#genjiko

[maiji]

Tale of Genji stories in one post - see full gallery on Instagram.

1) (2nd photo) Nonomiya Jinja is a Shinto shrine located inside the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, a pit stop for Imperial princesses on their way to serve as priestess of the Ise Grand Shrine/Jingu - like Akikonomu in the Tale of Genji. They had an informal quiz which @atorier translated for me. I failed 0 for 5. 2 questions were about character ages at various points of the story (I was within 5-8 years!!). 2 I misunderstood to be about Murasaki the character when they were actually about Murasaki Shikibu and was thoroughly confused at when these things were indicated in the story lmao. The last asked who was the model for Hikaru Genji. Scholars disagree on this and I’m personally in the court of Genji not being based on one particular figure, but I gamely answered Ariwara no Narihira. They used Minamoto no Toru. So much for my street cred.

2) At the Tale of Genji Museum in Uji I was excited to play the Genjiko incense guessing game! Basically it involves smelling a sequence of 5 incenses, identifying which are identical, and marking your guess with the matching Genjiko mon/seal. I thought their setup with stamps for each mon was very well-done. I got it right and the staff gave me a sticker that says I did it!!! I think they purposefully made it easy with really obviously different scents though…

3) Fukuju Saryo cafe (mentioned in my previous Uji post) had a pair of drinks based on the two main rivals of the Uji Chapters!! At first I was like “why is Niou matcha latte and Kaoru houjicha latte 🤨” then “oh houjicha is mild and matcha is bitter, okay I accept that.” @atorier was like “so judgey 🙄” I’m just excited I got to say “Kaorunokimi kudasai” which made the waitress chuckle 😂😂😂 and that I got to go to the closest thing to a Tale of Genji character cafe.

4) The museum had a lot of mannequins recreating the kaimami (peeping through screens and fences) scenes, and a section where you could see what it looks like to peek through Heian blinds, so I made a photo comic. Thanks Zanazac for modelling a sexy Heian lady.

Bless my friends for listening to me go on and on about the Tale of Genji. https://www.instagram.com/p/B3svRS3Bd33/?igshid=11cqbvul8m181

[kyotokimono]

Genji-Ko

An incense guessing game, in which participants determine which of five prepared censers contain different scents, and which contain the same scent. Answers are recorded using genji-mon linear patterns, alluding to chapters in the Tale of Genji.

Here at Kyoto Kimono, we find these patterns on vintage Japanese kimono, haori, and/or obi belt fabrics.  An interesting bit of Japanese culture! 

Click here to read more about this game and Japanese incense.

[kimonotsuki]

Thank you, Ichiroya!

If you're active in the kimono communities online, odds are high that you've already heard the devastating news that Ichiroya, one of the oldest and most well-established online kimono stores, is closing. I've spoken about them at length here on this blog, even devoting an entire entry on how wonderful they are and how to use their services. Everyone there is so kind and helpful, and they've always been the first place I suggest when people want to dip their toes into buying vintage kimono online. While I am very sad,t this feels like the end of an era, I wish the owners all the best for their upcoming retirement! I also used this as an opportunity to treat myself to some items I'd been watching for a while. One of the pieces I splurged on was this beautiful vintage houmongi with genjiko motif on an utterly lush purple background. When it arrived, I realised that an obi I'd bought from Ichiroya quite some time ago was the perfect complement to the pink and green accents of the kimono, and it all fell into place. I wanted the kimono (and to a lesser extent, the obi) to shine so I went with subtle brown and beige accessories that tied into the kimono motif without drawing attention to themselves. I can't remember where most of the accessories came from, they're not from Ichiroya, but they worked very well with the outfit. I love how the brown obiage almost looks like shiny gold due to the gradations on it. Read the full article

[ileftmyheartintokyo]

Genji-kō Uchiwa 1910s by Blue Ruin1 on Flickr.