Morning Traditions

March 31, Saturday (out of order)
In the morning we were fortunate to attend a neighborhood wedding tradition, the wedding ceremony of a woman leaving her home. It is attended by the neighbors and treats and drinks are served outside. Then the bride to be, exits the house with her mother and grandmother(?), is escorted by the driver and chanter. Notice the hatch over the back seat for the brides traditional head dress.

Next we were off for the day that Koji planned for us. We started by meeting koji's friend, Noriko, then off to the studio of a Kimono and Kumihimo master. I wanted to learn about the Kumihimo for possible use in our Children's Matsuri in Temecula. And Noriko had a surprise for Carol in the Kimono area.
After some braid making (Kumihimo) and Carol's conversion, we were off to dinner. Koji and Niriko had a special surprise for us of dinner, a tempura bar over looking the river. It was in Matsui, Koji's university town.

After a little shopping, it was back to the studio to finish our Kumihimo and dekimono Carol.

Follow this we visited a clothing and kimono making company. They do everything by hand starting with making the thread from cotton balls (which they grow) to hand dying the thread, etc. It was quite a sight to see...........
Next we were off to meet Koji's parents.

After this nice visit, we went to Noriko's parent's home, where we met not only them but also her younger sister and her 1 week old little girl. We were allowed to hold her and she was just a perfect baby girl- we'll never forget.

We then returned home through a horrible thunder and lightning storm, which continued throughout the night.