Annual Hanami Picnic at Kensington Gardens

Hello Everyone, 


Our annual Hanami picnic will be this Saturday, at the Kensington Gardens. Last year we had a BLAST, so we decided to come back to the same place this year. Lets hope that we will see some sakura blooming, and that it will not rain. Please bring picnic food and blankets, and of course wear kimono! 


When:
April 21, 2012

Where: 
Kensington Gardens
East side of the Albert Memorial
London

Time: 
12pm - ? 


You can check out our Facebook event page for more details and discussion. 


See you there! 


~ Lyuba

Kimono de Jack Anniversary Meetup October 29, 2011

Hello Everyone, 


October marks a major milestone for us because KDJ will be exactly ONE YEAR old! 

To celebrate, we are coming back to the city that started it all, London, and going out to the celebratory lunch at Nizuni.


Once we had lunch, the day will be open for us, as always. There is a pretty good chance that we will go to Haagen Danz afterwords, since it's a traditional of sorts now. If not, there are plenty of things to do and places to see in London.  


Meeting place is at Trafalgar Square, and we need to make sure to take photos there since this is where our FIRST meetup happened! :) 

When: 
October 29, 2011

Where: 
Trafalgar Square, London

Time: 
11am - ?

Wear your kimono and come to hang out with us!

~ Lyuba @ Kimono de Jack UK

Hyper Japan KDJ meetup!

Phew having two Kimono de Jack meetups within two weeks of each other meant that I didn't have a chance to write up the July meetup.

Nevermind!

July KDJ meetup was at Hyper Japan in Olympia Two, London on 23 July. It was billed as being bigger and better then Hyper Japan 2010 so we were very excited! To make it better we were able to secure a table for Kimono de Jack goers to meetup and allowed to organise a mini kimono fashion show!

So what happened on the day?

I turned up around 10.20 to drop off my stuff for the show at the press office and I was glad that I had a performers pass to the event because the queue to get in was huge! Then I went to find our table which was in the manga and origami area. This was a little disappointing because if I didn't ask for help from the press office then I wouldn't have found it. Next time, I will need to ask for a table off to the side!

Now about the event, it was a mix of modern and new Japanese culture. On the ground floor there were the big stalls were the big companies were plying their trade. There was food and drinks on the left hand side while the right hand side had clothing, gadgets and other bits and pieces. Also the main stage was on the ground floor. I didn't get a chance to see any performances on the main stage because it was far to crowd for me to get a good view.

Then the lower ground floor had the independent traders and the game booths/stations for people to entertain themselves with.

There was one big name here and that was Square Enix and they were selling merchandise for their various games like Final Fantasy.

Such as this cute moogle.

However the event was incredibly busy and crowded, in fact I'm pretty sure the organisers where surprised by the turnout. As such people had to queue for 2-3 hours just to get in which was very frustrating for a lot of people who brought advance tickets or those who just popped out for some fresh air.

As for the Kimono Fashion Show, Liz and I were run off our feet organising it but we managed to pull it together.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, I spent most of the day stressing out about the fashion show that I didn't get a chance to take pictures.

I hope next year Hyper Japan improve on the venue and organisation because the UK needs more conventions!

Kimono Jack Hanami Picnic in London

Hello everyone,

Last weekend Kimono de Jack UK attended a Hanami picnic in London's Hyde Park, right next to Albert Memorial under beautiful sakura trees.

 Everyone were very excited about the picnic, so we had a lot of food brougth by everyone!

Kimono Jack April meetup in London

Hello Everyone,

It is April and it is time to celebrate Hanami.

The Japanese Conversation Group will be holding their annual picnic at Hyde Park so what better place to promote kimono.

The picnic will start around 13.00 but we shall meet up before just in case we need to pick up some goodies on the way. We can't have a picnic without food and drink.

For more information about the group here is the website.

http://www.japaneseconversationgroup.co.uk/

http://www.japansociety.org.uk/16560/japanese-conversation-group-hanami-picnic-3/

Once again if you have a kimono then this is a perfect opportunity but don't worry if you can't as it is not a compulsory.

 

When:
April 16, 2011

Where:
Kensington Gardens
East side of the Albert Memorial
London

Time:
1pm - ?

See you there!

~ Lyuba

January 2010 Kimono Jack in London

Hello Everyone,

This weekend we had our 4th Kimono Jack in UK, the first one in 2011. This time we choose to meet up at the Barbican Art Gallery in London to check out the 30 Years of Japanese Fashion exhibition.

This time we had 5 people who attended, and one of them even came all the way from Leeds! We were very excited to meet her and hope to see her at our future Kimono Jack events. Sadly she wasn't able to wear kimono, but there is always a next time as I like to say.

It was a lot colder than we expected but lots of fun nonetheless!

Our next Kimono Jack will be in Birmingham on February  19th. We will be going to Cadbury World to embrace our inner child and enjoy some chocolate.

~ Kimono de Jack UK

January Kimono Jack in London

Hello everyone!

I can't believe it is our FOURTH Kimono Jack in UK, as well as the FIRST one for 2011! I would say the year is starting just right :) For this KDJ we will be going to Barbican Art Gallery in London to see the Future Beauty: 30 Years of japanese Fashion. The exhibition looks very interesting and I am looking forward to attending.

When: 
January 22, 2011

Where: 
Barbican Art Gallery  (click the link for directions)
Please note that this is a ticketed event, so you will have to purchase a ticket yourself.

Time: 
11 - 2pm
We will be meeting at Liverpool Tube station at 11am and then going to Barbican. You can either meet us there, or go straight to Barbican but we will arrive a little later.

As always, everyone who likes kimono is welcome. Please wear one if you have it, but if not then just come to hang out! We are happy to see any fellow kimono enthusiasts! :) 

See you all there!!

~ Kimono de Jack UK

Second Kimono de Jack UK in London

Tomorrow is the day of second Kimono Jack in London. Come join us at the KEIKO Tea Bar in Camden Market at 11 am. We will check out the teabar, maybe do some early Christmas shopping (or just shopping) and go to lunch at 2pm at Sen Nin http://www.sen-nin.com/?LBReferrerId=twitter-4256397

As always, wear kimono is you have one. :)

We are looking forward to seeing everyone there! 

November Kimono de Jack in London

Kimono de Jack events are becoming more and more popular in Japan, spreading from Kyoto to Tokyo and other prefectures. But Japan is not the only one country that could have Kimono Jack, after all the essence of Kimono de Jack is to create more reasons to wear kimono for kimono lovers.

The very first Kimono de Jack in United Kingdom was held on October 23rd in London. Five kimono enthusiasts came to support the event, sporting gorgeous kimono and practical raincoats. It did not rain right away, but when it finally did everyone were very happy to have them on. Please check out the details of event here:
http://kimonodejackuk.blogspot.com/2010/09/first-kimono-de-jack-in-london.html

For November Kimono Jack we will be visiting the new KEIKO Tea bar at Stables Market in Camden. Please wear kimono if you have one. Other than that, there is no rules! Come and have fun with us!

When: 
November 13, 2010

Where:
KEIKO Teabar
Stables Market ,
Chalk Farm Rd - Camden,
London NW1 8AH
Shop 744/755/855/856 
http://hannah-ridgeway.com/AboutUs.htm
Looks like Chalk Farm tube station is the best if you compare to this map:
http://www.camdenlock.net/stables/stpopgfmenu.html


Time: 
11:00 - ?

What to do: 
Check out the tea bar, have some tea and enjoy wearing kimono. Maybe even do some early Christmas shopping.  

First Kimono de Jack outside of Japan

Now that the very FIRST Kimono de Jack in UK officially happened, it's time to take a deep breath, relax, and start posting about it right?

Yesterday was a historical day in life of UK kimono lovers and Trafalgar Square became the meeting place for the very FIRST Kimono de Jack outside of Japan. Five kimono enthusiasts meet up there at 11 am to promote and enjoy wearing kimono.

We walked around National Gallery a little, then went to to our favorite Piccadilly Circus area and finally got lunch at SO Restaurant (which was super yummy and reasonably priced). After lunch some of us went to get ice cream at Häagen-Dazs, the best ice cream place in the world if you ask me :)

Next Kimono de Jack will be on November 13th, at Camden Market.

First Kimono de Jack tomorrow!!!

Are any of you as excited as I am? And I'm VERY excited :) :) I'm looking forward to tomorrow because Kimono de Jack will be held for the first time outside of Japan.

If you are in the area, come to Trafalgar Square at 11am and hang out with us. Wear kimono if you have one, but if you don't we will get you addicted in no time!

It will be FUN! 

HYPER JAPAN on October 1-3, 2010

Less than 2 weeks to go to another exciting event, HYPER JAPAN. This year it's the first year HJ is happening, but from their website to their Facebook group, it is promising to be GREAT! :)

http://www.hyperjapan.co.uk/

We will be going there on Saturday, October 2nd. I imagine it wouldn't be too hard to spot us, in kimono again. :) Or even better, we could be lost in a crowd of people in kimono right? One can always dream. ;P

The meeting time is around 10:30-11am at Liverpool Station. Below is the information on how to get to the venue:

http://www.hyperjapan.co.uk/dateandvenue.html

First Kimono de Jack in London

Kimono de Jack events are becoming more and more popular in Japan, spreading from Kyoto to Tokyo and other prefectures. But Japan is not the only one country that could have de Jack, after all the essence of Kimono de Jack is to create more reasons to wear kimono for kimono lovers.

The  very first Kimono de Jack in United Kingdom will be held on October 23rd in London. There are no rules, no obligation to stay. It is encouraged to wear a kimono to the meet up, after all, the event is created as a reason to wear kimono. But if you don't have one, do not despair. Come anyway and enjoy the day.

When: 
October 23rd, 2010

Where:
Trafalgar Square, London

Time: 
11:00 - ?

What to do: 
Possibly visit the museums at the Square, get a cup of tea of coffee, and enjoy the company of fellow kimono lovers.