When I put it in words…

Before I had ever even been to Japan, I was always drawn to kimono. But unfortunately it was really hard to find any information about kimono in English or German on the internet. So I’ve spent years to study and perfect my Japanese first.

2012 I went to study for a year in Aichi Prefecture as a part of an exchange program between my German university and our Japanese sister faculty. I was really lucky, because I could live with my friend’s family for the whole time. And as luck would have it, my friend’s mother was a professional kimono teacher and she introduced to me kimono world!

My host mother is simply amazing! Not only could she dress herself and me, but she also knew a lot about kimono, because she was working at a kimono store before she got married and she also sewed her own kimono and obi. She immediately became my role model.

After going back to Germany, graduating from university and a successful job hunt for a job in Japan, I was able to move to Kumamoto. Since I finally had the language ability, free time and money (kimono lessons can be pricy!!!) I started my professional kimono training at a private kimono school. This school was focusing on speed kimono dressing and stage dressing. This meant that I had been able to gain a lot of fun skills like blind dressing or self-furisode dressing – both skills that are not necessarily taught. We had annual kimono speed dressing competitions and several shows throughout the year. 2017 I even was able to win the Furisode Speed Dressing Competition in Kumamoto. You should know that I’m not a competitive person, so I stopped competing after that. But it was a great experience!

In my 5 years at this kimono school, I could also learn historical kimono dressing, nihon buyo (日本舞踊, traditional Japanese dance) dressing, Japanese styled make-up, and more. After passing the first level tests at my kimono school, I started to take kimono sewing lessons weekly. First it was private lessons, but in 2019 I joined a school that trains professional kimono tailors. I only enrolled in the “sewing for fun”-classes, because I don’t want to do this professionally. However, it is a very professional environment and it helps me slowly gaining the knowledge and skills of a kimono tailor.

I was also able to take lessons at different kimono schools and with private teachers to expand my skills beyond my original school’s skillset. 2021 I made my dream come true and started to take lessons for imperial court gowns at Kokusaibunka Technical College of Hairdesign in Tokyo.

Last but not least is that I am (probably) the only foreigner ever getting this far in the Kimono Culture Exam, which is undoubtedly the hardest exam about kimono theory worldwide. Since I started to challenge all levels of this exam, I’m completely down a rabbit hole and now I own a tiny library with about 100 new, vintage and antique books and magazines of kimono dressing, sewing and kimono theory. For me kimono is an endless journey of studying and I can’t wait share all of this experience and knowledge with you!