My name is Yukie Matsumoto. I am a student of Mrs. Watanabe’s English class. Last week she asked me to write about kimono and me. I thought back to when I first wore kimono, and I pulled out some of my old pictures.
The first picture of me in kimono was taken when I was two years old. It wasn’t a special day. My parents just dressed me in kimono for fun.
This was taken at my kindergarten entrance ceremony. It shows how many mothers wore kimono on that day, including my mother.
In the third picture, I was dancing a Japanese dance called “Daughter of Wisteria”. I am on the left side of the stage. This was for a festival at the kindergarten. My grandmother loved to do Japanese dancing too and so she was happy to see me perform that day.
The fourth picture was taken when I was seven years old. When girls become three years old and seven years old in Japan, in autumn there is the custom of celebrating their childhood. Most parents dress their little girls in kimono on this day.
The fifth picture is of my husband in high school. He belonged to a Japanese archery club and he wore kimono trousers called hakama when he competed in archery.
The sixth picture was taken when I was 20 years old for Coming of Age Day in Japan. I wore a special kimono called furisode, which has long sleeves. Furisode is the most formal kimono that only unmarried women may wear.
The last picture was taken when I graduated from college. I wore kimono and kimono trousers (hakama) on graduation day.
Looking back over my life of 40 years, I see that I have worn kimono many times even though I didn’t have any special attachment to kimono.
A few years ago, I needed to wear a kimono for a special event at my daughter’s kindergarten. I asked my mother to send me one of her old kimonos if she wasn’t going to use it any more. Instead, she sent me a lot of kimonos!
Yukie Matsumoto
Thank you Mrs. Matsumoto!
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