(Taken from saitama-wabi-sabi-2019.jp and translated through Google Translate, 2019.)
When people want to visit Japan for kimono, they tend to do what I do and stay in the Kansai region so that they can explore Kyoto. While I would never put down this concept, there is some who say that the Kanto region, which contains Tokyo and Saitama, features under-acknowledged roots in kimono culture.
A website reveals that due to the approaching Tokyo Olympic Games, a Kimono Summit was planned in the area, in the Saitama Prefectural History and Folklore Museum. As it is, this museum sounds like a splendid place for any tourist to visit. But the idea of being able to attend seminars on kimono culture and progress is even more exciting.
(Taken from saitama-wabi-sabi-2019.jp and translated through Google Translate, 2019.)
Sadly, the event was cancelled due to Typhoon 19. The event information reveals that many significant speakers in the world of kimono would have delivered talks, including Sheila Cliffe of Kimono World fame, and Kazue Kimura, a collector who donated 600 pieces to the museum.
(Taken from saitama-wabi-sabi-2019.jp and translated through Google Translate, 2019.)
You can view the original website here: https://saitama-wabi-sabi-2019.jp/satellite/kimono/ It is in Japanese, but I find that Google Translate makes it easy to navigate the information. While I won't get to attend this event, I still hope that there will be other Kimono Conventions that I and other tourists would be able to visit in future. Kimono is a wonderful cultural garment and it does anyone well to learn more about it.
The website I learned about this event from seems to be a blog page where Sheila Cliffe herself often writes. It seems like a very good resource for anyone wanting to learn about true kimono since she is a qualified kimono professor herself.
See it here: saitama-wabi-sabi-2019.jp
