Weekend Update 30/4

With April’s end comes May’s flurry of misedashi and erikae before the summer heat becomes too much to bear in formal attire. The karyukai will be going through some changes, so I hope to do a half year summary soon. Now onto the news! Karyukai News -The Kamogawa Odori (鴨川をどり) of Pontocho begins tomorrow (May 1st) and will run until May 24th. -Oddly enough, there haven’t been any current minarai sightings. However, it’s likely that they’ll begin to pop up within the next week or two as the end of May is a very popular time for misedashi. -There’s a rumor going around that Fukuharu (富久春) of Okatome (岡とめ) in Gion Higashi will be leaving the profession. Since only one source has stated it so far I’m considering it a rumor, but this person is often credible. Hopefully there will be more news on this soon. Blog News -I’ve been quite busy documenting my kimono collection, but you can check them out on Flickr! Feel free to choose your favorites to be featured in the “What’s In a Kimono?” series in the future ^^ -What’s In a Motif? Part 4 looked at Goshodoki (御所時/御所解). -The Random Fact of The Week looked at the role that bin plays in determining maturity. -Mylo’s Pick of The Week looked at Miehina (美恵雛) of Harutomi (春富) in Miyagawa Cho. -The multitude of questions asked this week was fantastic! I’m hoping to answer some of them a bit more in depth in the future as some have been asked multiple times now (not that asking multiple times is a bad thing!).

Random Fact of The Week 30/4

On Friday I went to bed early and then Saturday was full of meetings, so I finally have time to sit down and do things! Yes, this feature is a few days late, but better late than never ^^ To determine if a hairstyle is meant to be worn by a married or unmarried woman look at the shape of the bin (sides). Unmarried women will have pointed bin that are angular at the ends. Married women, on the other hand, have flat bin that are practically horizontal at their base. The pointed bin apparently makes a woman look younger and draws the eyes upwards into her hair ornaments. The flat bin is meant to trace the contours of the face and draw the eyes into her own. Oddly enough, when geiko style their own hair for tea ceremonies their bin are pointed ^^;