Matsuri means Festival

If you know me, you'll know that I used to live in Japan and as a result I'm in love with all things Japanese - yukatas (summer kimono), tako yaki (grilled octopus balls) and taiko drumming to name a few. So to celebrate one of my favourite countries in the world, I went along to the Japanese Summer Festival in Melbourne today. I photographed the beautiful yukatas with their brightly coloured patterns and intricately knotted obis, I queued up for about 30 minutes to eat tako yaki and stood front of stage to watch the incredible taiko performance. Ahh Japan 愛してる ❤❤❤. 

Kimono Hime - a magazine love affair

When I left Japan I wanted to buy myself a present with the book voucher I won during a staff end of year party. I'd saved that voucher for over a year and when the time came to spend it I wanted something worth keeping , besides , I couldn't read well enough to buy a Japanese book anyway.

 I found Kimono Hime on the magazine racks amongst the anime and cutesy teenage mags. Kimono Hime is a magazine dedicated entirely to the beautifulness of kimono. I love love love this magazine so much, especially the design and photography not to mention the countless kimonos that leave me in awe of this Japanese national costume. 

While living in Japan I saw hundreds of kimonos and yukata (summer kimono) and the most beautiful thing about them was that I never saw two that were the same.

Cut back to 2010 where I was delighted to find Kanga Kanga  in Bourke street who could supply me with my Kimono Hime copies. The latest one arrived last week. Unfortunately it doesn't come out regularly , only once or twice a year, so this kimono fanatic will have to be patient...or go ahead and order all the issues I've missed out on! Until then, have a peek into the pages Kimono Hime. (please excuse the poor quality pictures ... I don't own a scanner )

ps Kimono Hime means princess  <3