Toyoharu ‘T' Tamura, 65, Fort Wayne
By Rosa Salter Rodriguez | The Journal Gazette
Those who visited the Cherry Blossom Festival at Fort Wayne’s Freimann Square this month were confronted by a gray sky, cold wind and intermittent stinging rain that threatened to turn icy at any moment.
But inside the Arts United Center next door, winter-weary eyes were greeted with a welcome contrast – three dozen children and adults on stage dressed in Japanese kimonos in every color of the rainbow.
Vibrantly decorated with designs of birds, flowers and geometric shapes and some of them elaborately embroidered with thread made from gold, the kimonos were like butterflies flown in from a faraway land for the afternoon.
Overseeing the festivity was a diminutive, gray-haired man in a dark brown kimono covered by a formal blue-black haori, or cloak. Toyoharu Tamura of Fort Wayne is a transplanted Japanese businessman who has taken on the task of helping organize cultural events for the region’s Japanese-American community through the Japanese-American Association of Indiana.
According to the 2004 U.S. census, the community is not large. Only about one-tenth of 1 percent of Fort Wayne’s population identified themselves as Japanese.
But Tamura, vice president of international development for the Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance, says those numbers are growing as the 230 Japanese-owned companies now in Indiana bring in professionals to work here, mostly on a temporary basis.
The new arrivals have spurred interest in cultural activities, which were few and far between when Tamura arrived as a Mitsubishi employee three years ago with his wife, Mariko. The couple have two grown sons and a daughter who all live on the West Coast, where the Tamuras resided for several years before moving to the Midwest.
“The plan was a six-month stay and then to go back to Japan,” Tamura says of his original blueprint for living in Fort Wayne. But instead, he found himself immersed in organizing a Japanese Saturday School at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, of which he is now associate director. The school, he says, exists to teach the language and math skills to children of transferees so they will not be behind their classmates when they return to Japan and also teaches a growing number of area adults interested in learning Japanese.
When his company project ended, Tamura was offered his current job of helping bring international businesses to northeast Indiana, and he became involved in last year’s 50-year anniversary celebration of Fort Wayne’s Sister City relationship with Takaoka, Japan.
When organizers decided to repeat the event this year as a festival, the kimono fashion show, with Tamura serving as master of ceremonies, was added. The fashion show was accompanied by a short documentary on the kimono-wearing tradition.
For many Japanese families, Tamura says, kimonos are prized possessions, passed from generation to generation.
“When people come here, they often have a kimono, but they have no opportunity to wear it,” he says. “This is a good opportunity to wear kimono, and other people are happy to see that.”
First of all, do people in Japan still wear the kimono on a regular basis?
“Yes, but in most cases, for general life, not just young men but even elderly men much prefer to wear Western-style dress, and women, too, because it’s easier. But for special occasions, like New Year’s and religious blessings and for formal occasions like weddings and dinners, people follow the tradition. Even young people try to wear them, not all young people, but many young people. … Children have kimono to wear for Shichi-Go-San, which means, 7-5-3, for their ages. They wear them for a special temple blessing. The whole family will dress in kimonos and go to the temple.”
I was surprised there were so many kinds, for example, the special ivory and dark one worn by the young woman at her graduation and the simple, lightweight styles the young men were wearing.
“Those are yukata. Most of the time, the fabric is cotton or linen. They might be worn in the summertime or when you are relaxing at your house. If you, or I, am at home on a Saturday, we might wear a simple kimono. In America, you say ‘kimono,’ and people think of only one thing, the elaborate kind, but there are many kinds. There are now even people in Japan who teach young people how to wear kimono properly, how to tie the obi (sash) properly for the kimono.”
Could you tell me about the clothing you were wearing at the show?
“That kimono belonged to my wife’s parents. During (World War II), most of the kimono burned. But my wife’s parents’ house was located in Saitha Prefect north of Tokyo, so fortunately it didn’t burn. It had a traditional-type house (a type of cabinet) to store many important things, and inside it we found this kimono. This family has a long history, so we think this kimono is 100 years old, probably, or older than that. That is a very formal kimono, because it has the three family crests.”
I noticed at the show there were white kimonos among those on display. I thought they might be bridal.
“Yes, traditionally we wear white like Western custom for weddings. Even with limited opportunities to wear kimono, when daughters get married, the parents prepare many variety of kimono, even purchase special chests to store the kimono. There is a kimono and a robe over top of it for the ceremony. Right after the wedding, they have a wedding dinner, and they (brides) change into a colored one.”
How much do some of these elaborate kimonos cost?
“These days, it is now very expensive. Some are silk and use gold and silver thread, and it takes a long time to make, and then (do) all the embroidery by hand. It is easy to exceed $10,000, and it’s easy to go to $100,000 for a hand-painted one, a very good one. Unbelievable, yes? So now, renting this type of kimono is more common, but that is not that cheap either. It can be up to $2,000 to rent. But what happens, too, is after awhile, if they can’t rent one anymore, they sell it as a used one. So kimonos are often sold for foreigners as a souvenir – you can get them for $200 to maybe $500. So that is why many Americans own one. … In Japan, a family who is very wealthy, they may not preserve them (very elaborate kimonos), but in most cases, if a mother wore one, then her daughter will have it, and her daughter, and so on.”
My favorite kimono in the show was a light blue kimono with lavender and pink flowers. It was stunning, really like a piece of art.
“That was my mother’s. That was a formal one, for weddings or visit of a very important person. It’s silk.”
Do you remember her wearing it?
“Oh yes. She would wear it for the tea ceremony – she did the tea ceremony, and also flower arranging. She has passed away, but I remember her wearing it very well.”
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