Happy Find

When I lived in Japan, I bought one of these beautiful aprons and loved it to death. When it fell apart and no amount of mending would resurrect it, I finally gave up and started looking for another one. I even blogged about wanting one, 'way back in my early posting days. Even though I have lived in places with pretty good sized Japanese populations, such as Honolulu and San Francisco, I have never found another one until yesterday.

So, you can imagine my delight when I stopped in at the Thousand Cranes Futon Shop on Fourth Street in Berkeley and there it was!

Crisply white, with a little detail of lace around the neck, this was exactly the kind of apron women wore all over Japan when I lived there! Usually over a kimono but really over anything, this ingeniously designed apron wraps around to the back so even if you are inclined to wipe your hands down your sides as I have been known to do while cooking, your clothes are protected. The three-quarter length sleeves never get in the way or in the water, either - as so many Japanese-designed things are, it's a marvel of functionality as well as of simple beauty.

I could tell that the saleswoman was puzzled by my obvious delight at finding such a mundane item - she shrugged daintily and shook her head, "Crazy person to be so happy with an apron!"