I wanted a photo frame, so I bought a Ferris wheel-shaped one from Temu a while back. It’s a knock-down model that arrives in a box. Assembly is easy if you have a screwdriver. It even comes with a card to put inside the frame—though I haven’t decided what to put in it yet.
A few days ago, I bought a few deep pink roses at the supermarket, but with this heat, they wilted right away. Since the color was still more vibrant than I expected, I thought, “Why not put them in that photo frame?” So I opened the frame’s lid, placed the card I’d chosen as the background inside, added a brand logo I’d neatly cut off a price tag, and then arranged the roses—which I’d cut short to highlight their remaining color—in a spot where they’d stand out, before clamping them tightly in place.
Inside the photo frame are guitar picks.
Inside the photo frame are guitar picks. Lotus Flower Design Guitar Picks, 2D Flat, Pack of 6 826 yen Temu https://www.temu.com
Normally, it would snap shut, but since it seemed to be slightly raised by the thickness of the rose, I secured the edges with a rubber band. Then, while balancing the Ferris wheel, I reattached it a few times until it was finished. Right now, it’s sitting on the coffee table in my room.
When you have a photo frame, I think it’s fine to experiment with placing different items inside—if you like how it looks, that’s good enough for me, too. This time it’s a photo frame, but when you place various items inside a square frame and arrange them either flat or in a three-dimensional way, it becomes what’s known as “box art.”
So, as I was thinking about what to display, I decided, “That’s it—I’ll put that deep pink rose inside to give it a bit of a three-dimensional look,” and that’s how I made it. If you still have one of those summer vacation homework “free research” (art) projects that you’ve been wishing would just disappear from this world as soon as possible, I think something like this would work just fine.
I decided to turn the remaining deep pink roses into dried flowers, so I tied them into small bouquets and have them in an iron container for now. Eventually, I plan to hammer some nails into the wall and hang them there. I also plan to hang an old Western-style poster printed on tin, placing it a little ways away from the roses.
It was 36 degrees in the town where I live today.😀
Hi this is enamel. Since what I included with my previous message was a recipe, I’m reposting it under the “recipe” category.
By the way, for those recovering from illness, or dealing with early summer fatigue, rainy season fatigue, or the onset of summer fatigue, please make a little effort and buy two loaves of sliced bread (available in 6- or 10-slice packs), along with a generously packed, inexpensive package of pork loin ham (around 200 yen) and one slice of processed cheese (the non-melting type). Place these on a single slice of untoasted bread, fold it in half, and give it a try.
Within five days of starting this, I noticed an improvement in my stamina and physical endurance.
While you’re at it, pick up a bottle of “Delicious Milk Black Tea,” some cut fruit, pearled barley, and a bag of sake lees at the supermarket. Mix the pearled barley with rice and cook it, and add two tablespoons of sake lees to the pot you usually use for miso soup, adjusting the flavor as you go, then make miso soup using your usual miso.
If making miso soup seems like too much trouble, try adding 2 teaspoons of sake kasu to a cup of ready-to-eat miso soup or a packet of instant miso soup, pour hot water over it, stir it up, and drink it. Do this about five times, and you’ll feel a slight improvement in your overall health.
Other than that, try eating nutritious meals.
It’s also easy and convenient to have meals delivered right to your door via Uber Eats or supermarket delivery services, isn’t it?
I think the city where I live—and the region that includes it—should adopt daylight saving time.
Yesterday was my day off, so I wrote all sorts of things until late. Even though it was late at night, I enjoyed a margarita mixed with soda in a tall glass filled with ice, then slept soundly and woke up just before noon.
Usually, after I wake up, I grind coffee beans, brew a pot, and drink drip coffee, but it takes at least an hour before I’m fully awake.
Today, too, after making and eating ramen while still drowsy and out of it, I took a shower. But while I was showering, the balance between hot and cold water kept changing repeatedly, leaving me puzzled. Then it gradually dawned on me: since it’s just before 3:00 p.m. on a sweltering midsummer afternoon, most of the residents in the building where my apartment is located are taking showers—or cold showers—at the exact same time! Without even thinking about the synchronicity of human behavior,
can we really just get away with calling it a “scorching heatwave” when the high is 36 degrees? Introducing daylight saving time won’t make it any cooler, but it would boost work efficiency. As I’ve written many times before, if the air conditioner isn’t set to 20 degrees, work efficiency plummets, and the economy will never recover.
That’s why in technical workplaces—where many products are delicate—it’s standard practice to set the air conditioner to 20 degrees or lower, allowing people to work smoothly. That’s why the economy doesn’t slump, and we continue to have a strong voice on the world stage.
I found myself staring blankly at this while drying my hair.
I imagine lukewarm water—almost like hot water—is coming out of the faucet instead of cold water, but try collecting it in a basin and using a thin towel or washcloth to wipe your face, neck, and limbs. Or fill a bucket with water, put your feet in it when you get home, and then dry them off with a towel. It’ll feel cooler than you’d expect.
Back when the summer heat was still bearable—not as intense as it is now—I stumbled upon a hack from a senior at my school that helps keep the classroom cool during class.
It’s quite a heroic tale, isn’t it?
Apparently, the senior kept a tin bucket under their desk and would soak both feet in it. The teachers who passed down this story seemed somewhat pleased to recount this “good old-fashioned” student hack— noting that while other students looked grumpy in the sweltering heat, that one student alone was taking notes looking perfectly cool. If you tried that now, it would just make you feel uncomfortable, so please, for heaven’s sake, don’t try to imitate it.
Oh, right—I remember that summer hallway, where a strange sense of transience hung in the air, as she—who had been told, “Oh my, are you wearing mascara?” and who, like everyone else who’d applied a light layer of foundation, had answered “No”—made me feel a bit envious, as if to say, “So even if your lashes are naturally curled like a French doll’s, there are still hardships in this world.”
This is also a ready-made obi. It goes well with slightly sturdier yukata and casual wear. Cherry blossoms are a symbol of spring, but cherry blossom patterns are also suitable for year-round wear.
I’ve released three pre-tied obi, but apparently there are people out there who stare intently at how others tie their obi—not to point out, “You’re doing it wrong,” but just to make them feel pressured by their gaze alone. This is something that people who enjoy wearing kimono are fairly familiar with. However, no one really knows the “correct” way to tie an obi. I think they just want to make people anxious by suggesting that they might be doing it wrong.
Actually, here in Japan where I live, people never learn how to put on a kimono from elementary school through adulthood. I even suspect that in most households, there’s probably no one left who can teach you how to wear a kimono these days.
Pre-tied obi let you wear your obi neatly and easily, so you can enjoy wearing a kimono out on the town or spend a wonderful time at a nice bar without worrying, “Is my obi tied wrong…?” I think it’s a great invention that frees us from worrying about things we shouldn’t even have to think about in the first place.
I used to tie my own obi for everyday wear, but I’d only ever managed the Nagoya-obi style and figured that was good enough. My favorite style is the “Kawari-daiko”—a drum knot completed with just a single obi—where you can choose whether or not to wear an obijime or an obidome. I loved this flexibility and would tie it all the time, even when wearing a-wase or a yukata.
People would glance at me, give off a “Whoa” vibe, and then walk right past.
I’m probably one of the first ten people in this city to buy “Tabix”—sock-style tabi that make putting on and taking off tabi much easier. I clearly remember rushing to Hakata Station to buy them, worried they might be sold out. Not a single person looked at my feet and asked, “Are those Tabix?”
Kimono, except for formal wear, are simply fashionable clothing. It’s fine as long as you dress stylishly. I truly believe from the bottom of my heart that kimono are something you should feel free to wear beautifully and comfortably.
Rew-You Products Available
As many of you may have noticed from the thumbnail above, this is a women’s yukata worn by Saki Kagami, who was a regular in the magazine “Ane Ageha.” It has such a lovely, ethereal, and romantic vibe, doesn’t it? The set, including the obi and yukata, is priced at 8,640 yen. She’s tied the obi slightly askew at the front, isn’t she? It’s so KAWAII. It’s a stylish look that’s only possible because the obi is made of such a soft fabric.
These are the traditional Japanese-patterned yukatas available on the Rew-You online store, which we also featured in “2026’s Yukata / Sunday Edition / 1/2.”
Looking at the link, it seems to be an online store targeting women who work at hostess clubs. But that’s not all. Would you believe it! As you know, women who work at hostess clubs are, as a rule, beautiful, incredibly cute, stylish, and have great figures—so much so that a new fashion genre called “Cabakawa” seems to have emerged. I suppose it means “as cute as the hostesses.”
I’ve heard that many hostesses are down-to-earth people (actually, a long time ago, I was treated very kindly by people working at hostess clubs and lounges who were doing it as a side job), so I suppose they’re part of what today’s fashion-conscious people, young adults, and teenagers look up to. I completely agree with this. Professor O. is also in complete agreement.
If you’re worried that your yukata might get wrinkled, don’t worry too much about it. Whether your yukata is 100% cotton or polyester, it’s stiffened with laundry starch to make it as rigid as a plastic sheet.
A yukata won’t get wrinkled just from wearing it once. Instead of having a lining, yukatas are shipped from the factory with a thick layer of starch applied. So, they won’t get sweat stains easily. You really don’t need to worry about it.
Polyester kimonos are also intentionally made with a heavy fabric that hangs straight and naturally, so they don’t wrinkle. If you’re concerned, after it arrives from the online store, spray some laundry starch on top and iron it on a low heat setting with a pressing cloth to remove any wrinkles. It’s also a good idea to take it to a kimono dry cleaner about half a month before the planned date to give yourself plenty of time, but since that’s expensive, I think ironing is sufficient.
To be honest, since it’s so hot in the summer, I don’t really want to wear that many layers under my yukata. That’s why there are now simple two-piece yukatas and one-piece yukatas available.
In the past, I used to wear knee-length undergarments designed for yukatas underneath, but I’m the type who likes to cross my legs even when wearing a yukata (just like I do with a long wrap-style skirt— my legs aren’t visible and the yukata doesn’t come undone), I used to wear a stylish juban that looked fine even if it showed.
I tried something like steteko too, but it really ruined the mood for me. Since I wanted to wear traditional Japanese textiles and dyed fabrics (which includes prints) as part of that “Japonism” aesthetic, I ended up wearing a printed juban. Underneath, I wore regular underwear. I also wore a bra.
One day, my camisole hadn’t come out of the wash in time, and since I was in a rush, I just thought, “Oh well!” and put the yukata on over my regular underwear. I tied a hanhaba obi into a “kawari-daiko” knot (also known as the Ginza knot) to give it a slightly playful, carefree look. (In this case, since it’s a slightly smaller-than-usual Kawaridaiko knot, it has a sharp, playful vibe that says, “Just a casual evening yukata!”—which I think is really fun.)
Personally, while yukata-tying books always show you folding the front of the hanhaba obi into a diagonal triangle to reveal the lining color at an angle, I sometimes find that a bit childish, so I stopped doing it. This is a lot of information—are you okay with that? It’s the Sunday edition.
Even when I wore regular underwear under the yukata, it didn’t show through the outer layer. The same goes for panties. Yukata fabric is generally thick, and even polyester yukatas and casual wear tend to have fairly thick fabric. So it won’t show through the outer layer.
If you happen to come across a company that still uses those polyester kimonos from the early Showa era—the kind you’d rent at a funeral hall—you’ll know as soon as you hold it when it arrives. It’s so light it feels like a scarf, so if it’s that type, it will show through. If you’re really concerned, just buy a sleeveless summer knit dress; it automatically comes with a camisole that hits at the top third of your thigh, and wearing that will solve the problem. It’s cool and feels nice against the skin.
Honestly, do people really wrap it so tightly around their bodies? I do wear it neatly, but I don’t wear it that tightly. I don’t run, and even when I’m in a hurry, I only jog a little. I don’t think you need to worry about it.
Have you really seen anyone in the last 30 years wearing a yukata that’s so thin it looks like it’s made of paper, with underwear lines showing through the outer layer? Since kimono-tying instructors wear authentic ones, isn’t someone just making it seem like stories from way back in the day are still relevant today?
It seems that crinkled obi are called “heko-obi” in shops. There are stylish ways to tie them, and the knot that creates beautiful, undulating drapes like a seashell is called the “patapata” knot. Below is a video where Store Manager Keiko teaches you how to do it.
Store Manager Keiko's Guide to Tying a “Pata-Pata” Heko Obi.
Next up is the basic triple-ribbon knot for a fluffy heko obi.
Tying a “Pata-Pata” Heko Obi is so KAWAII, isn't it? It's stylish and chic. From Rew-You
Since it’s the height of summer here in my city right now, if you’re planning to explore the city in traditional Japanese attire, I generally recommend reserving a taxi to stay cool while you’re out and about.
I hear a beer garden has opened at Fukuoka Airport. It’s apparently a Suntory beer garden and lounge.
You can make reservations on their official website. They say you can go without a reservation, but I think it’s best to book ahead. You can get there by subway, and the walkways and the interior are air-conditioned.
It took me a while to get here, but I believe kimono are best worn as stylish everyday attire. I hope this serves as inspiration for your own creative ideas and plans for this year’s yukata and traditional Japanese outfits.
Well, it’s getting late, but thank you for joining me for these two Sunday editions. Have a wonderful Monday.
