Yukata demo and obi tying

Explaining the how the muna-himo helps keep the collar straight.

 I did a yukata kitsuke (dressing) and obi tying demo last Saturday at Odaiko Sonora's practice space for the taiko drummers that were interested. It's a perfect space for kitsuke since it's basically a dance studio with a wall of mirrors to help you see what you are doing. It was only an hour long but it was pretty successful!

Taiko performer Nicole was the perfect yukata model as I dressed her in a vintage indigo and white yukata with a bold pattern of what look to be abstract cocktail glasses and a red and white silk hakata obi. The obi is awase (lined) with solid red on the back.

Hakata obi ready to go

Just for fun, I added all of the accessories at the end just so newbies could get an idea of how all of these mysterious items are worn: geta, kinchaku bag, an uchiwa fan, and a sensu (folding) fan. She looked ready for Obon!

Finishing up the musubi

Fixing Nancy's obi. I'm wearing my demo obi with pink and black stripes.

For the last half, I demonstrated how to tie an obi on yourself in the front and turn it around to the back.

Am I doing this correctly?

Nancy's musubi now looks very nice

Sonya has almost got it down

Everyone was starting to get the hang of tying the easiest yukata obi knot known as bunko or cho-cho (butterfly) musubi by themselves. I brought a bunch of my own hanhaba obi and one heko obi so they could practice with the real thing. No pre-tied obi for these folks!


With five minutes to spare, I did a quick demo of kai no kuchi with a men's obi as well. Next time, this will be a full-on yukata kitsuke workshop, not just a demonstration, so I will teach some cho-cho musubi variations and each participant will learn to dress themselves in a yukata.  Stay tuned for a workshop in Tucson and maybe even in Phoenix soon!
~Reb

PS: All photos were taken by Tracy Baynes, so please ask me for permission if you would like borrow them. Thanks! :)