When I was young, I always felt happy and admired every time I saw pictures of people in kimonos. Back to the days when I was in Vietnam, we even had a studio where you can come, wear a kimono and take pictures of you in those kimonos. However, I had never had a chance to do that. That’s why one of the things that I really wanted to do in Japan was trying a kimono and walking around the street. Thong booked an appointment on Air bnb experience with Ikuyo, a Japanese lady who is super nice and friendly. Ikuyo helped me pick and wear a gorgeous kimono. Her friend did my hair, and her husband offered us some Japanese snacks and green tea. I also made a lot of friends who came from America, and Bermuda on this occasion. After we wore our kimonos, Ikuyo and her husband helped us take some pictures at their home with some of their props like a Japanese fan, and a Samurai sworn.
These are all the accessories you can choose to match with your Kimono.
After a while, I picked my favourite color.
One of her friends did our hair and I really like my hairstyle.
First picture after putting on my Kimono at Ikuyo’s house.
Kimono with Samurai sworn. LOL
Kinomo with my husband.
One of the interesting parts of this experience was Ikuyo took us to a temple called Shibamata Taishakuten which is 1 stop away from her house by the subway. We even had our pictures taken on the subway and everyone really enjoyed it. We walked along the old street and got amazed by the scenes that we thought we could only see in the movies. At the temple, Ikuyo showed us how to wash our hands before entering the temple. She walked us around and explained about everything in the temple and of course we took a lot of pictures here.
Ikuyo walked us to the subway station to go to the temple which is 1 stop away. I felt like we were kids who were following our teacher on a school trip. On the way, many passers by said hi and complemented us.
Kimono on the subway
Our group was in a small tea ceremony house which is close to the temple
Our group picture with Ikuyo in front of the gate
A random shop on the street
On the way home, Ikuyo also let us try one of the Japanese sweets.
We came back to Ikuyo home where she showed us a traditional tea ceremony and let each of us how to drink and enjoy the tea.
I didn’t take many pictures of the tea ceremony at Ikuyo’s house but we have a video of it. Hope you will enjoy this video and if you have a chance to visit Tokyo, I would definitely recommend Ikuyo. Here is the information of Ikuyo: https://abnb.me/nMqNZpjMPM?user_id=45826182&s=50