Celebration of the fate!

Please meet my nieces!! They are the only nieces I have, and I just can not help staring at their faces with sigh . . . wow, seriously? you girls are my nieces?  too cute to be true!

My sister marring a Canadian man was one of the top three that I would never have expected, same with my parents. Just over one year younger than me, she graduated from college and started working for a very nice bank in Japan. Being stable and proceeding her career at the bank, then, one day in her very late 20’s, she declared to quit the bank and get a working holiday visa in Canada. We were stunned by her decision and worried for her future to be honest.

Now that all the dramas and years passes by, I can see it.  Her life partner happened to be a Canadian man and now established her life  with him in Vancouver, Canada and raising their children together. All came out to be good – more than good. What can I say, it was fate.

Ever since I took my very first Shichi Go San pictures with my first daughter, I have been getting many Shichi Go San photo sessions here in Los Angeles, and this time my sister brought her daughters who were celebrating being 7 and 5 years old from Vancouver.   My parents also visited from Japan to join this very special event all together.

The fun experience started when Mrs.Mikko from Kimono no Kobeya started putting make up, tying the hair with Japanese kanzashi (hair decorations) and dressing them in the kimonos.  You can tell how the kids were fascinated with all the process as much as the adults around them were.

 

 

Actually, all the fun experience started from the time when they visited Kimono no Kobeya to select the perfect kimonos for each one of them.  Mrs.Mikko has a wide variety of kimonos to choose from. Once they found the right kimonos, the girls started dreaming about wearing the kimonos and their parents started getting thrilled about that.

. . . and the photo session day had come. Finally you could see them wearing all formal attire from the toes to the top of their heads in Japanese style!

 

We all had an amazing time and experience, and these images captured that forever.  They are our one of our family heirlooms to pass on for generations.  Now what I am thinking? “coming of age” celebration . . . .

Coming of age celebration in Japan is 20 years old.  My oldest daughter will be the first one. I should keep up and be healthy to photograph all my girls in kimonos again in the future!

till next time;)