Archive Blog :

We came across this in a Facebook group, and since we regularly get requests for information on how to make a kimono, thought we should post this here from a German lady with expertise in kitsuke: https://youtu.be/rW-Cz9HbkqA Let us know your opinions on this, whether we should list it in our FAQ info as a reliable resource.

Yamaki Bonsai Pine, 390 years old, survived Atomic Bomb blast in Hiroshima. Interesting story here.

Above: Purse Front View:Day Care Nursery, Children(More pictures below) Background: We feel that the Japanese word "furusato" doesn't translate very well to English, as furusato connotes much more than just one's 'hometown'. As we detail elsewhere on our site, YokoDana KImono's owner's furusato (home town) is in Kumamoto prefecture, Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. From time to time we like to blog about things from home, usually topics that center around themes of our website (cultural and historical information, kimonos, traditional Japanese textiles, creative Japanese textile arts, and crafts).  But this blog post is a bit different:...

PRODUCT AVAILABILITY UPDATE: We discontinued our Product 110-CTN-5 5lbs cotton packages at the end of 2019. However, from time to time we still offer some variation on these cottons, but are only available to members in a member lottery. Background story: For years (Since about 2000) we have been offering special packages of excellent older Japanese cotton fabrics in by-pound lots. Our most recent cotton product has been a five or ten-pound collection of mixed vintage / antique Japanese pieces of cotton, including furoshiki, kasuri, kimono and various remnants sold as our product # 110-CTN-5 . Unfortunately, due to the extremely long wait-times for this...

YokoDana Kimono's Statement about COVID19: We have been on lock-down here in Delaware USA for over three months now and been more than busy filling orders the whole time. It appears that folks are gathering things for projects to do -- hobby or business-wise -- during the Pandemic. We ourselves -- including family in USA and Japan -- are well. We want to thank the many who have been writing to check in on us, your thoughtfulness is much appreciated. We also have been getting many questions about the status of our supplies of vintage kimonos (for our bulk kimono...

We have just updated our FAQ information page pertaining to kimono culture, and given the popularity of one of the sites listed there, Immortal Geisha, we thought we should post it here more visibly in our blog in light of substantial changes in the last year or so with Immortal Geisha. So, in answer to a question from a visitor/customer of ours, the following update is provided: Do you know of any other forums or resources about kitsuke (wearing kimono) and/or authentic geisha-related information? For many years Immortal Geisha -- first as a website in the 2000's, and then as a content-rich...

Thanks to those who have asked us how we're faring, your emails and social media messages are much appreciated. We are on our 13th day of self-imposed lockdown here in Delaware. We decided to do this before it was mandated in our state out of an abundance of caution.  We are well and have been religiously following all the CDC guidance as to hand-washing, disinfections, 6-feet distancing, etc. As we are in a high-risk group, we simply decided to remain inside since March 18th. As far as our business goes, we are open and filling orders, as well as adding more fabrics...

Above: From The Spoon-Tamago.com Dispatch, March 13, 2020: We continue to totally love the newsletter from this web site business. Outstanding, timely and creative information around themes of Japanese culture, arts & history, new and old. Check out this timely piece about epidemics, at link below: Amabie: the Japanese Yokai That Can Stave Off Epidemic http://www.spoon-tamago.com/2020/03/13/amabie-japanese-epidemic-yokai/

Below we are excerpting here some pictures and comments from our Furusato--Hometown page of this site. We post these here to share how Japanese of today are honoring traditional customs and still doing so with modern twists. Pay special attention to the kimonos and accessories particularly of the girls in these various photos, blending old and new creatively. YokoDana Kimono Owner's Family Photos Japan: 2020 Above -- YokoDana.com's Owner's Nephew's Family: Note the twins in blue hifu  (Hifu is a special hand-made vest for age 3 of Shichi-Go-San Celebration); Hifu Buttons are handmade using the same fabric. Flower buttons are Tsumami-zaiku crafted by Aunt Honami...

Jacket Made from YokoDana’s Vintage Ohshima Tsumugi Silk Kimono -- Carol Lambright Many of our customers are what we call, affectionately, creative types: All have a passion for their craft, whether they call themselves artisans, artists, designers, quilters, stitchers or multi-media artists – regardless of their moniker -- for years we have enjoyed seeing old vintage Japanese textiles we sell by the pound be reborn into something new -- yet old.  One recent feedback that we received comes from Carol Lambright, an Oregon, USA customer. Last year she bought a 10lb package of old Ohshima Tsumugi (pongee) Silks (see more about...

V&A 2020 Kimono Exhibit in LondonKimono: Kyoto to Catwalk, Previews 1800-1830, Kyoto, Photo Credits on vam.ac.uk  If you are lucky enough to be in England or able to travel to London, and share our interest in kimono culture, you should check out this London Exhibition, "Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk" at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which recently opened and runs until June 21, 2020.  The Victoria and Albert Museum, called "V&A" for short, has a Youtube page with a preview of the exhibit (click-push HERE to see it.) Their summary of the exhibition is below: This exhibition will present the kimono...

We love to show off the work of YokoDana.com's customers from around the world who use our  vintage Japanese kimono fabrics in their creative work of all kinds. We recently received fabric orders from Karina Hesketh, a designer from northern England. She is a member of The Guild of Master Craftsmen in the United Kingdom. We saw pictures of some of her work and decided to share them here on our website as another example of how our customers engage in   "re-purposing" or "upcycling" the vintage Japanese textiles they get from us at YokoDana Kimono and elsewhere --  giving these special old...

(Photos: Spoon-Tamago.com) Pictures of fog in Kikuchi Valley, Kumamoto, yokodana.com's owner's furusato (hometown).  Spoon-tamago.com has a wonderful newsletter and this is from a recent one. Kikuchi is close to the village where Yoko Lewis grew up. Just felt like sharing.... (smile)

Family Pictures: Girls' Ceremonial Kimonos  Well, we're finally back to our normal schedule, after having given ourselves an unusually long (for us) vacation over the holidays. We have caught up with all orders received during our being away and off-grid. Thanks to all who waited so patiently while we rested and recuperated -- so we're all re-charged and looking forward to another great year on yokodana.com! Here's what's going on with us as we slide into 2020: 1. Venues: We are resuming preparations for our two 2020 spring venues at Cherry Blossom Festivals in Philadelphia and New York City (Brooklyn...

HOLIDAY DISCOUNTS:

While supplies last--

Sale Prices on the following bulk kimono packages:

• 1950's Meisen Kimonos, 10lbs (110-MSN) click HERE:
  List Price: US$115.00 / 10lbs, Now: US$90.00 while supplies last.

• Rare Ohshima Tsumugi Kimonos, 10lbs (110-OHSHIMA) click HERE:  List Price: US$90.00 / 10lbs, Now: US$75.00 while supplies last.

Shichi-Go-San Kimonos -- Family Pics 2019 Above and below areYokoDana Kimono's (yokodana.com) owner Yoko Lewis' Nieces' children dressed for Shichi-Go-San at our local shrine in Yamaga, Japan. We love this picture for several reasons: First, because of the fact that the three ages (7,5,3) are represented, and, a boy cousin not in kimono squatted to get in the picture; Second, the tallest girl in the center is wearing a very old vintage kimono which has been in the family for several generations, topped with a beret, earrings, a lace shawl, and leather boots instead of zori; and third, the two smaller...

We saw this recently and love this picture of all aged women wearing their "funky" meisen kimonos, posted on a Japanese travel website wattention.com: 2019 Sample Picture of "Funky Kimono" Meisen Wearers (Picture: Wonderland Japan, WAttention.com ) To learn about our bulk packages of these kinds of Meisen Silk kimonos from the 1950s and earlier, please visit HERE.

Saw this remarkable picture on a Facebook group, and just love it:    From Anji Salz (Tokyo) Facebook: Long time no Nihongami 👘💫I took inspiration from Edo period ukiyo-e and then layered two antique kimono over my red silk juban.Each kimono is only tied with one koshihimo tie!! No unnecessary stuff like nowadays. The obi is also tied with no string at all - and I’m telling you:THIS IS THE MOST COMFORTABLE I’VE EVER BEEN IN KIMONO 👘😱🤭❤️ Anji's main facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/anji.salz

Recent store update on www.yokodana.com: October 30, 2019: Announcing more fabrics added to our fabrics-by-piece or yard section, including this 1930's Kinsha silk with unusual kokeshi-doll motif shown below; Link to most recently added pieces HERE: 5866: 1930's Kinsha Silk by Piece (Kokeshi Dolls) Link to most recently added pieces HERE:

  Christine Williams Organza Appliqués NOTE: We like to share on our web site when people have creatively used our vintage Japanese kimono fabrics in their artistic work. Christine Williams of California (USA) sent us some sample pictures of how she had used our vintage kimono fabrics so we asked her to tell us about the pictures and anything about them she cared to share. Yoko Lewis  Back Story: Since 1998 we have been frequently amazed -- and impressed -- with the varied ways in which folks creatively use our vintage Japanese kimonos and fabrics. In fact, we have been keeping a running list of them HERE.  Actually,...

Jennifer Morales -- Textile Artist: Hand-Made Accessories using Meisen Silks Back Story: Since 1998 we have been frequently amazed -- and impressed -- with the varied ways in which folks creatively use our vintage Japanese kimonos and fabrics. In fact, we have been keeping a running list of them HERE.  Actually, up until 2016 we used to have a "Guest Gallery" on our website for customers to  showcase things which they had made from kimonos or fabrics which they purchased on www.yokodana.com -- or bought in person at one of our venues. However, over time we had not kept it up to date, so when we upgraded our...

FYI For our Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area kitsuke & Japanophile folks:  August 24th, 2019 (Sat.) is a chance to wear your yukata (or whatever kitsuke) and experience Obon festival dancing, Taiko drumming, food and more. Sorry we won't be there but it's always a special event we recommend:Yoko LewisYokoDana Kimono Presents: Philadelphia Obon Festival 2019 (banner & images source: Japanphilly.org) From Japanphilly.org newsletter about this year's Obon at Fairmount Park (Shofuso): Obon is a Japanese celebration of one’s ancestors. Each August, people return to their hometowns to remember the dead and reunite with loved ones. Obon is celebrated with regional dances...

YokoDana Kimono website Updates  News about fabric pieces updates, July 31, 2019: Background Story:  Each year we import tons of vintage Japanese kimonos to our Delaware USA location. All year long, in the daily course of filling orders for our main products -- bulk kimonos by pound -- we set aside distinctive and special pieces or lots of fabrics that come with our bulk kimono pickings, as well as selecting some garments for deconstruction here. About those Traditional Arai-Hari Cleaners: Also, we have relationships in Japan with Arai-Hari (those traditional kimono cleaners who provide us with so many interesting pieces); To...

Tokyo Weekender is a long-standing publication based in Tokyo, originally founded in 1970 as an English language print periodical for expatriates living in Japan. Back in the day we used it when we lived in Japan but hadn't seen it ourselves for some time until one of their correspondents, Sarah B Hodges, recently published articles on kimono culture, which came up on Facebook – so, as we enjoyed them so much we want to share them here on our blog. If you are an enthusiast of Japanese Culture, particularly what we like to call kimono culture, we highly recommend these...

  1. YokoDana Kimono Office & Shipping Schedule June - July 2019: We will be travelling intermittently this summer, which will affect our shipping schedule. Our website will be open as always for orders, but we will not have shipments going out for the following dates: Friday, June 21, 2019 to Monday, July 1, 2019. Wednesday, July 3, 2019 to July 7, 2019.While out of the office we will monitor order logs, messages and emails daily. If you are a commercial customer with standing orders, we will communicate with you privately about your shipping schedule.  2. News of our bulk...

  This blog post is not necessarily directly related to the usual themes of our website www.yokodana.com (Japanese culture, vintage kimono, traditional Japanese textile art etc.). However, we were so struck by the beauty and use of colors (ombre’) of a hand-dyed shawl pictured on Facebook, that we wanted to share it with our visitors -- who we’re sure will enjoy it. So, we contacted the folks running the website www.thebluebrick.ca -- a couple in Canada -- and they agreed to let us post some of their pictures. After visiting their website and studying their Ombre’ collection in particular, it...

www.thestalkerbrand.com BACK-STORY: In 1998 we started selling our authentic, vintage Japanese kimonos and fabrics online. Since then we have had an ever-growing number of artists, artisans, designers, quilters and multi-media ‘creative types’ use our fabrics and kimonos.  Now, in our 21st year on yokodana.com, we believe that a near majority of our customers are some sort of entrepreneur or small business. Our customers range from large famous brands you might see in Macy’s or similar stores (but who won’t let us give out their names) to small shops, brick-and-mortar stores and web-only businesses world-wide. It is a great source of...

 UPDATE: April 13, 2019, 2:30 PM EDT -- Based on current weather forecast, we WILL be there tomorrow. We may not fully put out things until late morning when the rain is supposed to stop. Weather said to then  be cloudy until early evening when showers come in. SO....we'll be there! WEB DISCOUNT CODE: For this show, it will be ZEN-SUSHI . Please just tell us BEFORE checking out.   We've been preparing all year for our two in-person venues this spring. Our first of the season is at the Philadelphia Sakura Matsuri called "Sakura Sunday" which is Sunday, April...

SITE REVIEW: KimonoAsobi.com Since starting and running websites in 1998 (mainly www.yokodana.com, our home site and web store of YokoDana KImono) we have always loved little sites that folks start out of a specific passion -- we call them niche sites. They are always acts of love at first. But the kind of niche sites we love are those where someone is just passionate, even a bit crazy, about a particular area of interest, and end up sometimes with encyclopedic coverage of their area of interest. But then, because of the love and attention to detail -- plus reams of...

KimonoRefashioned: Exhibit at The Asian Art MuseumSan Francisco, CaliforniaFebruary 8, 2019 to May 5, 2019 One of our customers pointed out this special kimono exhibit featured on asianart.org recently and we loved the pictures of what's being shown at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco until May 5, 2019. Images Source Citations: The pictures here are from asianart.org: sources -- Asian Art Museum and The Kyoto Costume Institute (Takashi Hatakeyama)  http://infocus.asianart.org/kimonorefashioned There are many other splendid pictures on the site, view HERE. Paragraph below gives their overview of the exhibit: FEBRUARY 8 – MAY 5, 2019In the early 1980s,...

We came across some stunning kimonos made with African fabrics on Facebook and followed links to NextShark.com  posted some wonderful pictures on Facebook. Their website explains these kimonos on the website (View more pics HERE) Cameroonian Serge Mouangue and Japanese kimono designer Kururi have successfully blended both culture’s aesthetics in the new line of kimonos by making use of Africa’s striking motifs and colorful patterns.  

  BACKGROUND STORY:Here at YokoDana Kimono we like to keep our fans, followers and customers informed of cool or interesting things we find relevant to themes of our website. As part of that process, we routinely scour the web for new talent or fresh eyes on old subjects. Last year we came across the Spoon & Tamago (S&T) blog and were struck by its excellent visuals and superior information around themes of Japanese culture and design aesthetics. We decided to pen this review because we feel that Spoon & Tamago stands in stark contrast to the often (to us) inane flood...

Not sure if this has been spread around yet, we came across it again and think our visitors / fans who love kimono might find this video very interesting. It is from NHK (the PBS / NPR of Japan, only in Japan NHK is well-funded with a great budget from the government, thus extensive programming) From NHK: English 49 minute video on-demand at:https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/vod/kimono/3004520/ KIMONO REVOLUTION Broadcast on September 1, 2018:Yoshimasa Takakura, a kimono shop owner from Fukuoka Prefecture has launched an unprecedented project: to produce elaborate kimono representing every single one of the 206 countries and regions around the world. His...

We are closed for the holidays, returning January 3rd, 2019. We will resume shipments at that time. Of course our website is open 24/7/365 for orders and we receive emails and messages daily in case anyone has a question about something while we're closed. Also,  all orders received during our absence will be processed in order received and we'll email expected shipment dates as soon as we can.  Also, we invite you to please check back in with us  after the first of the year, as we'll be having a New Year's sale of our vintage kimono fabrics by yard...

Came across the above on a Facebook group for Kimono Sellers, asking what it is. Since we have these fairly often, and have one on hand now, thought we'd put up a brief reply. This is called a Kateigi, or, in katakana, 'ho-mu-ko-to" (home coat); we might call it a home or work jacket for women. It resembles jinbei, but those are traditionally work jackets for men (more recently, now can be uni-sex work jackets); Jinbei have a different, more rectangular, cut to the sleeves. Here at yokodana.com we have fabric for making a Kateigi  and show below the label and...

18th Century Boys Suit, Upcycled using vintage KimonobyPleasantly Malformed(Blogger) We only recently came across this handiwork by one of our bulk vintage kimono package customers, from her blog in March of 2017. It is an 18th Century Boys Suit created by blogger Pleasantly Malformed on blogspot.com, To see her blog -- with multiple pictures and explanation of how she did it -- please visit her blog HERE.  We aren't often told of the myriad ways that folks buying our vintage Japanese kimonos and fabrics use them in their creative work in various media. So, when we happened upon this one, being...

We will be closed and not shipping orders on October 30th and 31st. We're still accepting orders on the website and will be accessing emails on October 31st;  we aren't expecting any shipping delays due to this brief closure.  Yoko

Thought that our visitors and members might find this new site of interest: Introducing a new site with a focus on quality information about Japan, Japanese Culture, Fashion and more. Please check it out at: www.japanamericanews.com

UPDATE: OCTOBER 25, 2018: We are sorry to announce that we will not be able to attend this event. Details of our office and shipment schedule will be posted here in our site blog and on our Facebook Page.We are disappointed as we were really looking forward to it. This promises to be a great event so we encourage all to check it out. Yoko Lewis Full Moon Festival Seabrook Buddhist Temple Bridgeton, New Jersey DATE: Saturday, October 27, 2018,4:00PM to 8:00PMEvent Information from NJHeartland.org HERE. Handmade in Japan, Tsumami Zaiku Kanzashi Hair Accessories: Otedama hand-made mini-dolls from our vintage silk kimono fabrics:

We are in the process of upgrading our web store. Also, we are in the midst of increasing  offerings of items  which are hand crafted in Japan by our own artisans and seamstresses -- Not Chinese or other off-shore mass production. So we are pleased to announce today that  the kanzashi below -- and others to come, all  made by our own artisans  -- will be added to the web store soon. Our kanzashi are tsumami zaiku type -- fine examples of traditional artisan work made with Japanese kimono fabrics. To learn more about Honami Nakashima's hand-crafted tsumami zaiku style kanzashi...

We are pleased to announce that we have added a new type of product to its own collection on our website:  Handmade Japanese Kimono Bags, Purses, Handbags MADE IN JAPAN We have decided to try these out and will add additional handmade cosmetic bags as well as a line of our own handmade handbags in the near future. These are extremely well made by our highly skilled Japanese artisans in Japan; we use kimono fabrics, selecting only those classical, traditional motifs as used in women's kimonos. USA shipping is included in the price. As we make new ones they will...

Thanks to our long-time customer Maureen (above), who is Director of the Iron Hill Museum & Science Center in Newark, Delaware ( www.ironhillsciencecenter.org ), for sending us this picture of something that her sister (likewise a long-time customer) made from fabrics purchased from us last year at the Philadelphia Cherry Blossom Festival (Sakura Sunday). Also, for our local folks, there is an event tomorrow, Saturday, October 29th celebrating Native-American Culture at the Iron Hill Museum in Newark, Delaware. To learn more about it please click-push HERE.  Their facebook  page is HERE. Thanks again to Maureen for sharing this with us.

Thanks to all of you who contacted us inquiring as to the safety of Yoko's family in Japan. We appreciate that very much. We are relieved to say that family in Kyushu and our people in Osaka are safe, just a little damage but nothing major.  Osaka took a direct hit from a typhoon(what they call hurricanes in Asia) and also had significant flooding. Our business was - happily - not affected by either natural disaster. So, thanks again to everyone who wrote -- we deeply appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Do you love traditional Japanese textiles? Particularly things like indigo-dyed pieces such as Katazome and Tsutsugaki? Well if so, one of the world's renown experts in this is found in Mendocino County, California. We know that many of our customers rave about the work of John Marshall, an American, who for over 30 years has mastered traditional Japanese dyeing techniques such as Katazome and Tsutsugaki. His latest book -- just published in July 2018-- is titled: "Singing the Blues, with John Marshall as Your Guide" At the top of the cover it says: " Soulful Dyeing For All Eternity" ....

Ancient Asian Fashion Trends: What is Old is New Again Being some reflections on global fashion's influence from East Asian historical garments... Eloquence and Grace:While the new world of the twenty-first century is full of hustle and bustle, technology and the quest for the "cutting edge", it sometimes lacks the kind of simple elegance, grace, and sophistication that came out of the ancient world. One of the more interesting and succinct fashions of the old world come from East-Asia. Known for flowing, floral patterned fabric, China particularly was responsible for much of the early fashion industry, thanks to their production...

Our customer Heather with her husband Rich at a wedding in Westerly, RI  About these pictures: For years now, whenever we do shows, whether it's a quilt show, a Japanese cherry blossom festival or an Anime event, we often have customers tell us that they'll send us a picture when they make something from the fabrics they just bought from us. The above are from one of those situations. Heather bought the shown fabrics from our by-piece rack at a quilt show in Connecticut last year. So imagine our pleasant surprise when these pictures arrived in our email. So, we are...

Seabrook Buddhist Temple Obon Festival: Sorry—Due to weather we won’t be at the Obon Festival today;A Fall Festival is planned at the Seabrook Buddhist Temple -- stay tuned as we'll be there.  Saturday, July 21.20184:00 pm to 9:00 pm. 1. ANNOUNCING NEW VENUE FOR YOKODANA KIMONO:This coming Saturday, July 21, 2018, will be the 73rd Annual Obon Festival at the Seabrook Buddhist Temple in Bridgeton, New Jersey. For some time now, some of our 'regulars' at the Philadelphia Cherry Blossom Festivals have been raving about the Obon Festival there in Bridgeton, New Jersey. So we were very happy when we...

  References to this series of web pages have been showing up in several places on Facebook and elsewhere, so we tracked it down and it turns out to be a remarkably detailed website with multiple pages and instructions on "How to Make a Yukata", by Amparo Bertram, apparently while a student of University of Michigan and living in Japan.  As we are not makers of kimono ourselves, not sure if we should recommend this site, but the sources cited lend it credibility. As so many of our customers and fans are into this sort of information, we wanted to share it...

Thanks to all of you who have reached out to us about the flooding in Japan. Just as in last year's earthquake, we are located smack dab in the center of flooded areas of Kyushu(Kumamoto), but somehow managed to escape disaster. It was a very long 48 hours over the weekend. Yoko's family all live near a river, with two of her sisters living behind a levee along the river. All had to evacuate but as of Monday morning (Japan time) it appears that the levee has not broken to affect Yoko's sisters' homes at the levee. Happily, when the sun rose...