My two new favorite magazines PART TWO
Kimono Hime
What I like about it: The title is Kimono Hime (princess). A perfect world (or Japan) would look more like an Akira Yamaguchi drawing, and women would go out dressed in the kimonos that are shown in this magazine. A blend of tradition and modern (OMG I am soooo a Japan Blogger when I make that observation LOL!!!!!!!!1) however the “Modern” I am talking about is the historical nineteen thirties type of Modern. Closer to Takehisa Yumeji than that hollywood geisha flick. The magazine also goes in depth as to how fabrics are dyed, woven, and matched for the season. The travel sections highlight retro areas of Japan and the foods and things you can try there. The issue above has a few pages on Hachijyou Island and their special kimonos.
Photography: Great! Vivid color for the studio shots, which sometimes in the final product have been added to with other media, usually collage and sometimes old wood block prints. Location pictures are soft but not ridiculously dreamy. The models all look Great, and by my definition of Great, normal people would say “very japanese”. No shibuya girls here– lots of ladies with jet black hair and straight-across (patsuun!) bangs.
General mood: Elegant with just the right balance of graphics and text, not unlike (again with the reference) a Takehisa Yumeji print. See that Taisho/early Showa style hand written title at the top of the cover? That is the mood.
Kimono Hime (a shodensha mook, published every once in a while, 1200 yen)
I have found copies of Kimono Princess at just about every book off I happened to stop in this past week. Look for them in the Women’s Magazine section.
Comment by John — 4/3/2006 @ 11:05 pm
ZOMFG JOhn. ZOMFG.
P.S. I finally found it and bookmarked it.
Comment by Mike — 4/10/2006 @ 5:01 pm