you say kimono, I say kimono ...

Japan is dense with history and tradition. One of the significant traditions in childhood is called, “shichi-go-san” (7-5-3). It is a celebration for girls and boys turning 3, then for boys turning 5, then for girls turning 7. It stems from when the mortality rate for children was high and it was a big deal to celebrate the milestone of making it that far (apparently in the old days, you didn’t register your child with the government until he or she was three). There were also traditions at each age, like a child’s hair was kept shaved until they were 3, at which point they were allowed to grow it out (not that Yuki’s hair would have grown), boys turning 5 were dressed in the traditional Hakama (fancy pants), and when girls turned 7, they wore an obi (the belt that is tighter than Scarlet O’Hara’s corset) for the first time. These outfit changes made them into mature kids and thus they celebrated the coming of age.

Note that the youngest girl is not wearing obi.

So, to this date, the tradition lives. When you turn 3, 5, or 7, you get dressed up in kimono, go to a shrine to get blessings, get traditional candy called “Chitose-ame” (which means thousand year candy) for good luck,

and go get your picture taken at a photo studio. First alone,

then with your family

Some girls have to get up at 5:00 am for their hair appointment for the fancy, and complex, hair-dos.

My mom wasn’t into that (and I also had very little hair at age 3) so she just combed it and called it a day.

Please note that I am wearing obi, despite being 3. Mom was, and is, very "non-trad."

She also didn’t bother with the photo studio then. I think more fuss was made for my seventh year.

All three of my nieces wore that very same kimono for their third year. They all have the photos from the studio my family frequents. When we were in Tokyo this past November, my sister-in-law asked if we wanted to do that since the celebration falls on November 15^th and we were there. I hadn’t thought about it, but it was a perfect time so I said yes. My mom pulled out my kimono for the last time, and my sister-in-law provided us with a variety of accessories like the footwear, the hair stuff, the purse, etc. I was not sure if Yuki would go for it, but she took to it and, in fact, did not want to take the kimono off.

The reason I am posting this story now is because the portrait arrived from Japan over the holidays and … well, it took us this long to bring them upstairs to scan. So here it is, in the traditional form, Yuki’s Shichi-Go-San portrait:

Note the hair accessory held on by gravity and force of will.

Then we took the traditional family portrait:

Note the hair accessory is nowhere to be found.
Also note Yuki's shockingly middle-aged parents.

I hope to bring her again for this when she is 7. The one after that isn't until she turns 20. I didn’t get to do that one because I was here. Boo hoo. Anyway, I think the kimono portrait more than makes up for last year’s school photo.