kimonobox.com

About kimonobox

This is Chacha

Kimonobox provides a look at life in Japan over the past decades and an insight into future trends.

Me in Japan
I have lived and worked in Japan for the past twenty five years off and on. I have seen many changes and enjoyed the various paradoxes and anomalies of everyday Japanese living. The time has passed by very quickly! In thinking back over the past years of living and travelling in Japan – what was it all about? Did the eighties and nineties really disappear so quickly?

The Box
Recently, I found photos of decades earlier in our family box of kimonos and decided to write up some of the stories and cultural links with Japan. One of the main characters of Kimonobox is Sadako who kept a diary along with many family photos for close to 60 years. Because a lot of the material in the website is from the box, I called the blog, Kimonobox.

Enjoy Kimonobox
I am developing Kimonobox as a concept because I want to bring some of these characters to life. I want to highlight their stories in amongst modern day Japan. I also want to look at current events and people and include my favourite animation characters, brands and most of all the places in Japan that we have found as a family and enjoyed.

What is Kimonobox, the movie?
One of the places that we enjoyed as a family/friend grouping was Eigamura in Kyoto. This is where we staged our own ideas for Kimonobox, the movie. Eight storyboard posts tell the tale!

Kimonobox, the blog
At the bottom of the family’s box of kimonos, is an old scrapbook from the Taisho era in Japan. I couldn’t believe it when I first looked through this scrapbook, because I realised I was looking at a kind of blog. It was Sadako‘s diary – a diary, which she wrote her thoughts and pasted her cuttings from newspapers most days. This scrapbook became a record for her as she moved through the Taisho period and into the early and initially dark days of Showa.

Looking at the scrapbook, with headlines from many significant as well as seemingly mundane events of the times, I wonder what Sadako might have thought about the blogging today.

We are living a different Japan to the eighties and nineties and even decades before, but its exciting and challenging. And recording these day to day events, in this way, is developing our own socio-cultural footprints.

Who is the anime character Chacha

Chacha is a family member who has been created as an anime character for Kimonobox. She likes goma ice-cream, chasing butterflies and gets cross when her hat blows off!

This video recording called Infinity is borrowed from youtube and is a great reminder of how there are so many pieces involved in our everyday existence. The pieces are inter-connected and the lights and traffic move showing a journey. Kimonobox also provides a journey, highlighting the best of past, present and future trends in Japan.

A look at life in Japan over the past decades and an insight into future trends.

Me in Japan
I have lived and worked in Japan for the past twenty five years off and on. I have seen many changes and enjoyed the various paradoxes and anomalies of everyday Japanese living. The time has passed by very quickly! In thinking back over the past years of living and travelling in Japan – what was it all about? Did the eighties and nineties really disappear so quickly?

The Box
Recently, I found photos of decades earlier in our family box of kimonos and decided to write up some of the stories and cultural links with Japan. One of the main characters of Kimonobox is Sadako who kept a diary along with many family photos for close to 60 years. Because a lot of the material in the website is from the box, I called the blog, Kimonobox.

Enjoy Kimonobox
I am developing Kimonobox as a concept because I want to bring some of these characters to life. I want to highlight their stories in amongst modern day Japan. I also want to look at current events and people and include my favourite animation characters, brands and most of all the places in Japan that we have found as a family and enjoyed.

What is Kimonobox, the movie?
One of the places that we enjoyed as a family/friend grouping was Eigamura in Kyoto. This is where we staged our own ideas for Kimonobox, the movie. Eight storyboard posts tell the tale!

Kimonobox, the blog
At the bottom of the family’s box of kimonos, is an old scrapbook from the Taisho era in Japan. I couldn’t believe it when I first looked through this scrapbook, because I realised I was looking at a kind of blog. It was Sadako‘s diary – a diary, which she wrote her thoughts and pasted her cuttings from newspapers most days. This scrapbook became a record for her as she moved through the Taisho period and into the early and initially dark days of Showa.

Looking at the scrapbook, with headlines from many significant as well as seemingly mundane events of the times, I wonder what Sadako might have thought about the blogging today.

We are living a different Japan to the eighties and nineties and even decades before, but its exciting and challenging. And recording these day to day events, in this way, is developing our own socio-cultural footprints.