Recycled Kimono Sale

This is the view from the thirteenth row of the line to enter the recycled kimono sale last week.

The rope barring entry was removed at 10:00 am on the dot.  The first 25 rows stampeded into the sale and proceeded to shove obis, kimono, and scraps of kimono fabric into clear plastic trash bags. 

I had no intention of buying anything.  I was there simply because 19 other American women needed someone to guide them from the west exit of Yokohama station to the Kenmin Community Center where the semi-annual sale is held.

Fifteen minutes later, but it felt like two hours, I exited the sale with a bag full of fabric scraps, ornate cords, and obis.  I shelled out 6,600 yen for my treasures which equated to roughly $75 that day but, the way the exchange rate is going, could be $1,000 tomorrow.  I spent yen I earned gabbing with Dr. T rather than yen for which I exchanged dollars at an ATM machine, so I am pretty sure I made a sound financial investment.  This assumes, of course, I think of a practical use for all the colorful obis and Japanese fabric overflowing the shelves in my closet.

Those 19 other ladies were happy campers when we headed back to Yokosuka.  I was quite delirious too but it had nothing to do with the contents of my bag.  This outing marked the first time I managed to pull off a particularly Japanese feat:  joining two groups of people coming from different directions in the same train car with fifteen seconds to spare.  Some ladies who live in Zushi followed my directions perfectly and hopped on the last train car when the train paused for one minute in Kanazawa-hakkei.  Glug, glug.  That's the sound of me drowning in self-satisfaction.