Submitted by Michelle McLean on the 2014 summer session program in Kobe, Japan sponsored by the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures…
I did not know much about the yukata before I went to the Yukata Festival in Himeji. Held every year on the first day of summer, the tradition of the Yukata Festival has been going on since the Edo Period. I did not buy a yukata. I just wore a dress instead. The festival is nothing like an American festival. There were parents and kids like at any other festival, but many people dress up, more girls though. I guess you could compare this to a Renaissance Fair, but I haven’t been to one to compare it to. The yukata is similar to a kimono, but a little less formal and not as lavish. Most people bought their yukata at stores around Japan before the festival. The yukata is made of a very breathable fabric for the men and women except the men are more comfy and not as bound up as the ladies. The process for putting on and taking off a yukata involves a lot of string and pulling in order to put the dress on tightly. There were not white face geisha walking around, but many very pretty ladies with their hair done. All you could see were either casual clothes or a sea of pink, white, red and or purple yukata in front of you. You could also hear the clacks of the geta, wooden shoes, that many people wore to the festival. Himeji was very pretty and the roads were very wide as compared to those in other Japanese cities. Many of the streets in Japan have been very narrow, but I could see myself living in Himeji. Himeji means the Princess’s Road and it’s a nice place to live in if you are not a city person. Osaka was definitely more of a city / New York vibe and I’m sure Tokyo is even busier, but not Himeji.
