“The Tale of Genji” blooms at Japanese Garden in Cal State Long Beach campus

Cultural News, September 2007

California State University, Long Beach student models pose in the Heian period clothing 1,000 years ago. Top Row: Alex Rico, Jevie Buck, Rina Lim, Jason Farrow, Cynthia Perez. Front: Nadia Vanek.

(Cultural News Photo)

   On August 24, the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden at California State University, Long Beach, was host to an event celebrating the world’s earliest novel, “The Tale of Genji,” written by Murasaki Shikibu, just 1,000 years ago.   

     To celebrate the book, the Japanese Garden invited students from CSULB to be presented as models, each wearing traditional Japanese

clothing from the Heian period (794-1185 AD). Six experts on kimono dressing were invited from Tokushima, Japan to assist in outfitting the students.

   Alex Rico, an illustration major at CSULB, was dressed in a traditional hitatare kimono. The hitatare kimono was a versatile outfit designed for battle. Alex learned and noted that, "The sleeves could be folded at the elbows so it was possible to draw a katana sword."

   Jevie Buck, who is also a student at CSULB, dressed as a hirabyoshi dancer. These women would perform beautiful dances for the nobles in the court. They would use fans and swords and incorporate them into their graceful movements. "I loved wearing the samurai pants and early traditional style kimono," commented Jevie, "The only rough part was being firmly wrapped in the inner silk kimono which felt really tight."

   Rina Lim, another student model, was dressed in a traditional traveling outfit. "I had read some parts of  ‘The Tale of Genji’ when I was in high school, but I never actually learned about the lifestyle of people during the Heian period," Rina said, "What interested me most, was the fact that women used to put on makeup and never removed it; instead, they just kept putting new makeup on top of the old."

    The event was an educational experience not only for the public, but for the student models that participated as well.

  (CSULB student Daniel Weinell contributed to this article)