Lonely infant stage\u00a0<\/strong> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Father\u2019s death: Mother cried, but I could not cry<\/strong> <\/p>\n My mother\u2019s ideal daughter<\/strong> <\/p>\n \u00a0NEXT>><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From a Kimono shop daughter\u2019s point of view Lonely infant stage\u00a016 years after our shop opened, I was born.So let me move on to my experiences and about what I have thought about our Kimono shop until last year, from a Kimono shop daughter\u2019s point of view.Looking back at Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-welcome"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kimono-sakaeya.com\/Tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kimono-sakaeya.com\/Tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kimono-sakaeya.com\/Tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kimono-sakaeya.com\/Tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kimono-sakaeya.com\/Tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=370"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kimono-sakaeya.com\/Tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4569,"href":"https:\/\/kimono-sakaeya.com\/Tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370\/revisions\/4569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kimono-sakaeya.com\/Tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kimono-sakaeya.com\/Tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kimono-sakaeya.com\/Tokyo\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
16 years after our shop opened, I was born.
So let me move on to my experiences and about what I have thought about our Kimono shop until last year, from a Kimono shop daughter\u2019s point of view.
Looking back at my childhood, our shop was in the best of condition and managed so well. Indeed, my parents were so busy. They opened the shop from 10AM to 9PM every single day. Therefore I wasn\u2019t able to spend much time with them.
When I went to a friend\u2019s house, I envied them for the fact that their mothers were at home (In Japan it is common after getting married or having a baby, for women to quit their jobs and become housewives).
I always felt lonely and thought, \u201cWhy was I born into a Kimono shop owner\u2019s family?\u201d
Preferring office work to Kimono shop\u00a0<\/strong>
Kimonos are worn mainly by older people. It seemed so uncool to me!
I hated to say what my parents were doing.
In fact, Japanese tend to have a longing for Western cultures. When I said my parents ran a Kimono shop, no friend paid any attention. On the other hand, when others said their father was an office worker, we said, \u201dthat\u2019s cool!\u201d
For me, the Kimono shop was the reason for my loneliness and uncoolness. However there was one good point \u2014 we had no lack for money. Feeling guilty for not being able to be with me, my parents bought me almost everything I ever wanted. Yes! I was spoiled!
However, the wealthy period was short. We would see two dark shadows in a few years. One was the bubble economy bursting and the other was father\u2019s death.<\/p>\nFather\u2019s death: Mother cried, but I could not cry<\/a><\/h2>\n
My father\u2019s disease was discovered when I was a third grade elementary school student.
It was liver cancer but the name had been kept secret from him. At the time liver cancer always meant death.
He needed emergency surgery. However even after the operation, the surgeon said, \u201cIt\u2019s too late. There\u2019s nothing I could do.\u201d We were told by doctors he was to be within a maximum of 4 years of death.
It was a remarkably cold day on February 4th. After a 3 year and 10-month battle with cancer, my father Sakae was called to heaven. He was 62 years old.![\"papa033.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.kimono-sakaeya.com\/alcblog\/img\/images\/papa033-thumb.jpg\")
<\/a>He always had few words, always had his temper under control, and loved Japanese culture. He was born in south island in Japan before WW2. During the war, he moved to China in opposition of the war, where he graduated from high school. He then went back to Japan and in spite of receiving training to become a solder, the war luckily ended before he could use it.
During the funeral service, my mother cried so much but I couldn\u2019t cry.
For 13 year old children, death doesn\u2019t mean father\u2019s death but simply \u201cdeath.\u201d I couldn\u2019t stop thinking: \u201cOne day I will die as well\u201d. The thought filled my mind.
The bubble economy bursting<\/strong>
After father\u2019s death, the other dark shadow came knocking on Sakaeya Kimono Shop\u2019s door.
Kimonos had come not to be sold at all. Just before the bubble economy burst, the Kimono industry started suffering from a recession.
My mother said, \u201cNo money! What should we do?\u201d quite often.
The one positive aspect of the Kimono shop had been \u201cNo lack for money,\u201dbut it was now gone. I had to study,\u201cbe pertinent.\u201d
The Kimono shop became no longer attractive to me.
Therefore it was natural that I had no idea of becoming a Kimono shop owner.
Until last year I hated the Kimono shop because it was the reason for my loneliness, uncoolness and poorness.
Now it feels strange writing this Blog as the Kimono shop\u2019s second generation owner.
I had been looking for The Blue Bird outside, but it seems I have found it inside instead.<\/p>\nMy mother\u2019s ideal daughter<\/a><\/h2>\n
Preppy girl<\/strong>
My mother wanted to make me a preppy.
Actually she had made me enter a private school from elementary to high school.
She could not go to school in spite of the fact her brothers were going there since WW2. At that time parents put boys above girls to go to school.
\u201cBe girlish!\u201d<\/strong>
My mother has been saying often and even now she still says, \u201cBe girlish!\u201d to me. When I was child, rice refills had a limit of 3 times.
Because eating a lot doesn\u2019t look good and is not girlish.
Many enrichment lessons<\/strong>
She thinks these lessons must be adopted by her ideal daughter.
The Japanese tea ceremony \u2013 The first time when I learned it I was in Kindergarten. I could not understand why almost every hand movement was prescribed, even walking! I ran away from lessons after a few times.![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.kimono-sakaeya.com\/alcblog\/img\/images\/menkyo042-thumb.jpg\")
<\/a>The Japanese tea ceremony certificate
The flower arrangement- But I dislike cutting flowers a lot. It seems cruel! I stopped going to these lessons too.
The Japanese traditional dance \u2013 Indeed I love it but it was too expensive. I stoppped as well.
The Japanese harp \u2013 I have a basic certificate but I can\u2019t play it at all!!
(However I think the tea ceremony lessons were necessary for me. Studying it, I silently understood why Japanese company and family structures have been made like this. So I have started to study it again. Extended entry show you what the tea ceremony is for me. if you like, please have a look.)
The first break in my life<\/strong>
I think I have tried to be my mother\u2019s ideal daughter until last year.
However, once I did oppose her request when I was a high school student.
After my graduating high school, she recommended me to go to 2 yearswomen\u2019s college.
According to her, women should have lower educationthan men, otherwise it is hard to find a husband.
However, I was keen on going to a 4 year university or college.
Because I wanted to become an office worker at a big company and get a good salary as much as I could, so I could rise a child by myself.
Why I thought like this is because my father died, but thanks to my mother, I could keep going to my private school, although it is common that woman became housewife in Japan.
Becoming a good salary office worker is necessary to graduate a 4 year school. Which university you graduate from is impotent to our entering a company and our subsequent life. The higher university you graduate from, the higher salary you can get.
Therefore the competition to get into good schools makes the Japanese over-concerned about our status and prestige.<\/p>\n