side B.

This is part of one of the staircases connecting one old house to another. Old wood speaks to me but I'm not sure what it's saying. (Here is where my mother, who was justifiably fond of her old oak staircase, would pipe up, "Please wipe me with Murphy's Soap!")

This is a closet door.  Excuse my drool.

The artist surrounded by his adoring fans

What a wonderful day in a long, long string of wonderful days.  I treasure every moment of these marvelous adventures with my American and Japanese friends.

The Sale of the Decade: Yet Another Reason to Visit Kamakura in May

Matsuzaki-san -- aka "Shonan Reiko" or "The Other Reiko" -- will close her shop near Kamakura station at the end of May. Weather and I arrived at the shop to pick up a special order today just minutes after the 50 percent off signs went up. Lucky us.

See the blank spot on the wall in the photo at left? The tote bag that was hanging there is now relaxing on my kitchen counter.

Matsuzaki-san specializes in transforming old kimono and obis into all manner of bags, book covers, cases, and clothing.  Among other things, she has turned a blue silk kimono into a stunning jacket for me and two obis into an amazing tote bag for Weather.  Next she will make placemats out of two obis that Weather nabbed at last week's recycled kimono sale.

Her son Yutaka, shown here wearing an aloha shirt Matsuzaki-san made from a samurai yukata, has managed the shop since it opened four years ago. Closing the shop will allow him to pursue other business interests and spend more time with his wife and their three-year old daughter. The terms of their lease have been onerous, especially for a two-person family operation, since their landlord requires that the shop be open all but five days a year.



Speaking of aloha shirts, did you know they were invented by Japanese people who took their kimono with them to Hawaii? They found the climate too warm for kimono so cut them up and sewed them back together as shirts.
 

If you want to take advantage of the sale, visit Kamakura between now and the end of May. The shop is on the second floor of the The Scene arcade building, on the same side of the street and just past the Peko-chan/Baskin-Robbins store. Take the stairway on your right to the second floor and the shop will be the first one you encounter. There's a live turtle in the window.

Otherwise, look for Matsuzaki-san at bazaars around our base.  The next one, sponsored by ATG, will be the first weekend in June.  The big Navy Exchange bazaar has been re-scheduled to late July.