Pretty pretty pretty

We had to hurry back from Hiroshima to be back for the Takatsuki Matsuri - the Takatsuki (Summer) Festival. As representatives of Takatsuki's sister city Toowoomba, our presence was required at the various opening ceremonies, and we were required to be dressed in traditional Japanese dress. Actually, I'm not sure about the traditional Japanese dress, as none of the representatives from anywhere else were in traditional Japanese dress, but we were told that we should, and anyway, it was a good opportunity to get dressed up.

We got back to Takatsuki, had lunch, showered, and headed over to our landlord's house - our landlord's wife makes kimonos, and had agreed to help us dress in our yukatas (cotton kimonos). Getting dressed is a rather complicated ordeal, and one which few women can manage on their own, so we pretty much stood in place as our garment was arranged, folded and tugged into place. Mrs Tsujisaki took it very seriously that our yukatas should sit "just so".

So here's the verdict. For summer wear, they are very hot. The belt or obi feels halfway to a corset - it definitely restricts breathing, and I wasn't able to eat much dinner. The narrow skirt restricts walking. I wasn't able to wear geta (traditional Japanese shoes), because I couldn't find a women's shoe wide enough for my
feet, but I've worn men's geta before, and they're not so great to walk in either. However, my yukata was very pretty, and I'm very glad that I got the opportunity to dress up in traditional Japanese clothing.


Our commitments for the evening came more or less in two parts. The first was what I think was the official launch of the festival. This was the highbrow event, with the mayor, councillors, festival committee, and various important townspeople. We mingled with the importants for a while, then got presented on the stage.

Shortly after we finished on the first stage, we were led away to a new location where we could be presented to the masses on another stage. After this, a light meal, and we were free to explore. However, Hunter and I were pretty worn out, so we decided to leave exploring the festival until the following day.