We
spent the day in Kyoto (phonetically pronounced 'Ki-your-door'). This is the city that gives its name to an
international treaty.[1] Well - today this city was
beautiful. The cherry blossoms are budding, which adds beauty to an
already lovely city.
This is a city of startling contrasts. It is a busy city
of bicycles, scooters, pedestrians, cars and busses; it is a city of fashion
shopping, the newest gadgets and digital offerings, alongside ancient shrines
and temples; a city of beautiful women in high heels under miniskirts,
alongside elaborately made up girls in the traditional kimono.
I Can hear you exclaim – “Kimono? Didn’t the Japanese shed their traditional dress in the mid 19th
century with the import of suits dresses and other western fashions?” Yes they
did. The men all wear suits and ties to work, and the women dress exquisitely
and in the latest fashions. But it would seem that on holidays, and for special
events the kimono and other accoutrements of the geisha or maiko are still popular
with Japanese girls. I guess the arrival of the cherry blossoms warranted a ‘kimono
outing’.
So
we were spoiled with a festival of colours, and are grateful for the day.
[1] The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) is an international treaty that sets binding obligations on industrialized
countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
No comments:
Post a Comment