My grandmother, Masue Sato, was a seamstress in Japan. She was an
amazing lady who lived through WWII. She was very talented in sewing, and
of course she did not use a sewing machine at all when she sewed. When I
was a child, I admired her for what she could do, as she could sew very
quickly and precisely. I could not see it but somehow she was seeing what
these textiles were going to be like after she was done sewing.
She sewed a lot of kimonos, yukata (summer kimono), and other types of
clothing for her customers but also for her children and grandchildren.
Textiles on the left are kimono and yukata that she sewed for my mother
when she was young. Two on the right sides are the undergarments for
females. These undergarments are what you would wear under kimono. My
grandmother also sewed these. These textiles might have faded but not my
memory of my grandmother.
These are all pictures of obi, waist bands for kimono and yukata. They are
all made of silk. One on the left is for kimono and is a little more fancy with
detailed embroidery. The ones on the right are for yukata.
I don’t know the origin of it but it seems like my mother had it for a long time
(well, I will have to ask her). In Japan, it used to be that when a daughter is
marrying into her husband’s family, her mother or grandmother would give
their Kimonos, so she could take them with her.
My mother said that I could keep them when I left Japan. I wore my kimono
and yukata with these obi on several occasions. I thought I would not need
it in the United States when I came here to study in the graduate school,
but mother knows the best. In actuality, it turned out to be handy to have
them for many of the International Festivals that I’ve participated in.
This is yukata (summer kimono) for male and the textile in the middle is
obi (waist band). When I took my partner, David, to my parents’ home in
Japan, my parents bought this for him.
These are pictures of omamori (charms) that people in Japan would
obtain from Jinjya (Shinto Shrine). One on the left is for being successful
in studying and finding a job (I know…. your wishes can be very
specific). My parents got one for me when I was about to be done with
graduate school.
The one on the left is for a couple, and typically a wife would carry the
red one and a husband would carry a blue one. Hakutsuru, white cranes,
are embroiled in these charms, as they symbolize the a happy long
relationship between the husband and the wife.