Daenggi
Daenggi is a traditional Korean ribbon made of cloth to tie and to decorate braided hair. According to the History of Northern Dynasties, maidens of Baekje bound their hair at the back and braided it, while a married women braided her hair into two plaits and secured them to the crown of her head. There are several types of daenggi according to purpose and social status. Tteoguji daenggi, maegae daenggi, doturak daenggi, deurim daenggi are used for ceremonial purpose. While jebiburi daenggi, doturank daenggi, jjok daenggi, malttuk daenggi; the daenggi are used for "gungnyeo" or court ladies during the Joseon Dynasty were negadak daenggi, patip daenggi. Gache Hanbok Hwarot List of Korean clothing
Onsen
An onsen is a Japanese hot spring. As a volcanically active country, Japan has thousands of onsens scattered throughout all of its major islands. Onsens shapes, including outdoor and indoor baths. Baths may be either publicly run by a municipality or often as part of a hotel, ryokan, or bed and breakfast; the presence of an onsen is indicated on signs and maps by the symbol ♨ or the kanji 湯. Sometimes the simpler hiragana character ゆ, understandable to younger children, is used. Traditionally, onsens were located outdoors, although a large number of inns have now built indoor bathing facilities as well. Nowadays, as most households have their own bath, the number of traditional public baths has decreased, but the number of sightseeing hot spring towns has increased. Onsens by definition use hot water from geothermally heated springs. Onsens are different from sentō, indoor public bath houses where the baths are filled with heated tap water. Traditionally and women bathed together at both onsens and sentōs, but gender separation has been enforced since the opening of Japan to the West during the Meiji Restoration.
The practice had contributed at the time to Western ideas of the Japanese as an inferior race. Mixed bathing persists at some special onsen in rural areas of Japan, which also provide the option of separate "women-only" baths or different hours for the two sexes. Men may cover their genitals with a small towel while out of the water, while women wrap their bodies in full-size towels. Children of either sex may be seen in the women's baths. In some prefectures of Japan, including Tokyo, where nude mixed bathing is banned, people are required to wear swimsuits or yugi, or yuami-gi, which are designed for bathing. At an onsen, as at a sentō, all guests are expected to wash and rinse themselves before entering the hot water. Bathing stations are equipped with stools, wooden buckets, toiletries such as soap and shampoo. Entering the onsen while still dirty or with traces of soap on the body is unacceptable. Bathers are not allowed to wear swimsuits in the baths. However, some modern onsen with a water park atmosphere require their guests to wear a swimming suit in their mixed baths.
Onsen guests bring a small towel with them to use as a wash cloth. The towel can provide a modicum of modesty when walking between the washing area and the baths; some onsen allow one to wear the towel into the baths, while others have posted signs prohibiting this, saying that it makes it harder to clean the bath. It is against the rules to immerse or dip towels in the onsen bath water, since this can be considered unclean. People set their towels off to the side of the water when enjoying the baths, or place their folded towels on top of their heads. Onsen vary from quiet to noisy. Bathers will engage in conversation in this relaxed situation. There are prohibitions against rowdiness in the washing and bathing areas. A small amount of excess energy and splashing around is tolerated from children, however. By 2015, around half of onsen operators had banned bathers with tattoos from using their facilities; the original reason for the tattoo ban was to keep out Yakuza and members of other crime gangs who traditionally have elaborate full-body decoration.
However, tattoo-friendly onsen do exist. A 2015 study by the Japan National Tourism Organisation found that more than 30% of onsen operators at hotels and inns across the country will not turn someone with a tattoo away. With the increase in foreign customers due to growing tourism, some onsens that banned tattoos are loosening their rules to allow guests with small tattoos to enter, provided they cover their tattoos with a patch or sticking plaster; the volcanic nature of Japan provides plenty of springs. When the onsen water contains distinctive minerals or chemicals, the onsen establishments display what type of water it is; some examples of types of onsen include: Sulphur onsen Sodium chloride onsen Hydrogen carbonate onsen Iron onsen Although millions of Japanese bathe in onsens every year with few noticeable side effects, there are still potential side effects to onsen usage, such as aggravating high blood pressure or heart disease. Legionella bacteria have been found in some onsens with poor sanitation.
Revelations of poor sanitary practices at some onsens have led to improved regulation by hot-spring communities to maintain their reputation. There have been reports of infectious disease found in hot bodies of water worldwide, such as various Naegleria species. While studies have found the presence of Naegleria in hot spring waters, the worrisome Naegleria fowleri amoeba has not been identified. Fewer than five cases have been seen in Japan, although not conclusively linked to onsen exposure. Many onsens display notices reminding anyone with sores, or lesions not to bathe. Additionally, in recent years onsens are adding chlorine to their waters to prevent infection, although many onsen purists seek natural, unchlorinated onsens that do not
Kimono
The kimono is a traditional Japanese garment. The term means "garment", it has come to mean full-length formal robes. The standard English plural is kimonos, but kimono is used for the plural form in English as Japanese does not distinguish plural nouns. Kimonos are worn for important festivals and formal occasions as formal clothing. Kimono have T-shaped, Dambi-straight-lined robes worn so that the hem falls to the ankle, with attached collars and long, wide sleeves. Kimono are wrapped around the body, always with the left side over the right and are secured by a sash called an obi, tied at the back. Kimono are worn with traditional footwear and split-toe socks. Today, kimono are most worn by women on special occasions. Traditionally, unmarried women wore a style of kimono called furisode, with floor-length sleeves, on special occasions. A few older women and fewer men still wear the kimono on a daily basis. Men wear the kimono most at weddings, tea ceremonies, other special or formal occasions.
Professional sumo wrestlers are seen in the kimono because they are required to wear traditional Japanese dress whenever appearing in public. Chinese fashion had a huge influence on Japan from the Kofun period to the early Heian period as a result of mass immigration from the continent and a Japanese envoy to the Tang dynasty. There is an opinion that Kimono was derived from the Chinese hanfu of the Wu region in Jiangnan, China. A traditional culture that Japan women will dress in a kimono and visit a shrine for seijin-shiki, her coming-of-age ceremony when she becomes 20 years-old. During Japan's Heian period, the kimono became stylized, though one still wore a half-apron, called a mo, over it. During the Muromachi age, the Kosode, a single kimono considered underwear, began to be worn without the hakama over it, thus began to be held closed by an obi "belt". During the Edo period, the sleeves began to grow in length among unmarried women, the Obi became wider, with various styles of tying coming into fashion.
Since the basic shape of both the men's and women's kimono has remained unchanged. Kimonos made with exceptional skill from fine materials have been regarded as great works of art; the formal kimono was replaced by the more convenient Western clothes and yukata as everyday wear. Because of the Nishijin silk weavers of Kyoto have endured devastating fires, the wrath of austerity-minded shoguns. After an edict by Emperor Meiji, railroad men and teachers moved to Western clothes; the Japanese began shedding kimonos in favor of Western dress in the 1870s. The Western clothes became the school uniform for boys. After the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, kimono wearers became victims of robbery because they could not run fast due to the restricting nature of the kimono on the body and geta clogs. Kimono produced by traditional methods have become too expensive for the average family. A common price for a kimono- and-obi ensemble is over $1,000, according to the Tokyo Wholesalers Association. Many cost far more.
On some special occasions such as wedding day, an elaborate kimono is de rigueur, most people choose to rent one. The Tokyo Women's & Children's Wear Manufacturers' Association promoted Western clothes. Between 1920 and 1930 the sailor outfit replaced the undivided hakama in school uniforms for girls; the national uniform, Kokumin-fuku, a type of Western clothes, was mandated for males in 1940. Today most people wear Western clothes and wear the breezier and more comfortable yukata for special occasions. In the Western world, kimono-styled women's jackets, similar to a casual cardigan, gained public attention as a popular fashion item in 2014. Kimonos for men should fall to the ankle without tucking. A woman's kimono has additional length to allow for the ohashori, the tuck that can be seen under the obi, used to adjust the kimono to the wearer. An ideally tailored kimono has sleeves. Kimono textiles can to be classified into two categories: Gofuku, which indicates silk textiles in general, for luxuries and cotton/hemp Futomono for everyday wear.
Gofuku was named after 呉 in ancient China. Cotton clothing is called Momenfuku. Cotton/hemp fabrics are called as Futomono as the fiber of these materials are thicker compared to that of silk. Till the end of the Edo period, tailoring of these fabrics were handled at Gofuku store and Futomono stores, after the Meiji period, kimono was not worn as daily wear often and Futomono stores went out of business. Kimonos are traditionally made from a single bolt of fabric called a tan. Tan come in standard dimensions—about 36 centimetres wide and 11.5 metres long—and the entire bolt is used to make one kimono. The finished kimono consists of four main strips of fabric—two panels covering the body and two panels forming the sleeves—with additional smaller strips forming the narrow front panels and collar. Kimonos were taken apart for washing as separate panels and resewn by hand; because the entire bolt remains in the finished garment without cutting, the kimono can be retailored to fit another person. The maximum width of the sleeve is dictated by the width of the fabric.
The distance from the center of the s
Fireworks
Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display, a display of the effects produced by firework devices. Fireworks competitions are regularly held at a number of places. Fireworks take many forms to produce the four primary effects: noise, light and floating materials, they may be designed to burn with colored flames and sparks including red, yellow, blue and silver. Displays are common throughout the world and are the focal point of many cultural and religious celebrations. Fireworks are classified as to where they perform, either as a ground or aerial firework. In the latter case they may be shot into the air by a mortar; the most common feature of fireworks is a paper or pasteboard tube or casing filled with the combustible material pyrotechnic stars. A number of these tubes or cases are combined so as to make when kindled, a great variety of sparkling shapes variously colored.
A skyrocket is a common form of firework. The aerial shell, however, is the backbone of today's commercial aerial display, a smaller version for consumer use is known as the festival ball in the United States; such rocket technology has been used for the delivery of mail by rocket and is used as propulsion for most model rockets. Fireworks were invented in medieval China around the early 9th century. One of the cultural practices for fireworks was to scare away evil spirits. Cultural events and festivities such as the Chinese New Year and the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival were and still are times when fireworks are guaranteed sights. China is exporter of fireworks in the world. Colored fireworks were invented in Europe in the 1830s. Modern skyrocket fireworks were invented in the early 20th century; the earliest documentation of fireworks dates back to about the early 9th-century medieval Chinese Tang Dynasty. The fireworks were used to accompany many festivities; the art and science of firework making has developed into an independent profession.
In China, pyrotechnicians were respected for their knowledge of complex techniques in mounting firework displays. Chinese people believed that the fireworks could expel evil spirits and bring about luck and happiness. During the Song Dynasty, many of the common people could purchase various kinds of fireworks from market vendors, grand displays of fireworks were known to be held. In 1110, a large fireworks display in a martial demonstration was held to entertain Emperor Huizong of Song and his court. A record from 1264 states that a rocket-propelled firework went off near the Empress Dowager Gong Sheng and startled her during a feast held in her honor by her son Emperor Lizong of Song. Rocket propulsion was common in warfare, as evidenced by the Huolongjing compiled by Liu Bowen and Jiao Yu. In 1240 the Arabs acquired knowledge of its uses from China. A Syrian named Hasan al-Rammah wrote of rockets and other incendiaries, using terms that suggested he derived his knowledge from Chinese sources, such as his references to fireworks as "Chinese flowers".
In regards to colored fireworks, this was derived and developed from earlier Chinese application of chemical substances to create colored smoke and fire. Such application appears in the Huolongjing and Wubeizhi, which describes recipes, several of which used low-nitrate gunpowder, to create military signal smokes with various colors. In the Wubei Huolongjing, two formulas appears for firework-like signals, the sanzhangju and baizhanglian, that produces silver sparkles in the smoke. In the Huoxilüe by Zhao Xuemin, there are several recipes with low-nitrate gunpowder and other chemical substances to tint flames and smoke; the Chinese pyrotechnics have been written about by foreign authors such as Antoine Caillot who wrote "It is certain that the variety of colours which the Chinese have the secret of giving to flame is the greatest mystery of their fireworks." Or Sir John Barrow who wrote "The diversity of colours indeed with which the Chinese have the secret of cloathing fire seems to be the chief merit of their pyrotechny."Fireworks were produced in Europe by the 14th century, becoming popular by the 17th century.
Lev Izmailov, ambassador of Peter the Great, once reported from China: "They make such fireworks that no one in Europe has seen." In 1758, the Jesuit missionary Pierre Nicolas le Chéron d'Incarville, living in Beijing, wrote about the methods and composition on how to make many types of Chinese fireworks to the Paris Academy of Sciences, which revealed and published the account five years later. Amédée-François Frézier published his revised work Traité des feux d'artice pour le spectacle in 1747, covering the recreational and ceremonial uses of fireworks, rather than their military uses. Music for the Royal Fireworks was composed by George Frideric Handel in 1749 to celebrate the Peace treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, declared the previous year. Improper use of fireworks may be dangerous, both to bystanders. For this reason, the use of fireworks is legally restricted. Display fireworks are restricted by law for use by professionals
Jellabiya
The jellabiya or "galabeya" is a traditional Egyptian garment native to the Nile Valley. The same term used to refer to the traditional Sudanese and Eritrean clothes, but both look different from the popular Egyptian garment, worn by both Egyptian males and females and is much more colorful, it differs from the Arabic thawb in that it has no collar and longer, wider sleeves. In case of farmers, these sleeves can be wide and sewn into pockets, they are used to store small items such as tobacco or money. Along the Red Sea coast of Egypt and Sudan as well as the Sinai peninsula, most Bedouin and some Badawi tribesmen prefer the Arabian style dishdash or thobe over the Nile Valley jellabiya because of the latter's association with farming. Jellabiya colors are white in the summer. During winter, thicker fabric in other colours such as grey, dark green, blue, tan or striped fabrics are used and colorful scarves worn around the neck; the garment is traditionally worn with an ammama. Bekishe Burnous Djellaba Hijab Jilbāb Thawb Qamis What is Gallabia
Obi (sash)
Obi is a sash for traditional Japanese dress and part of kimono outfits. The obi for men's kimono is rather narrow, 10 centimetres wide at most, but a woman's formal obi can be 30 centimetres wide and more than 4 metres long. Nowadays, a woman's wide and decorative obi does not keep the kimono closed; the obi itself requires the use of stiffeners and ribbons for definition of shape and decoration. There are many types of obi, most for women: wide obi made of brocade and narrower, simpler obi for everyday wear; the fanciest and most colourful obi are for young unmarried women. The contemporary women's obi is a conspicuous accessory, sometimes more so than the kimono robe itself. A fine formal obi might cost more than the rest of the entire outfit. Obi are categorised by their design, formality and use. Informal obi are shorter. In its early days, an obi was a cord or a ribbon-like sash 8 centimetres in width. Men's and women's obi were similar. At the beginning of the 17th century, both women and men wore a ribbon obi.
By the 1680s, the width of women's obi had doubled from its original size. In the 1730s women's obi were about 25 centimetres wide, at the turn of the 19th century were as wide as 30 centimetres. At that time, separate ribbons and cords were necessary to hold the obi in place; the men's obi was at its widest in the 1730s, at about 16 centimetres. Before the Edo period, which began in 1600, women's kosode robes were fastened with a narrow sash at the hips; the mode of attaching the sleeve to the torso part of the garment would have prevented the use of wider obi. When the sleeves of kosode began to grow in width at the beginning of the Edo period, the obi widened as well. There were two reasons for this: firstly, to maintain the aesthetic balance of the outfit, the longer sleeves needed a wider sash to accompany them; the use of long sleeves without leaving the underarm open would have hindered movements greatly. These underarm openings in turn made room for wider obi. All obi were tied in the front.
Fashion began to affect the position of the knot, obi could be tied to the side or to the back. As obi grew wider the knots grew bigger, it became cumbersome to tie the obi in the front. In the end of the 17th century obi were tied in the back. However, the custom did not become established before the beginning of the 20th century. At the end of the 18th century it was fashionable for a woman's kosode to have overly long hems that were allowed to trail behind when in house. For moving outside, the excess cloth was tied up beneath the obi with a wide cloth ribbon called shigoki obi. Contemporary kimono are made over-long, but the hems are not allowed to trail. Shigoki obi are still only in decorative purposes; the most formal of obi are about to become obsolete. The heavy and long maru obi is nowadays used only by maiko and brides as a part of their wedding outfit; the lighter fukuro obi has taken the place of maru obi. The everyday Nagoya obi is the most common obi used today, the fancier ones may be accepted as a part of a semi-ceremonial outfit.
The use of musubi, or decorative knots, has narrowed so that women tie their obi solely in the simple taiko musubi, "drum knot". Tsuke obi with ready-made knots are gaining in popularity. Tatsumura Textile located in Nishijin in Kyoto is a centre of manufacturing today. Founded by Heizo Tatsumura I in the 19th century, it is renowned for making some of the most luxurious obi. Amongst his students studying design was the painter Inshō Dōmoto; the technique Nishijin-ori is intricately woven and can have a three dimensional effect and can cost up to 1 Million Yen. The "Kimono Institute" was founded by Kazuko Hattori in the 20th century and teaches how to tie an obi and wear it properly; the wide women's obi is folded in two when worn, to a width of about 15 centimetres to 20 centimetres. It is considered elegant to tie the obi so that the folded width is in harmony with the wearer's body dimensions; this means about a tenth of her height. The full width of the obi is present only in musubi. A woman's obi is worn in a fancy musubi knot.
There are ten ways to tie an obi, different knots are suited to different occasions and different kimono. There are many different types of women's obi, the usage of them is regulated by many unwritten rules not unlike those that concern the kimono itself. Certain types of obi are used with certain types of kimono; the obi adjusts the formality and fanciness of the whole kimono outfit: the same kimono can be worn in different situations depending on what kind of obi is worn with it. Darari obi is a long maru obi worn by maiko. A maiko's darari obi has the kamon insignia of its owner's okiya on the other end. A darari obi can be 600 centimetres long. Fukuro obi is a grade less formal than a maru obi and the most formal obi used today, it has been sewing two pieces of cloth together. If two cloths are used, the cloth used for the backside of the obi may be cheaper and the front cloth may be, for example, brocade. Not counting marriage outfits, the fukuro obi has replaced the heavy maru obi as the obi used for
Kusatsu Onsen
Kusatsu Onsen is a hot spring resort located in Gunma Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo. It is a popular tourist destination. There are 13 public baths at Kusatsu Onsen; the small bathhouses that are free for both town residents and tourists are managed by the townspeople themselves. The source of its hot water is nearby Mount Kusatsu-Shirane and the appearance of the waters range from cloudy to clear, because the sources of the water that the baths rely upon are different; the springs were a well known resort for centuries but they became one of the best known of such locations after the water there was recommended for its health benefits by Erwin von Baelz a German doctor who taught medicine at Tokyo University. The locals claim. Guests have claimed. Onsen Ism Kusatsu Kusatsu Onsen Travel Guide
