… and who wouldn’t be? Actually this is a DRAWING of the lovely Yuihan wearing a kimono. The original drawing is by Rodolfo Cortez. You can view more of his drawings — AKB and otherwise — on his web page linked here. Yokoyama-san has very intense eyes. Do you think that he did a good job of capturing their intensity? I also like that little “48” clasp he drew on the kimono.
There are also some great paintings of Yui Yokoyama in kimono in her first photo book released earlier this year. The artist is Japanese painter Yasunari Ikenaga. The photo books are mostly photographs, but there is this nice little part of about her making this kimono painting.
Here is Yui lying down on the kimono pattern, to see how it looks with her.
This is her kimono (yukata actually) that the painting is based on. Note the floral pattern and the obi-sash pattern below was used in the painting.
Guess what my favorite part of this photo is!
Here is the basic drawing before color painting.
I would have to say that the picture turned out well.
I sure would have to have this Yui panel in my tea room! It looks like Ms. Yokoyama also approves of the art …
I am probably even easier to please than Yuihan.
Even her painting is INTENSE!
The photobook is available from CD Japan linked here.
It only costs $12 … Gulp … so why can’t I have one?. (There is also a DVD-Blu-Ray photobook if you have a Japanese player.)
Starlight: The photobook was released February 2015.
Mirei Kiranti is a Japanese actress. (My spell-checker always wants to change her name to “Marie” – the silly thing.) Kiritini-san has appeared in dozens of Japanese TV series and movies. Her 2105 films include Koisuru Vampire, Heroine Shikkaku and the live-action Assassination Classroom. (Some of those are upcoming.)
Emi Takei is one of the most popular Japanese actresses. She has appeared in dozens of films, including the great Rurouni Kenshin live action films. Is there any actress who looks better in a kimono?
Remember that you saw these kimonos here first! Commander Sulu from the USS Excelsior was able to “beam back” these images from her 2016 kimono collection. Oh my …
Actually, George — if you wanted it to rhyme, shouldn’t you say: “Oh – MAY”. Everyone else, just enjoy this refection from the future.
I also invite you to warp ahead to 2017, to enjoy this slideshow:
No Kidding, each photo is more lovely than the next. It is very hard to pick a favorite! Emi Takei all the way!
Emi Takei — my last K.O.M. in May!
Starlight: Don’t worry about all of that light speed, space-time continuum science stuff, just enjoy the kimonos!
I know what you are thinking: “Denny … you know that those are DUDES, right?”
Well, way back when I was a progressive rock/heavy metal teen, one of the bands I liked was RUSH – the subject of this special kimonos post.
One of the stories in the great Rush “rockumentary” – “Beyond The Lighted Stage” is the anecdote of how the band came to wear kimono robes as part of their stage show. Rush were a great hard rock power trio, and their working-class fans were a “T-shirt and jeans” crowd. (Include me in that.) Geddy Lee also said in BTLS that he might have preferred to just wear jeans and T-shirts onstage, but the record company wanted them to have an “image”. Rush toured with KISS and other bands who had all kinds of crazy costumes. The group was assigned to find a “look”.
Hi Fellas! The record company wanted us to change our image!
The members wondered what type of stage get-ups they might wear, in order to look like “rock stars”. One day while they were on a concert tour, they visited a shopping district where shops sold “ethnic” goods. A Japanese shop had kimono-robes — and the rest is history.
The kimono-robes looked somewhat “futuristic” I suppose, which would fit with their sci-fi “2112” rock epic. I’ve noticed on many episodes of “Star Trek” and the like, that people from all these advanced civilizations on other planets always wear ROBES. Why the robes? Does wearing a robe make you smarter? Does it show that you are technologically and philosophically advanced? Maybe in the utopian future, people are so used to robots doing all the work that they are just too lazy to find pants. Or is it that in the future only dumb people will wear jeans? (Cough) … but I digress.
Thus this explains the Rush kimono period. I know what you are going to ask: “Denny, were these ridiculous outfits scoffed at?” Of course! … and this despite being the “glam rock” period of the 1970s with its ridiculous androgyny trend.
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During the BTLS doc, Geddy Lee tells a great story about he was always made fun of by the heavy metal group UFO (link here in new window). The guys in UFO considered the kimonos “effeminate” and would call them ladies bathrobes. Lee also said that the UFO dudes would sarcastically (and in a fem-voice) would call Geddy Lee “Glee” as in “Oh, Glee are you ready for your bath now …”. UFO would open for Rush, and they would nail pink ladies bath slippers to Geddy Lee’s microphone stand. “Oh, you forgot your slippers … GLEE …”
You can get a good look at the Rush robes in this performance of “Farewell to Kings”. I actually bought this LP record, the week it came out in 1978. Oy.
Rush Kimonos made a return in 2012, but fortunately not on the guys. Although this young lady is not in Rush, she was part of the stage show for Rush’s “Clockwork Angels” 2013 tour. The group had a much more elaborate “Steampunk”-type stage show than earlier years.
This is an example of the “Steampunk kimonos” the ladies in the orchestra wore. The kimono looks amazing! (Full concert linked here.)
Starlight: From the first time I heard “Check out this Rush album”?
… the light will have now reached star Rho Cancri (which has 3 planets) and would also have reached star HR3259 (which has 4 planets).
Oh, I have been getting enka-denka-doo-ed these days. I know that I am Wasamin-crazy, but I have it under control! I can quit anytime I want.
Ahem …Let me share this nice YouTube post of Iwasa Misaki singing “Tsugunai” つぐない which translates as “Atonement”.
She sang this on her great Enka album “Request Covers” released a couple of years ago. Wasamin recorded several songs made famous by well-known Enka artists of years past. What a great record.
The cover for “Request Covers”.
This is a more recent performance. Here she sings a shorter version than what is on her record, but still it is great to look at and listen to. She wears an amazingly beautiful dark kimono .. as I have come to expect when she performs on this Japanese variety show. Enjoy this slide set! I also downloaded this to MP4 , which my PS3 up-converts — and it LOOKS AMAZING!!!
The sound is just YouTube. The song sounds a lot better on my iPhone with my Nakamichi headphones. You can really hear the enka-quivering in Misaki-san’s voice, and the instrumentals are fantastic. The “tango”-like organ work provides a great musical backdrop for this nostalgic-tragic love song. If you ask me, the tone of the woman protagonist is a little “passive-aggressive”. She is saying goodbye but she is actually begging, and is trying to hide her disappointment and bitterness. You could figure that out. Here is what Wasamin is actually singing:
“Atonement”
In the room exposed to the western sun
There always remains your scent
If I live here alone, I must always remember you
So, I will leave here, by keeping the scratch on the wall as it is
After atoning for our love, we must be separated
Please don’t forget about me although I have been such a woman
You have been too sweet to me
You have been innocent like a little boy
We are going to be strangers tomorrow
I only care about you left behind
Please cut down smoking
Instead of living by being attached to the past
You should find a lady more attractive than I
Because atoning for our love becomes a burden for me
I will try to leave this town and live alone
I will have to drink alone
I will have to dream alone
We are going to be strangers tomorrow
After atoning for our love, we must be separated
Please don’t forget about me although I have been such a woman
You have been too sweet to me
You have been innocent like a little boy
We are going to be strangers tomorrow …
The song was written by Araki Toyohisa and Miki Takahashi. It has been recorded many times, in Japanese and Chinese. It was made most famous by Cantonese Enka-singer Teresa Teng. (That is until Misaki-san of course.) Get me drunk at the Karaoke Bar and I WILL SING IT!
Likes: Pop Culture, Humor, Japanese Culture, Iwasa Misaki, Hanako Oku, AKB48 History, Kurosawa films, Kimonos, Anime, Lolita fashion, Buddhist philosophy, and finding the perfect nicknames for my Pokemon.
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Denny Sinnoh 
Written
on May 18, 2015