Kimonos Galore

November marked two very important occasions for both girls.Emilie had her "Miyamairi" after which we were officially allowed to go outside so it was very eagerly awaited for by me!And Annie had her "Shichi-Go-San" celebration .

On November 1st,Millie had her special day.Miyamairi ( "shrine visit") is a traditional Shinto rite of passage for newborns in Japan.One month after birth (31st day for boys and 32 days for girls), parents and grandparents take the child to a Shinto shrine, to express gratitude to the deities for the birth of a baby and have shrine priest pray for his or her health and happiness.

The baby will be draped in a kimono and often one of the grandmothers will carry the child;my mum carried Annie and this time,MIL got her go as mum wasn't here!As for the kimono,in Annie's case,my PIL bought her a very beautiful kimono that is used during the later Schichi-Go-san celebrations when the child is older.For Millie,my SIL gave us the kimono her daughter(Annie and Millie's cousin) also used; it was a lovely gesture as usually the child will keep his/her kimono to pass on to their future offspring.

My PIL with a slumbering Millie(and Annie running away from the camera in the background).My FIL is carrying a bottle of sake which is presented to the gods then given back to us to drink in celebration of the day.

The ceremony itself is quite short and private ; before the alter ,the priest wearing robes and headgear will recite a prayer and swings a Tamagushi right and left.During the prayer,the priest cites the name of the parents,the family's address and the baby's name and birthday.Afterwards,the parents,grandparents,siblings and other relatives(if present) go forward one by one to bow to the alter and place tamagushi on a table in front of the alter.Then the priest bangs on the taiko drum to wake the gods,announcing the news of the child's birth and to finalise the ceremony.

It is a simple yet beautiful ceremony and as important to the Japanese as a Christian Baptism is to Christians.And as with most baptisms,the child is given gifts but in Japan they are monetary gifts which are given by family,relatives and friends.Millie was asleep for most of the ceremony as just like her big sister,she slept through the taiko drumming as well!

This time I manage to get in the background and seem to be complaining about something to someone.What a surprise;)

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Then,on November 15th,we had Annie's "Shichi-go-san" which means "Seven-Five-Three" This is one of the most important festivals for Japanese children, observed annually on November 15. On this date girls of three and seven years and boys of five years of age are taken by their parents to the Shintō shrine to offer thanks for having reached their respective ages and to invoke blessings for the future. In former times the day was also marked by five-year-old boys of the samurai class being dressed in a hakama (pleated, divided skirt) and presented to their respective feudal lords, seven-year-old girls wearing the formal obi (stiff sash), and the three-year-old girls having their hair arranged on top of their heads, all for the first time.

Nowadays,it is quite an event and of course a chance to dress up your children and get some professional photos taken as well as visiting the shrine.Due to busy lifestyles,children are taken for their snapshots and shrine visits anytime from the beginning of November(and sometimes earlier).This year,November 15th fell on a Saturday so we were able to do things as traditional dictates.Which delighted my MIL;)

At 9am,we took Annie to the local hairdressers/beauticians and they started work on her hair.Annie was really nervous at this point which was a blessing as it took a long time to do her hair and she stayed still for nearly all the time!After her hair and make-up(the latter a request by Annie),her kimono was fitted.This all took over and hour.Then we went to get some professional photos taken and by this time,Annie was sick and tired of sitting and standing still so Kenichi and I emerged from that feeling a wee bit stressed.

Then on to the shrine where we were joined by my PIL and and Mattea,our friend who also took some fantastic photos for us; I never knew she was so talented and if we'd known,we wouldn't have bothered with the professional pics!Thanks again Mattea and also for giving permission to use some of the pictures here.At the shrine,Annie was blessed along with a few other childen and prayers were said by the priest along with some more drumming.After the shrine,we all went out for a meal and Annie changed out of her kimono and wanted her hair down again so spent the rest of the afternoon looking like a Cher throw back from the early 1960's.


Anyway,I will let the photos tell the story of the day!

The last photo is is my favourite.Notice Annie's footwear; we were lent some zori by the beautician(which you can see her wearing in previous pictures) so we couldn't let her wear them outside.Instead,she wore her old grotty daycare sneakers which upset MIL no end! Also,if you look on her back,you can see white envelopes hanging from her kimono;again,as with Miyamairi,this occasion is marked with monetary gifts from family,relaltves and frineds.The money is put in special envelopes and tied to the back of the obi.Annie,like Millie, did pretty well ;)