Art Gallery – Spy X Family X Kimono

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What’s this? I drew an actual male character in male kitsuke for once? Alert the presses! I was in the mood to draw more comfy anime kimono fanart, and ended up with these three perfect precious idiots. Very capable idiots,  but idiots nonetheless.

My original plan for this was just to draw Anya because I love her so much. But as I started on it, I realised it would be even cuter if it I took a riff on a traditional family portrait. I like to think they’re celebrating Anya’s shichigosan (even though we don’t know exactly how old she is, we know she’s in the right range).

Once I had that in mind, their outfits sort of fell into place. Anya’s in a bright and cheerful pink furisode (which admittedly I should have tucked at the sleeves as well as the shoulders, but I realised it too late) with a cosmos pattern. She’s holding them in the first season closing credits, and they fit the pink theme well. They’re also said to represent pure and innocent love, which is what Anya feels for her family. If you look closely at her obi and zori, what initially looks like a fairly traditional black and gold obi with a geometric design is actually a tessellation of her favourite snack; peanuts!

Yor had to be red and gold with a rose motif, of course. Nothing less for our Briar Rose Princess. Her updo hairstyle already suits kimono so well, she was possibly the most natural fit for this picture. I gave her a yabane motif obi as a nod to her secret life as an assassin; I know she doesn’t use a bow and arrow, but I wanted something a bit less literal. Maybe she’s got some daggers tucked into her obi?

Loid was a bit more of a challenge, since he’s such a blank slate. In the end, I stuck to the usual colours of his clothing and think it works well. He provides a nice neutral counterpoint to Yor’s elegance and Anya’s vibrancy. Of course, as much as I don’t condone piercing holes in your kimono, I had to include his WISE lapel pin.

Soft blushing pink

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By now you’ve likely heard the viral, catchy, colour-mixing song from Dokodemo Jamboree and either you love it or you hate it. But either way, it’s probably stuck in your head! It was certainly stuck in mine while I was trying to come up with a cute coordination, so I decided to go in a monochrome direction and have a bit of fun making a video to go with this post. I am trying to be a bit more active on short-form reel platforms, but I am old and tired and prefer being behind the camera nowadays. Interacting with my TikTok or Youtube accounts will help me find the motivation to keep up with them.

I have plenty of items in multiple colours I could have “combined” to do this, but soft pink is always a really safe and comforting fallback, and I suspected these two pieces, with their warm blush backgrounds and bright pops of colour, would work really well together. While it’s not really “proper” to have a kimono and obi be the exact same like this, you know I love bending the rules. I just made sure the rest of my kitsuke was as perfect as I was capable of assembling considering how out of practice I am.

Toss in a few more accessories in a deeper shade of the same salmon pink and voila! It might not be vibrant or “PINKU!”, but it makes me happy and nowadays isn’t that the important part? I have to find joy wherever I can. You should too! Whether that be unconventional combinations, making meme videos, putting a kimono on the fake Labubu you found in a parking lot, or anything else people might deem frivolous or silly. If it brings a smile to your face in these dark times and doesn’t hurt others, do it unapologetically.

Also, I’m trying out a new setup for photos that allows me to work in my bedroom instead of taking over my parents’ living room. I might even be able to bring it with me to California because it all collapses down, but I definitely can’t bring the mannequin. Let me know what you think!

 

Comfort books by Japanese authors

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I certainly chose a fantastic time to leave California and head back to Montreal, didn’t I? The weather in this entire half of the continent is certainly something else right now. I am so thankful I work from home these days, and that my folks are retired and don’t have to leave the house in this disaster.

That being said; what better time to curl up with a fantastic book and a warm cup of genmaicha and let your mind drift to a different country, a different climate, a different time, a different world? I’ve been meaning to start doing fiction book reviews here to go along with the more kimono-specific non-fiction, and it looks like the universe just gave me the nudge I needed.

This first post will include a couple of novellas and shorter novels all in one entry, and if you enjoy it I will work on writing longer ones about individual books in the future! I also don’t want to give too much away, as these should all be read somewhat “blind” to truly appreciate them.

As always links to purchase the books, where available, will be included. And if you’re wondering why I’ve used stock images for the covers, it’s that several of the physical copies for these stayed behind in California and the rest are on my e-reader.

The Samurai’s Garden, by Gail Tsukiyama

Okay, right off the bat, parts of this book are definitely less relaxing than others. Set against a backdrop of tuberculosis, racial tension, and a dawning war, this is the story of Stephen, a young Chinese man sent to rest and recuperate on his family’s property in Japan on the cusp of WWII.

Without giving too much away, he forms a bond with the gardener and learns so much more than just gardening. The stories of past and present both unfold and open up slowly but steadily, much like Stephen himself.

This one is a classic for a reason, and if you have not had the opportunity to read it (or anything else by Gail Tsukiyama), now is the time. It should also be mentioned that Tsukiyama is American of Japanese descent and this is the only book on the list that was written originally in English.

Read The Samurai’s Garden on Amazon | Abebooks | Kobo

 

Kitchen, by Banana Yoshimoto

What do love, loss, food, and gender expression have in common? They’re all things that are very important to me, and they all play roles in this next book.

I cannot express how much I love Kitchen. I’m a fan of all of Yoshimoto’s work but this little diamond in particular will always have a special place in my heart. So much so that I’ve replaced two physical copies and am on my third, and I have a digital copy as a backup. I picked up my first copy in the early nineties and have utterly lost track of how many times I’ve re-read it since then. Yes, I’m old. Shush.

The book is typically printed as two novellas, the longer eponymous one and a shorter one entitled Moonlight Shadow. Both are stories of people learning to cope with a new status quo after losing loved ones and both contain secondary characters who, to different extents, have begun experimenting with gender presentation or cross-dressing as coping mechanisms. Kitchen focuses much more on the role of food as ersatz therapy, but Moonlight Shadow also has a tea thermos play a pivotal role. At their hearts though, they’re both about beautifully imperfect people learning how to move forward after painful losses.

Including stories that revolve around death may be an interesting choice for “cozy” books, but it’s handled with such a gentle, soothing touch and hopeful notes  in both cases that it’s an incredibly cathartic and comforting read. Especially if you’re dealing with similar feelings in your own personal life.

Amazon | Abebooks | Kobo

 

The Cat Who Saved Books, by Sosuke Natsukawa

Did I initially pick up The Cat Who Saved Books because I suspected the cover art was by one of my favourite artists, Yuko Shimizu (no, not she of Hello Kitty fame – the other, cooler Yuko Shimizu)? Yes. Yes I did. Was I correct about the cover art? Also yes. Have I read it several times since then because I love it so much? A third, resounding yes.

This is one of the coziest books I’ve read recently, and is often cited as an emblematic example of iyashikei, 癒し系 or “healing” literature. In the past few extraordinarily stressful decades, iyashikei has emerged as its own subset of Japanese media, primarily anime and manga but extending to fiction and live-action.

The Cat Who Saved Books falls into the genre of magical realism and fantasy, so if that’s not your bag you might want to skip it. But if you love books, and if a nerdy teenager and his talking cat who run through mazes and puzzles to save forgotten books from irresponsible owners sounds appealing to you, read on! Rintaro Natsuki inherits a bookshop from his grandfather and is initially going to close the shop, until Tiger the shop cat starts talking to him. They set off on adventure together to protect the written word. This book is, well, a love letter to books.

There is also a sequel, The Cat Who Saved The Library, which I have not had the chance to pick up yet but it’s also on my list! I would also love to see this made into an anime or movie.

Amazon | Abebooks | Kobo

 

The Kamogawa Food Detectives, by Hisashi Kashiwai

What if someone could recreate a dish from your memory, one that could transport you back to a place, a person, or a time long since past? Set in a little restaurant off the beaten path in Kyoto, this is the story of a father and daughter who help heal people in small doses, one bite at a time. More like a series of interconnected stories, each one focusing on a specific guest, recipe, and memory. This also makes it great bedtime reading, as you don’t feel compelled to stay up all night to finish the book, when you can finish one part at a time.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives will make you feel wistful, happy, peaceful, and incredibly hungry all at once.

This is the first book in a trilogy, and the other two books are very near to the top of my reading pile. While I can only speak for the first one, I have linked to the other two below as well.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives on Amazon | Abebooks | Kobo
The Restaurant of Lost Recipes on Amazon | Abebooks | Kobo
Menu of Happiness on Amazon | Abebooks | Kobo

I hope if you decide to read any of the above books, I hope you find them as lovely and soul-enriching as I did. I have more similar books to read soon, including What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama, The Convenience Store by the Sea by Sonoko Machida, and Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. If you have any other suggestions of other cozy books I should read and review, or any other novels to check out, let me know in the comments!

 I purchased this item myself and chose to review it.This post contains affiliate link(s). If you choose to purchase, I receive a small rebate or commission which goes to the continued maintenance of this site. 

A pop of sentiment

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Isn’t it funny how cyclical life can be? The last kitsuke coordination I did before leaving Montreal last time involved poppies, and now the last ikebana I’ve done before leaving California involved poppies.

Last weekend, Keith and I were in Palm Springs (doing an escape room – unrelated but super fun!) and I figured while were there we’d check out one of the local florists. I was running under the assumption they’d have more variety than the supermarket near home and typically I’d be right but they’d done a big event that morning and were running low on stock. I found this bundle of pink and white poppies in various levels of bloom and decided I could do something neat with them once I let the buds open up a bit.

Unfortunately, the following day I learnt the very important lesson of Don’t Put Your Hand In The Blender While It’s Plugged In. Thankfully I only pulsed one finger for a fraction of a second, and while there’s a fair bit of gnarly tissue damage it could have been so much worse. But I couldn’t exactly use my hand, or even hold the scissors I needed to cut the stems. I was worried they’d wilt before I had the chance to feature them.

So imagine my surprise when a beautiful set of proper wide-handled ikebana shears showed up in the mail on Tuesday, courtesy of my lovely friend Andrea.

I decided to just let the flowers shine, featuring them at different heights and different levels of open. I love the contrast, and how sculptural the stems are. A bit of foliage to balance things out, and the arrangement essentially put itself together. I could not be happier with it!

Mini Washitsu 2026

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I am no stranger to making Japanese-inspired dioramas (see here and here), but until this time they’ve not been particularly accurate. The first one was assembled from literal junk including a cardboard box, and the second was a kitbash into an “inspired” home. But I was itching to do something a bit more detailed, proportional, and accurate than my previous attempts, so I hauled some of my miniature supplies from Montreal to California and got to work.

I started out with a basic MDF room-box kit with two walls and a floor. From there, I constructed the inner walls to create the tokonoma, butsudan alcove, and decorative shelving using square balsa dowels I hand-staned, and pine craft rectangles. I wallpapered the whole thing in decorative rice paper. The tatami ended up stumping me for a while, and then I remembered I had this beige textured shelf liner left over from organising the pantry. A bit of beige paper underneath it and some washi tape to form the borders, and voila. Itty bitty tatami committee! I divided it into typically balanced proportions, ending up with a room that’s four and a half tatami, plus the toko and shelving spaces.

Once the room structure was complete, it was time for the fun part – decorating! This is always my favourite part of making a miniature or diorama, since it’s where things really start to come to life. They go from looking like boxes to looking lived-in. I like to imagine the resident of this room is a young woman trying to balance modern and traditional life based on her hobbies (calligraphy, reading poetry). She knows she’s too old for it, but she still puts her childhood hina dolls out for Girl’s Day and still pays her respects to her family altar, but she’s also busy enough that she picks up pre-made meals on her way home from university. I don’t generally imagine this much of a resident in my scenes, but every detail I added here just kind of helped flesh her out, what can I say?

The details are a combination of printables from Etsy (links to the shops below), Re-Ment miniatures (the hina dolls, zori, and butsdan set, as well as the onigiri in her bento box), and a few small items I picked up from specialty shops on our recent trip out to Torrance. The tiny blue and white ginger jar was quite possibly the most expensive individual element here, at nearly twenty dollars, but it’s so stunning in person I knew I had to have it.

The greenery is all from MGA’s MiniVerse DIY sets. The ikebana was a kitbash of a few flower sets, the bonsai trunk was handmade and the leaves came from a strawberry kit, the fig tree and small plants in the shelving unit were just placed in as-is, and so was the tiny koi in the bowl with lilies. They’re not quite to 1/12 scale but I think there’s a lot of leeway to be had with plants, since they’re never one fixed size anyway.

Please enjoy exploring this tiny space as much as I loved creating it!

Printables came from the following  Etsy shops, but I’m afraid I’ve lost the references as to what came from where.

As for the Re-Ment miniatures and MGA’s MiniVerse; they can both be found on Amazon.

 This post contains affiliate link(s). If you choose to purchase, I receive a small rebate or commission which goes to the continued maintenance of this site.