Biyori

着物を持っていても、なかなか着る機会がないと感じていませんか？この記事では、ドイツで着物を楽しむための実用的なアイデアと、デュッセルドルフ近郊で開催している日和きもの会をご紹介します。

Some wagashi are beautiful because they are colorful.Some are beautiful because they are detailed.And then there is mizubotan — beautiful because it looks almost like it might disappear. Mizubotan, written as 水牡丹, means “water peony.” It is a summer wagashi made by wrapping sweet bean paste in a translucent layer of kudzu. The outside is glossy, soft, and cool-looking, while the color of the bean paste gently shows through from the center. At first glance, it looks simple. But this is exactly where its beauty lies. A Peony Seen Through Water The name “mizubotan” gives us a poetic image: a peony flower seen through water. Peonies usually bloom in spring, […]

When people think of Tanabata, they often imagine bamboo branches decorated with colorful paper strips. Children and adults write their wishes on tanzaku, tie them to the bamboo, and hope their words will somehow reach the stars. It is a beautiful image: light, nostalgic, and full of summer feeling. But Tanabata is one of those seasonal customs that becomes much more fascinating when you look beneath the surface. What seems like a simple wish festival is actually connected to older stories of stars, weaving, skill, devotion, poetry, and seasonal offerings. That is what makes Japanese seasonal culture so interesting to me. At first, it may look decorative. A flower is […]