2014年8月29日金曜日

2014年8月29日金曜日 -

Andrew: Kyoto's Kimonos

Every so often I visit Kyoto, and a few weeks ago I went there and had a really special day. One of my friends took me to visit some historical kimono manufacturers. It was a very unusual tourist activity so I really enjoyed the chance to have such a unique experience.

We went to two different places. The first one produced Nishijin-ori (a style of textile manufacturing), although they had progressed to making all sorts of different things and didn't seem to actually produce kimonos nowadays. We met the owner, whose business had been in his family for generations, and he showed us around. The company had a really impressive client list – they had made kimonos for the Tokugawa Shoguns and the Thai Royal Family. More recently, they have made a renowned American pop star’s shoes, fabric for a certain famous designer, and furniture used in two of Kyoto’s fanciest hotels.


While viewing the female pop star's shoes, we were told that Caroline Kennedy, the current US Ambassador to Japan, had visited last month. Our guide then took us to the showroom and let us look around. It was all so impressive! The fabric they displayed costs around 30,000 yen per square meter. We were also shown furniture, some of which was used in the hotels. Apparently it is only found in the best suites, and one night’s stay would set you back more than a million yen – a bit beyond my price range. The last thing we saw was the factory. Even though it was just a room full of machines, I wasn't let down; the experience was actually quite fascinating.

Next we went to a place that uses the Yuzen-zome technique for dying its cloth. Although they primarily manufacture kimonos, they have also started to make things like tumblers and iPhone cases, which I thought was really interesting. They showed us the dyeing process and we got to watch people making kimonos. It was all quite fun. Something else I found interesting was that all of the employees there are women. (According to the owner, this is pretty rare as most of the workers are usually men.)

Afterwards, the owner showed us finished kimonos, including some that Princess Mako had bought. We then spent some time talking about the economics of kimono production. Apparently the market has shrunk dramatically. The owner told us that she sells kimonos to a distributor for around 500,000 yen each, and then they get marked up so that consumers pay around 3 million yen each. I asked her if she sold kimonos directly to people and she said of course they did, and not for 3 million yen!

I wanted to pay back my friend for such a great experience, so we went to Inayoshi for lunch. This restaurant, which is owned by our company’s president, specializes in Kyoto beef. Inayoshi is next to the Kamo River and has a great atmosphere. We decided to splurge and got the most expensive sets on the menu. It wound up being really nice, and was the perfect end to our day in Kyoto.

nowadays：昨今
for generations：何世代にもわたって
Ambassador：大使
per square meter：平方メートルあたり
set ～ back：～に費用がかかる
let down：がっかりさせる
shrunk：縮小している
marked up：値上げされる
pay back：お返しする
atmosphere：雰囲気
splurge：散財する
It wound up being ～：結局～になる