Japan Day 2014 in Düsseldorf ♥ My Hime Gyaru Kimono outfit

Hi there (^-^)v
On the 17th may I went to the Japan Day in Düsseldorf, Germany ♥
It's a huge festival to celebrate Japanese culture.
There is a stage with lots of shows like for example traditional
dance or music. 

If you want to see what kind of program they have each year just click here for the online flyer.
At 12 o'clock the Japan day officially began.
For the opening ceremony the General Consul Kaoru Shimazaki, 

to whom I've been invited with my Kimono club before, 

the president of the Japanese club and the Major of Düsseldorf
held an opening speech.
Along the riverside of the Rhine there were lots of stalls which were 

all about Japanese culture :
•At some stalls you could buy Yukata or Kimono accessories.
•You could also get lots and lots of kawaii Anime merchandise and plushies. •On one stall you could get your name written in Kanji for free
(even though that's not really an accurate thing because as a foreigner you just have to write your name in Katakana, that's what I learned at university). But I also did this
when I went to my first Japan day in 2008 and they wrote my name
in Katakane next to the Kanji as well. I must admit it still hangs in my
corridor to this day.
•Moreover you could get some information about Chiba Prefecture whose
University is the partner University of mine.
•There was lots of information about Japan and Japanese clubs and associations.
•Some of the Japanese teachers from my university also participated at a
stall where you were taught some Japanese words and Hiragana.
"こんにちは デュッセルドルフ へようこそ!"
I'm going to the Japan Day each year  since 2008 and it's always something I'm really excited about ♥ I had a really great day, met lots of lovely
people & fans and of course had a wonderful time with my
friends & boyfriend. Thanks so much again everyone ! ヾ(●⌒∇⌒●)ﾉ
Lots of love to you ~♥
This was my outfit:
A modern Hime Gyaru inspired Kimono coordination :

It's a silk Kimono that's luckily long enough for 1,78 cm tall me.
The Obi was bound by my friend Wiebke ♥ Thanks again !
For everyone who is a little bit more experienced with Kitsuke 着付け :
When I put on my Kimono I sadly realised too late
that my ohashori (= name of the fold underneath the Obi) was too long.
I didn't have the time to correct this as I had to get my
train to the city >.< So I just left it that way, as I thought it wasn't
 bad because it matches my proportions better since I'm so tall.

But this of course only goes for my modern Kimono interpretations,

when I do traditional Kitsuke I make the ohashori how it's supposed to be. 

So after getting ready for the day at my friend Wiebke's home I went to
the city with my boyfriend Valentin :

~♥~

~♥~

~♥~

During the day a lot of people asked me to take a photo with them

and I was okay with that, as I knew many people attend the Japan day
 for sight-seeing and taking many pretty & unique images.
Sometimes of course it also gets a little exhausting and we were
just stuck in the middle of people with cameras, so my boyfriend had to
take my hand and be like "we're going away now" =D
I'm happy I had him with me ♥ sometimes I'm too polite and hesitate
to say no when I'm busy. From time to time my boyfriend took a picture
with his camera as well when I had to pose for a photo and
after the day I found this snapshot I really liked ^-^

To my dear followers: You never annoy me ! You are
so sweet ! ♥ I've heard many of you say that you're afraid to
talk to me when you see me in person. I never mind that, it's always
okay and a pleasure for me. So please go ahead and talk to me
if you see me and want to, there is nothing to be shy about ^-^
The most annoying photographers of the Japan Day for example 
were men with normal style who don't really know about Japanese culture 
or worse think they know but don't.
A lot of times amateur photographers use to be extremely rude
and annoying as well. One for example just grabbed my Kimono and things
I carried and wanted to put everything in place like she wanted to
even though I said I don't have time, I want to go now if you want
to take a photo please do so very quick.
This kind of ignorance really makes me angry and I'm judging it a lot !
This is the only thing that annoys me, if you just use common sense
ask me and talk to me politely I will be kind to you as well.
As simple as that.
The only other thing that I really dislike is the following:
I explain it to you via this example that happened to me on
the Japan Day. I was talking to my Japanese teacher, in front of the
Nihongo stall. She is a really important person at our university and I
respect her a lot. During our conversation a Cosplay girl recognised me
from the internet and wanted to say "hi" to me. She kind of sprung at me
and gave me a hug, which I returned. BUT I kept on talking to my
Japanese teacher as I didn't want to be rude to her. I wanted to finish
that conversation and then talk to that girl. When the girl saw that I was
going on in the conversation with my teacher she said in
a very rude voice :"Okay ! Then not !"
And I just knew these are the kind of people that then talk
bad about you online. Luckily I reacted quickly and told her:
"I'm sorry but I'm in the middle of a conversation with my
Japanese teacher here. Could you please wait a moment."
So she kind of apologized and took a picture with me later.
I think her behaviour was absolutely ignorant, immature and rude.
If you ask politely everything is fine but you don't just jump at people
who don't know you and expect them to drop everything at once.
Luckily I do not often encounter such persons.
So like I said please don't worry too much and just be a polite
person. What goes around comes around. 
I'll treat you how you treat me. (○ﾟε＾○)v 
~♥~
While we were watching a part of the show at the main stage
my boyfriend took this picture :

Now let me share some photos I took with the lovely people I met
＼(*^▽^*)/:

I saw the Diadem Twinz again ♥ Gorgeous as always ! *-*
It was great seeing you guys :3 Hope we find the time for
a meeting in the summer break !  ^^

My boyfriend's and my friend Max, we know since school days, spend
most of the day with us and also watched the big
Japanese fireworks display in the evening together with us.
That's definitely my favourite photo of the day =D 

~♪~

We also spend most time of the day with friends from my university, who
are in the Kimono club I'm a member of as well.
With Wiebke (she made my Obi bow) & Annika ~♥

~♥~

We met some girls we knew, that are also members of other
Kimono clubs from other parts of Germany.
There was even a girl from the Netherlands ! It's great to see people
from so many places love Kitsuke 着付け and Japanese culture.
It was a pleasure meeting you all ! ☆d(o⌒∇⌒o)b ♥

~♥~

~♥~

I also managed to visit the stall where you could dressed up in Kimono :

As you know I'm in the Japanese club of Düsseldorf and there is a
Kimono club of which I'm a member as well. They do this great stall
each year and it's such hard work. They're really great!
I didn't participate as I'm not really good/fast at dressing other people up yet.
I can do some basic Obi tie techniques, but I still have a lot more to
learn. But I'm getting better slowly. The woman with the Red Kimono
in the center of the image is Sawa-Sensei. She came from Japan to
Düsseldorf this year to help at the Japan day and also for other projects
of hers. She also attended some of the meetings of the Kimono club
of my university to teach us about Kitsuke.
I really look up to her as you can learn so many great things from her and
she's such a kind person. Recently I also learned how to make a
elegant hairdo for a Kimono outfit. I'll show you pictures of this soon.
Last year Sawa-Sensei was with us
at our dressing stall at the Dokomi. And I also wrote about
a Kimono dressing event at the Eko Haus in Düsseldorf she and
our club participated in, read more about this here:
Kimono event at the Eko Haus
~♪~

At the stalls I also found some Dakimakura 抱き枕 !
I wish I had one of Madoka Magica or Sailor Moon ♥

At the riverside of the Rhine:

With Alina ♥ 

You're always so sweet ! And your eyes are just stunning *-*
I hope I'll meet you again soon, maybe at the Dokomi ♪

With Chiara ♥ It's always a pleasure seeing you !

Check our her artist page Ch3rrychi she makes great drawings ♪

Met Mizuki, Angel Morningstar and their gorgeous friends ^^
So stunning, I love their fashion ♥

And I also took some photos with people whose outfits I thought
were really cute ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉわぁい♪

~♥~

I also met some old friends & fans of mine ♥

ヾ(＠⌒▽⌒＠)ﾉﾜｰｲ!

With Vannii ♥ check out her art here Vanni.Artworks

She did this cute drawing for me *-* Thanks so much again :3
With Lulu ♥

 You're such a lovely girl ! ~♥

With Yasmine ♥

We also ran into Christopher whom I know from the
Kimono event at the Eko Haus last year. He also knows Sawa-Sensei ^^
I took a snapshot with his girlfriend who wore a really cute
Wa-Lolita outfit ♥ This image captures the weather of the day
just perfectly. It was really sunny *-*

I also happened to meet Naru whom I know through my first
trips to Düsseldorf, exploring the scene around Japanese Pop-culture there.
It was so nice seeing you again ! ^-^ It's crazy how much time went by
until today ! So many things have changed - for the better ♥
But I really love to see people staying true to themselves
& their sense of fashion.

During the day my boyfriend and some of our fellow Kimono lovers
rested on a blanket on a meadow at the riverside. We ate some
sweets and just relaxed a little. The meadow was also a place
where lots of Cosplayers use to gather. So I walked around a bit with some
friends to see if we knew somebody there. When I saw these
Fairy Tail cosplayers I had to ask them for a picture *o*
I love this Anime and my favourite Characters are Aries & Juvia ♥

My zodiac sign is Aries as well and I love her story as I can relate to
it quite well. She got rescued from an abusive relationship by my
favourite male character Leo ♥ I absolutely adore everything about her,
that's why I really want to cosplay her.
I think I will realise this project soon ♥

For the evening I put on some more comfortable clothes
so I could really enjoy the fireworks display.
We had a great place at the riverside and I brought a huge pink blanket
for us to sit on. But luckily the others also brought some blankets as we were
quite many. I walked around a bit with my boyfriend and met
these cute girls I know from the Kyary Pamyu Pamyu concert in Cologne.
You looked super sweet ♥

At such events I always get so much inspiration for new outfits I wanna do
it's almost bad again as I know I can't realise so many at once as I just
don't have the money nor the time as a student ;_;
But I do my best ^-^ ♥ That's all I can do and at the end of the day
it's all about enjoying yourself.

This is the new bag my boyfriend gave to me  *o*

In it I carried our blankets for the fireworks display. Or lets say he
carried it =D This is Mouton the elephant from Sentimental Circus

It's my boyfriend's and my absolute favourite plushie in the world ♥♥♥

Together we have 6 Moutons in all the sizes there are *o*

But we name him Fant ;3 It's way cuter. 

So now we also have a "Fant-bag"  ^o^ In German it's even a stupid pun,
sorry that's my humor :D "Fant-Tasche" 

♥ Our Mouton plushies:

Baby Fant at the very right =D

 And there's even a Micro-Fant *o*

~♥~

These are some pictures I took of the riverside while sitting
on the meadow where lots of Cosplayers gathered :

~♥~

 All in all it was a really exciting and lovely day ♥ 

that ended like every year with the stunning fireworks display
and my favourite part of it : The golden rain at it's end ＼(*T▽T*)／ﾜｰｲ♪
I watched it lying in my boyfriend's arms and during the end I couldn't
hold my tears back anymore as I was really moved.
As I watch it every year it's always a point for me to recall the past.
And I realised how much my life has improved over time.
I found the person I want to spend the rest of my life with and he's
been at my side for so long now and still never wants to let go of me ♥
I worked a lot to be so much happier and I'm finally surrounded
by so many kind and lovely people. I'm really thankful for that.

Neko's music :

Song by my boyfriend ♥ (he also sings here !)

 ♥  I know this lovely song from my favourite show Adventure Time
Sums up my current mood ﾜｰｲ♪ヽ(´▽｀)ノ

I hope you enjoyed reading today !
See you next time (^-^)v ~♪ nyan