One of my disappointments when I visited Gyeongbukgong in Seoul was missing out on the hanbok experience. I wanted to try wearing their traditional clothing, even for just a few minutes, but the hanbok place was already closed by the time we were done touring the Palace. And then, weeks before our Japan trip, my friend and I were exchanging emails as we polished our itinerary and, out of the blue, she suggested trying out wearing kimono. And you know what they say… “when in Kyoto….”
She was actually the one who hunted for a kimono rental service, and she found one: yumeyakata. What clinched it for us was that it was located close to one of the shrines that we were going to visit. So she made the reservation online, and we showed up at the place at 10am, during their store opening.
If I’m not mistaken, it was located on the 6th floor of the building. When we arrived, there were already several other ladies there and, apart from two Chinese ladies, we were the only gaijins present. They took our names, and led us to a room where, on all sides, hung kimonos of all sizes, colors and designs. It was a splash of colors, to say the least.
Again, my memory might be failing me on the exact costs, but there’s a selection of JPY5,000, JPY6,000 and JPY7,000. The more elaborate the design is, the more expensive it is.
So we browsed through the selections and we had a hard time picking one out. Then we also had to choose our obi, or the wide sash that will be paired with the kimono. Some of the aides made suggestions on what will look good, but really, I think anything works, haha!
Once we’ve made our selection, we were led to another separate room. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed (for obvious reasons), so I can only tell you about what I could remember.
You’d have to divest yourself of your clothes when you arrived, except your underwear, of course. My friend and I had the hindsight to wear thin leggings to ward off the cold.
First, you’d have to wear the hadagi, or the innerwear. You know your typical bathrobe, only it is made of thin cotton cloth? They gave us a white one, which we wore over our underwear, and tied with a thin obi.
Second, over the innerwear is the nagajyuban, or the middle layer. This is made of finer material, kinda like silk. The one they chose for me was one with a pink strip around the collar/neck. You can see it in the pic below.
Third, time to put on the kimono over the nagajyuban. The kimono I chose was a dark purple almost bluish one. Blue is – and always will be – my favorite color, and purple’s a close second, so I wanted to hit two birds with one stone. 🙂
Fourth, it involves tying the obi, or the sash-slash-belt.
I think this is the trickiest part, because the attendant will have to tie it really snugly (it’s like putting on a corset, but less painful). And I thought they’re going to put a pillow at the back (goes to show what little I know, eh? Heh.) but what the lady attendant did was bunch the fabric a bit, then took a rolled up piece of cloth and inserted it to achieve that pouffed up effect without having to put on a bulky pillow!
Since it is cold out, they gave us options on whether to use a shawl, or a matching jacket to wear over the kimono. We can also take our pick of any of the purses, pouches or bags there. Because, you know, it’ll be awkward to have your kimono, but laden with a backpack, right? So we got only our valuables (passports, wallets and phones) and left our clothes, shoes and other stuff at the rental place.
Then they handed us tabi socks, which we wore (and we also got to keep when we returned the kimonos), and we also got to choose which zouri (sandals) we wanted to wear.
The period of rental, I think is for the whole day, and we can return it in the evening, but we only wore it for the morning.
When we were all kitted out, we were led to the outer room, where there was a long mirror, kinda like what you’d see in a beauty salon. There, they will fix your hair, and apply makeup (if you so wish, and we opted out because there’s a separate fee for it). The package included hair accessories, too. I was kinda worried because past experience always had me giving hairstylists a tough time since I have such thick hair. The lady who attended to me did great work in short order, didn’t take a lot of time, and I was happy with the result. She did use a lot (and I mean A LOOOOOOT of hair spray, though. And 34 bobby pins. Yes. THIRTY-FOUR. I counted. I still have them with me, in fact. 🙂 )
Oh, and we got to pick an ornament for our hair. I didn’t want anything elaborate, so I settled for this red one. My friend chose a blossom design.
Finally, we’re ready to walk out!
Now, it is one thing to try wearing kimono; it is another thing to wear it AND walk around town with it. My friend was pretty set on it, though, while I had misgivings. One, I didn’t like drawing attention to myself, and I was pretty sure that walking around in full kimono garb will do exactly that. Two, I kept imagining how uncomfortable it would be to be walking around in those slippers, with that amount of cloth wrapped around you. And three, winter’s just around the corner, and the temperature has already considerably dropped, peeks of sun notwithstanding!
But, as I said, my friend’s mind’s made up, and I’m weak, so I went along with it.
It was a good thing, though, that we decided on just sticking to Yasaka Shrine, which was just right across the street from the kimono rental, and its immediate vicinity.
After more than 3 hours, I was shown just how much of a misconception I was having about the whole experience.
One: the Japanese are pretty much used to seeing people dressed in traditional kimono walking around. Heck, we even see them taking the subways! Schoolchildren and high school kids barely even spared us a glance as we took a walk around Yasaka Shrine. The shop owners and store workers we passed by didn’t even blink when they saw us. If anything, it was the older people who gave us more than cursory glances, especially when they hear us speaking in our non-Japanese language.
Two: it was not AT ALL uncomfortable. In fact, if not for the tight fit of the skirt area around my shins, I could practically run in those slippers. I think I actually did, when I set the camera on timer and had to run to make the frame just in time. 🙂
Three: we were actually warm! I easily get cold when my extremities (toes and fingers) freeze, and that was my main concern, because I did not think that wearing socks alone would be able to keep my toes warm. Wrong. The socks that they gave us to wear were made of thin fabric, but surprisingly comfy and warm, and kept the chill out!
Four: I had concerns on how to go to the loo and pee. Haha! But it’s just like when you’re wearing a skirt, only you have to be extra careful because of the obi. And you probably have to watch how much you eat, because remember how tightly the obi was tied around your waist? YEP.
All in all, it was an interesting and quite enjoyable experience. Now I can only hope that I can finally get to wear a hanbok, and maybe walk around a Palace, when I go back to Seoul in a few months. *eyes gleaming*
I’d definitely recommend this if you have at least half a day to spare. 🙂 I think it was great that we got to try it while in Kyoto, and in the Gion area, no less!