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Rental kimono company causes distress for hundreds of women on Coming-of-Age Day

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31 Comments
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I feel sorry for these young women, as it is truly a huge deal for most of them, and many spend hundreds of thousands of yen on their kimono's , hair, and makeup.

10 ( +13 / -3 )

Class action lawsuit

7 ( +9 / -2 )

I don't understand. Do they get their kimonos on that day only ? Not wise to do so...

I would try before and keep it at home and do with friends all the preparation.

I hope they all made it because they are all beautiful and excited on that day. Loving it. !

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

@ Jonathan Prin: Many kimono rental shops hold on to the kimonos and have the women come in on the morning of the ceremony to help them put them on and set their hair since it's difficult and time consuming.

Often, when the girls go in to pay and rent the kimonos they don't take them home since they can't put them on themselves anyway and its much more convenient to leave them there until the morning of the ceremony.

Unfortunately, for these girls they were jacked. Perhaps, the owner ran off the with money?

14 ( +14 / -0 )

Employees at the shop in Fukuoka Prefecture showed up Monday and helped customers wear kimonos. A store employee said they have not been able to contact the company's president since the new year began but the store manager decided to open the shop.

Good for them. They realised the company has probably gone down, but did the right thing.

What a shame the employees of the other three didn't feel able to do the same, but their panic and indecisiveness is understandable.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

We bought a kimono for our daughter. We just felt that as she gets older she will have many opportunities to wear it as her friends get married and she will want to dress up for the wedding and reception. Cheaper than renting one each time. We have a very dependable beauty salon that has taken care of my wife and daughters every time they have had occasion to wear a kimono.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

We have a very dependable beauty salon that has taken care of my wife and daughters every time they have had occasion to wear a kimono.

The girls in this story thought they had a very dependable salon as well. Not everyone can afford a kimono.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Do they get their kimonos on that day only ? Not wise to do so.

Unproductive,most negative comment of the day for sure.

JP points out a faulty and inefficient standard of doing business that cost hundreds of young women money and a once in a lifetime experience.

And somehow its negative and unproductive.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

What exactly did they think calling the police would do? It didn't help the Mt. Gox suckers.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

What's with all the secrecy about the company? Surely someone knows what's going on. Has the owner done a NOVA and shot through to the Canary Islands with the cash?

It's difficult to understand how they can justify charging ¥150,000 for a one-day rental of a kimono.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

It's difficult to understand how they can justify charging ¥150,000 for a one-day rental of a kimono. because high quality Japan

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Wow. My daughter had her ceremony last year, and we entrusted all to a local (trusted) firm. If this had happened, my wife would have ensured I make a stance to the effect of "hell to pay."

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Just saying, but the president would have fully known the effect of the business going belly up just before the Coming of Age ceremony.

Like travel agents who continue to take bookings until the bailiffs show up, what a swine.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

This reminds me what happened with Tellmeclub travel agency which just suddenly went out of business as well, I think there were cases of customers just stranded with none of their reservations in place. Whatever happened to that anyway, I never saw any kind of update to the customers who were swindled.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

You don't help people "wear" kimono, you help them "put on" kimono. Anyway, I feel very sorry for these young ladies (not sure why they're being called "girls" by some of the posters since they are women), and while I'm sure they are getting support, I hope they still get to have their day at some point. There are more than enough of them that got screwed here, they can have a big party with hundreds of people. Won't be quite the same, but it'll be equally, if not more, special.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@Bungle - Labour and material costs. A bona fide kimono costs $$, plus there is the preparation time involved.

Material costs? They are renting them for a day, not buying them. Labor is about an hour to put them on an another hour or so to do hair and make up. How can one-day rental work out to ¥150,000? It's a blatant rip off!

5 ( +5 / -0 )

If it was a rip off, people wouldn’t rent them.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

200 women were waiting for employees of the local shop to help them wear kimonos at a hotel.

To help them "wear"? Maybe "put on"?

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Buy a zip up kimono, a bee-hive wig, and a white rabbit for your collar, and you're set. No need to spend hundreds of thousands on a one-day thing, where you may get ripped off.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Well, let’s see, an outfit consisting of 20 or more expensive items of clothing/accessories that have been purchased by the shop, some of which will need to be professionally cleaned after a day of being worn in snow/rain. The salaries and supplies of one makeup artist and one hairdresser (plus facilities). Then there’s the one or two persons to put the girl in said outfit. And a fancy album and extra prints of professionally taken photos (and studio facilities). Plus all the normal costs of running a business. It’s maybe starting to look cheap for the services provided.

Thanks for educating the uneducated, educator60. That price does seem fair in hindsight.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

No Japanese that knows his/her own culture would consider this a rip-off. Hiring professional kimono dressers was always a luxury. I bet most complains come from know nothing foreigners...

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Wouldn't be surprised if Next Year it'll be AR Kimono's

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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