Froggy's New World

A Stranger's Hands

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 05:18:06 GMT

I keep staring at them. They're so pale and knobby-knuckled.

The rings were really what caught my eye. Without them, my hands look naked and foreign. I find myself fingering the calluses where they were.

I suppose it fits. I'll relearn their ways, see how they have changed--what sort of things they want to do on their own. Maybe they'll be painting a truck into the gypsy wagon I'd like it to be, pounding down tent stakes, or facilitating any number of adventures.

They've been tired...I think they'll be happy to serve just one mistress for a while. I plan to treat them a little better, pampering them with lotion, keeping them out of harm's way.

I am AWESOME!!!

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 05:31:10 GMT

I made a big breakthrough in my ab routine tonight. I've been working out 4 to 6 times a week for about 4 and 1/2 weeks now. the program is a combination of strength training, aerobics, and flexibility. I can definitely see the changes in my body. Even though I haven't lost any inches, the muscles underneath are so much more toned that the shape is really getting nice. Plus, if I push in to my actual abdominal muscles, beyond being really hard, I can actually feel ripples and ridges for the first time in my life. It is so cool. (^_^) I am very, very proud of myself for sticking with this. I have not been doing my whole diet and fitness program to-the-letter-perfectly (probably why I still have fat on my belly), but it's still making a difference and I'm really happy about it. I'm also proud of myself for continuing to do it, sometimes badly. It's a big deal for me to allow myself to do a stinky job of things sometimes, but keep going.

If I had a thousand dollars...

Fri, 29 May 2009 02:47:09 GMT

spiderling introduced me to a fun game/self help exercise today:

Pretend you have a thousand dollars on the first day, and figure out what you would spend it on. The second day, you have two thousand. Every day you add another thousand dollars and see what happens. It gives me something nice to write about, so my first day I'm sharing with you :)

I'm buying spiderling a kindle. Because that would make me happy and because she cheered me up so much. So there's $359 down. Which leaves me $641 if my quick head math is correct. Hmm...well, I'd buy Mike and myself dinner at Red Lobster. We'd eat crab until we popped open. Woo ha ha ha! Then we'd get dessert and coffee at Cafe Lola. Let's call all of that about $100. $541 left. I'd buy all the traditional oshiroi and other makeup for my Tayuu costume. I think I priced that for around $200. With the remaining $341 I'd get my yard immaculately groomed and maybe plant some annuals that would bloom right away. I'd also buy Mike the silicon (silicone?) muffin pan he wants for popovers. Yee Haw!!!

Jigoku Dayuu progress

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 07:51:22 GMT

Yay! I finally finished drafting the pattern for my kimono tonight.

While I greatly respect John Marshall, and am grateful for his Make Your Own Japanese Clothes book, he could really simplify the pattern drafting element. If I get the urge someday, I'll make some sort of "appendix" for the book, showing how you can overlap the outlines of several pieces onto one pattern piece. It would have saved me so much time and effort if I'd thought of it sooner. I'd post it on the Immortal Geisha Forums or somewhere else that people who want to sew kimono get together. (BTW, if you want really authentic patterns for Japanese clothes, I would skip the oft-recommended Making Kimono and Japanese Clothes by Jenni Dobson. If I didn't have to pay postage, I would have mailed that one back to Amazon. If you want adapted clothes, I guess it's great.)

To celebrate my finishing this all-important step, I'm going to share a bunch of design sketches that show a little bit of progression from my first Tayuu idea, Leather Butterfly, to my current Jigoku Dayuu.

My first completed uchikake sketch. (An uchikake is a padded outer garment, often worn by brides and courtesans.) Early idea for the leather butterfly costume. I still like the overall balance of the design, enough to possibly make this one some day. Though I don't know exactly what I'd do with it after. I'm too old and too married for furisode-length sleeves. The flowers would be purple, the foliage a soft sage green, the background midnight blue with a silvery white moon. In the right hand corner, you can see a tiny Tayuu/Oiran sketch. I wanted to see where the butterfly would fall if you actually wore this. Above that is a tiny, roughly life size, sketch of one of the blooms that make up those flower spikes on the uchikake. I was a little crazy about the integrated butterfly theme. Every flower, in every aspect of the costume's design was one that butterflies actually feed from. Maybe someday, I'll get an amazing patron and be able to make this one a reality, including the butterfly lifecycle hairpins near the bottom of the entry. Heck, maybe I'll be crazy rich and can fund the project myself.

Comb from the leather Tayuu. It has no teeth in the middle because it would have to fit around a leather headdress made in the shape of a Tayuu's hair. I'm forgetting the term for this hairstyle. If anyone feels like noting it in the comments, be my guest :) The maple leaves would be shades of red to burgundy (to match the uchikake below), the bridge would be red, and the wavy lines underneath would be blue to suggest water.

This is a very rough sketch of the maple uchikake I wanted to make out of garment leather with leather appliques for the hill, tree trunk and most of the leaves. This is an "expanded view" so that I could plan out how to make the branches flow over the shoulders from back to front. If you imagine that the kimono "folds" at the first horizontal line from the top, you can get an idea of the finished product. This expanded view as a design tool came from an awesome blog by a man who seems to design kimono for the kabuki stage.

Here is my idea for a sexy "kimono deconstructed," for my Sci Fi butterfly Tayuu. The kimono is really more of a halter dress with several collars inside eachother, a bare upper back and arms, detatched sleeves, and decorative cords that attach the collar to a corset that has a smooth leather cover to suggest the back of a manaita obi. I'll talk a little bit more about hair below. You can see some of my drawing through of the figure underneath the clothing. I do a lot of transparent looking sketches when I design because I need to understand how the construction would work. Communicating the sexiness of a Tayuu or Oiran to a contemporary Western audience is a bit of a challenge. Tayuu on parade, or in public, wear so many layers that they almost resemble battleships or tanks; very big and bulky. This was one of my solutions. It would have been under a more tradtional uchikake.

Here was a design sketch of how the deconstructed butterfly kimono might look. After cutting out the pattern pieces for this and pinning them together, major flaws in my plan were revealed. To get the silhouette of the the pencil sketch, the kimono would really have to become a dress. Just leaving the top back of the kimono off gave me a very silly, droopy, baggy garment that just didn't work. This led to my deciding I needed to sew at least one kimono before deconstructing them. ^_~

These are my first two sketches of oiran hair. The one on the lower right is more accurate. It is shaped very much like the wigs that young women wear when re-enacting the oiran dochuu (a procession made by high class prostitutes and their extensive entourage). At the beginning of my design process, I thought I would be making these shapes out of leather strips for a Sci Fi leather headdress.

Decorations for the bar-shaped decoration that seems to be placed underneath your forelock when it's pulled back. The flowers, another butterfly favorite, are from a really useful type of hibiscus called Kenaf. And yes, its leaves really do look like pot leaves.

Design ideas for some hexagonally shaped kanzashi (hairpins). The bottom one, with the leaves, came from the idea of having each of the front hairpins depict one stage of a butterfly's lifecycle.

Here is a more current silhouette sans kanzashi (hair pins). It comes up higher on the head. You can see her earlobes. The back pieces are a little smaller. I wanted something with a slightly softer appearance now that I know I'm going to be putting together an actual wig...with hair and everything...

Here, finally, are some honest to goodness Jigoku Dayuu (Hell Courtesan) sketches:

Hell Hair. Click on this one to blow it up big. The detail is a lot of fun. The balls on the back right hairpins have become skulls, the six to eight hair pins in the front have flame motifs, the back right hairpins have a ribcage and pelvic bone at the ends, and I might have the frontmost hair ornament (which normally looks like a bar) be shaped like a bone. I'd also like to add little articulated skeleton charms among the bira bira (These are linked fluttering pieces; the trailing bits in the picture. In this case they'll be made of shiny silver metal.) The combs in the very back will probably still have a river theme, but it will be changed to look like the river you cross to get into Japanese Buddhist hell proper.

Next up design-wise will be Jigoku Tayuu's uchikake. Traditionally, it has images of hell on it. I have a lot of different motifs in mind. I'm thinking of including Enma (the head king of the ten kings of hell). This uchikake wil not have furisode. Research has shown me that only a very young, newly launched, courtesan would have fluttering sleeves.

Hopefully my notes haven't bored you too much. I wouldn't blame you if you've just skimmed them to get the pictures. If anyone knows the name of the ornament that sits closest to the back poofs on an oiran's hair, the long horizontal one that looks like lots of tiny silver flowers, please comment here. I'm having a hard time sussing that info out. Also, I've read that Jigoku Dayuu was very popular in the nineteenth century and that there may even be a couple of kabuki plays that include her. If anyone knows what their titles are, I would be extremely grateful.

Cheers everyone. Hope you're having a wonderful weekend.

The Zombie Emu Apocalypse

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:11:50 GMT

I've been trying to decide what to write about for a week. The quick rundown of significant stuff in my life is this:

1. Con-Nooga lost money for us.
2. We are now brokety broke broke broke.
5. My 32nd birthday is next week.

Suze Ormon had an article in People recently about getting by in hard times like these. The crux of the article seemed to be "Do you really need this item (a new winter coat, in her example), or do you just want it? Cut back to what you really need." Applicable to my life? Hmmm... do I really need my antidepressants (which cost $75 for the generic) or would I rather eat? Tough choice. Oh wait! I couldn't buy my meds if I wanted to! ::::headsmack:::: I opted for food. Thanks Suze! That advice helped a lot! :)

In lighter news, while we were killing ourselves making armor and other things for the convention, I started talking about how scary emus are.** For one thing, they look like freaking dinosaurs. For another, when you come face to face with them, they home straight in on your eyes and their beady orbs say: "Come a little closer, LUNCH." (Trust me, spiderling and I once visited an ostrich and emu ranch.)

Michael: "How much damage could they do? They don't even have teeth. Just beaks."

Me: "That's why they'd have to disembowel you with their clawed feet...and then shred you into bite size pieces."

Charles: "You've actually thought this over, haven't you?"

Me: "Yes. Yes I have. "
"And let me tell you, the Emu Apocalypse is far more terrifying than the Zombie Apocalypse could ever be."

This, of course, led me to imaginings of the ZOMBIE Emu Apocalypse. The most terrifying of all!!! Imagine them if you will. Red eyes stare at you in an upside down glare. That weird, baldish head swings, pendulum like, from a long broken gray neck as they lurch forward... FEAR THEM.

**The truth being, of course, that I think emus are pretty neat, just very intense in their scrutiny. >_>

</lj>

Good for us

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 08:05:02 GMT

As of 2:43 a.m., we just finished our largest Studio Kensai order to date. We made 44 quivers, 52 vambraces (arm guards), and 6 belt adapters. It was quite a push. We took on a third staff member to do it, and we might need even more people in the future. I would like to think it's a very good sign that we're growing in the midst of a recession.

Afterlife Pencils

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 04:47:49 GMT

Today I found my absolute favorite choice for what to do with my cremated body. In the hopefully far-flung future, after my organs are donated and my body is ash, I want to be made into pencils.

My previous candidates were: put me in the ground and grow something out of me, or shake me out in nature (maybe into a lovely mountain scene near a stream). They didn't hit the spot like this one though. The thought of people drawing, writing, doing math, or documenting scientific discoveries with me makes me incandescently happy. The thought of being used to scribe graffiti makes me giggle. I have only one request for those using me to decorate a school desk or the wall of a bathroom stall: please do not use me to declare your undying love in the manner of "Becky + Harold 4ever." If you must, write a love poem. Or better yet: a dirty limerick.

The big wish for my memorial is that people make jokes, find some joy, if they can.

It isn't that I want people to be ecstatic over my death. I want them to be happy I lived. I am.

Sleeve Rollin' Time

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 07:30:44 GMT

So, I stumbled onto the free Japanese printable stationery goldmine. I found soooooooooooo many adorable envelopes, letter sets, memo sheets, calendars and more. Take a look at some envelopes to enclose gifts of money for the new year. Killer cute <3

I'm thinkin' "THAAAAT's it! It's really way past time for me to design my own stationery." I'm excellent at designing adorable characters. I even have a few just laying around: Vice and Virtue (tiny devil and angel), Hannah (an adorable little witch who uses a feather duster instead of a broom because she's so small), and her friend Bugs, the fox. They're currently languishing in my sketchbooks and sketchbox.

I have so many ideas for various art projects right now. Arg! My current plan for 2009 is to wake up about 3 hours before the Studio Kensai workday starts so that I can work on my own stuff. (More ideas: Oiran stationery. Kokeshi stationery with my characters.) I know I'll always have more ideas than I have time, but if I don't get to actually draw, design and create, I'm going to explode!

Today was actually a lot less busy than I expected. I did get to cut out an entire cow's worth of Locksley quivers. I didn't spend 6-7 hours working though. Another small success: I can cut out the deep "u" at the top of the quivers with just the cutters now, instead of having to go back in with a knife. That saves a little time.

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 01:41:39 GMT

It looks like it's going to be a working weekend. I'm pretty bummed. Has to be done though. We have deadlines next week.

On the nicer side, after work yesterday, I spent some time brainstorming paint jobs for my Beryl. It was something I haven't had much time to do, a real indulgence. It was nice. I liked it.

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 02:56:11 GMT

I'm revamping my life and decided to revamp my LJ as well. The significant differences will be: more posts, more personal posts, more f-locking, and a few old posts re-added.

If something seems bizarre or out of the blue, check the date. It'll probably be an old post.

Getting in contact with a couple of old friends recently made it clear to me that someone could read my LJ as it is currently and learn nothing about me. I'd stripped too much out of it.

Tue, 27 May 2008 15:16:26 GMT

Cute food

Sun, 11 May 2008 20:21:41 GMT

I promised several people I would post pictures of the cute food I've been making so here they are:

Kettles of Cosmic Fish: yummy korean brown rice, strips of fried egg, lightly sauteed bell pepper stars and hot dog fish fried with soy sauce.

My simplified version of the kappa lunch I made for Mike.

My first onigiri, filled with tuna cooked with ginger, soysauce, and green onion.

Mike's on his way home from Las Vegas, Nevada driving our new-to-us minivan!!! SWEET! Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Cook.

The Sound of One Cat Yakking...

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 13:27:16 GMT

Well, I'm up a few hours earlier than I thought. I heard a strange noise. When I got up to check, you guessed it, kitten barfing.

Other than that life is good. Business is going well for Studio Kensai. You can see a permanent link to our new webshop to the left. We're now seeing orders start to trickle in on their own, as well as the ones we have to go out and get. One of the biggest compliments we've been given was from a new customer, saying that he thought we'd be "the absolute best." (Wow. I just went to grab a quote from our email and found another inquiry on a commission!) It's nice to see that our utter dedication to quality is paying off. Seriously, if you ask our friends, like Jo and spiderling they'll tell you how completely nuts we are.

We've decided to take weekends off from now on unless we're in crunch time. I woke up yesterday with a sore throat so I played it pretty low-key. I was on the internet all day. In the morning I was just goofing off and looking at bento and bento making supplies (Ichiban Kan is now online btw for cute, $1.50, bento boxes as well as other fun supplies.).

In the afternoon, I started research for my super-special-top-secret-showcase-costume. I'll be entering it in a contest this fall or I'd share all the details with you. As it is, I want it to have it's own debut. I think I actually spent about 12 hours doing research. D= It paid off though, I finally found some info I've been seeking out for months. When I told spiderling that I was going forward with this design, she said "You realize you're insane, right?" Mike looked at me last night and said "You couldn't have picked anything easy?" I'm so excited! In some ways it will be my costume debut too, as a designer at least. I'll probably put some teaser pics up on the studio_kensai blog as I work.

I'm going back to bed for a bit, but I'll be back to add to this post.

Operation "Jealous Tuna"

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:35:23 GMT

...was a success!

Rewind.

Our cat, Charlie, had to go on antibiotics. He hates medicine on principle with burning, scratching, biting passion. This time around we tried Pill Pockets, squishy cat treats with a hole that you can completely encase a pill in. They worked like a charm! For exactly 4 days. Then he bit one open and wouldn't go near them.

Time for a rousing round of (chant with me now) ARE YOU SMARTER THAN YOUR CAT! Applause, applause, Jeff Foxworthy quips etc. We've often been able to tempt Charlie by crushing up his pill and mixing it with a little canned fish. This time that was still a no go, so here's how things went down this morning:

:::loud singsong voice addressing Charlie's kitty "sister," Meg:::: "Meh-eg, would you like some tuna? I bet you would..."

"No Charlie, not for you." Grab cat, hold away from juicy tuna.

:::sweet voice:::"Would you like some tuna too?"

aaAAnd...SCENE.

Hell Girl

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 07:19:13 GMT

Had a lovely lunch at Red Lobster today with Mike, courtesy of spiderling. Afterwards, we went to Mediocre Purchase (Best Buy) and I picked up the first volume of Hell Girl. It is sooooooo up my alley; pretty, melancholy horror with traditional Japanese styling. I love it. Currently the only userpic of mine that I didn't make.

We also had a lovely time at my parents' house watching movies and being treated to dinner. Thanks Mom and Dad :)

Currently working on:

Chainmail
Peony Corset

I Heart my Serger

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 21:49:18 GMT

Happy New Year Everybody!!!

I've caught the sinus plague. Xp It slowed me down enough to finally post again. It's been a very long time, so I'll put in a cut if this turns into a novel.

What have I been up to? Jeez, well...making Christmas Presents, for one. They turned out really awesome, actually. I was proud. The main gist of the comments on them was "You made this?" I'll take it as a compliment implying that they look too professional to be homemade. ^_~

Cthulu and Tako (octopus) scarves. The Cthulu went to Blue and spiderling got the Tako with the pink on pink stripes. They are pieced together on the serger out of flannel and feel deliciously soft and warm.

I couldn't resist making a Cutiethulu.

All the details are hand-embroidered. The mascots are my own designs.

The Rex-Houghton clan in coordinating flannelwear. My brother, trashpopstar, got a Mono (monkey). My sisiter-in-law, candicerex, got another Tako ('cause it was my favorite design), but with grapety-purple stripes on white, and my nephew, Lucian, got a hat with a Kamo-Kun (ducky) that was partially modeled after himself.

An angle that's better for the family than the scarves:

My Dad took a bazillion Xmas pictures, so I might eventually post more. Then you could actually see my adorable nephew's face! He's excellent at taking off hats, so we had to take the picture quickly. For now, I'm pooped.

Oh yeah, I also made a portrait kokeshi for my mom and a raven scarf for my uncle, and I've started my first leather corset of my own design. You'll likely see the corset on Studio_Kensai in the future.

Signing off.

The Cure for Emo

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 20:42:10 GMT

Look at the sweet StumbleUpon review I got from Rigel-5: "An optimistic, friendly, enthusiastic burst of Stumbles about Asian culture, dolls, and all kinds of fun stuff. Frogwitch is the cure for emo." That's freakin' awesome! I have lots of fun with my StumbleUpon page, and it's nice to see that other people do too.

Now that studio_kensai has it's own official blog (dah dah dah DAH! Thanks whiteladyeowyn !), I've decided to put back up a few of my old humorous posts and go back to more frequent posting that doesn't have to include creative work (though a lot of it will).

Here are some other things I consider to be "The Cure for Emo"

Webcomics:
Sinfest
Questionable Content
No Pink Ponies
Our Home Planet
Penny and Aggie
Ctrl+Alt+Del
Aoi House
Ganbare! Shimura-san
Bite Me (a webcomic for the distinguished vampire)
Kawaii Not

Irish Cream in milk or coffee

my new SERGER <3

Wee Frenzy

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 04:12:23 GMT

My butt is being kicked...by a tiny pair of pants.

They are only 14 inches high, but boy do they pack a wallop.

I've spent countless hours pattern drafting, and now tweaking, teensy trousers for an SD13 ball jointed doll. The doll's name is Saint, by the way. The diabolical pants shall remain nameless.

The crux of the dilemma is this: I have made only one previous attempt at pants. They were human-sized, and thus did not have to be as precise, but still, they failed. The current pair cackle evilly because they cannot be beginner pants. They have to keep up with masterwork armor. Voluminous, drawstring pantaloons won't cut it.

So far, I have been able to beat them off with a 2 dollar, used copy of Basic Tailoring (circa 1974 from Time Life), but this may not hold for long as they seem to have plans to muay thai me about the ears and cheekbones...

The pants have nap and lycra on their side. Pray for me, friends.

Svelte

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 05:04:17 GMT

My goodness but this page has lost a lot of weight! I left up any entries that related to my armor, or had something creative of mine to show (even if it's just cute little dollies from an online doll maker). I saved a few entries to my hard drive before deleting them from LJ. I did want to keep a record of a few of life's victories and all the entries I thought were actually funny.

Way of the dodo...

Sat, 22 Sep 2007 00:40:40 GMT

I have decided that, in the very near future, all previous posts on this blog will become quite extinct. This is the natural result of a massive climactic change caused by a comet named Studio Kensai.

Mike and I have gone into business for ourselves! We now make armor for a living! Contact us if you want some :D We may even branch out into leather fashion eventually. The name of our business is Studio Kensai. Kensai means "sword saint" (think Musashi). We'll be catering to humans and ball jointed dolls.

Taking the place of the current journal will be an informal but more professionally oriented creator's blog. I'm not sure whether it will be here on LJ or another service. I like having easy access to my current f-list.

For more personal life happenings, I'm thinking I might go the e-mail route. The mailings would have a similar style to a blog, they'd just be friends and family only. I want to keep up with everybody somehow. ;p

...And in what may be my last personal note: I'm really, really happy. I feel so much more fulfilled and much more satisfied with myself as a human being. Love to everybody, and thanks so much to everyone who has given such great support to our new venture <3

animal mono-kingdom

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 00:20:47 GMT

Some of us have a choice between being a sheep and a wolf. Others only have the choice between being a wolf, and being a miserable wolf in a sheep costume.

DragonCon Pics

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 00:49:35 GMT

Our pictures from Dragon*Con 2007 are now up :D

Frogwitch at Flickr

DragonCon 2007

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 01:44:50 GMT

I'll have to upload pictures when I have access to a broadband connection, but for now, some quick thoughts:

The next time you're eating calamari, remember: Deep Fried Cthulu. It's not a snack. It's a sacrament.

Yay for new friends, Blue and Relay! You made this the best DragonCon ever!

Hooray for gold friends! Without you we never would have made it. Thank you!

Spartans...yum.

So many amazing costumes, so much fun!!!

Hooray for ABJD's. Can't wait to get started on armor prototypes.

To those of you who asked me to get autographs, I apologize. The prices were outrageous and the Walk of Fame was a constant zoo. We got pics of Mike with Eric Estrada and TAPS, which I will post next time.

I didn't go to any panels. I didn't feel like waiting an hour or two to see James Marsters or Lori Petty. Instead, I got to spend time with people who will actually still give a crap about me 3 days from now. Awesome!

Hooray!

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 02:12:08 GMT

The Abi Rose store has finally arrived! Come visit <3

Having some trouble with the link tool tonight, so here's the URL: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5192411

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 01:19:42 GMT

Part of today was spent researching nihongami (traditional Japanese hairstyles) for an art project I'd like to do. I've mostly been concentrating on the ones worn by courtesans, but I've found lots of other pretty styles as well. On one page they have folks completely decked out in costume and elaborate wigs.

This one has to be one of my favorites.I'm guessing he's a guy. Very pretty and I like the coquettish sideways glance:

Because it took me a while to find them, and I'd like to save other people the trouble, here are some of the best resources I found on nihongami (so far):

Tetsuo Ishihara's Museum of Traditional Japanese Hairstyles
-This guy is the bomb. He is actually a very famous stylist/artist and instead of keeping all his secrets to himself, he's published three books on the subject. Click on the book covers on the home page for samples. At least one of them, Nihongami no Sekai : Maiko no kamigata, has how to information. The galleries are gorgeous.That's where I got the photo for this entry's userpic.

For a review of the book, its isbn, and info on how to get it, check out Immortal Geisha's review.

Immortal Geisha also has a useful forum thread including tools as well as q.&a.

Big in Japan: a history of hairstyles and hair ornaments is a great overview of Japanese hairstyles throughout history. It's simple to understand, cute, and a little bit funny. What it lacks in detail, it makes up for in scope. This is where I found out that the hairstyle I was looking for was from the Edo period.

(:::rolls eyes::: Of course. Why does it seem like almost everything that Americans see as quintessentially Japanese comes from the Edo period? Ooooh, but wouldn't it be awesome to have an Edo Fair? It would have the same format as a Renaissance Fair, with costumes and food and paper lanterns and....totally getting carried away with that one. But seriously, I'd DIE if something like that was put together. Arg. Now I really want one. I'll have to organize it myself some day.)