Profile

KIMONO Terrasse

　Established in 2017

Representative: Natsuko Nasu

（Born July 1968, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture）

 

Titles

25th Okayama Kimono Bunkabito （Okayama Kimono Culture Figure）, Kimono Hakase （Kimono Doctor）（certified October 2017）
Representative, KIMONO Terrasse （certified January 2017）
Instructor, Maemusubi Soke Kino Wasou Gakuen （Maemusubi Soke Kino School of Japanese Dress）（certified February 1997）
Shihan （Master Instructor）, Maemusubi Soke Kino Wasou Gakuen （certified July 2015）

 

Proponent, KFP – Kimono wo Fudangi ni Project（Project to Make Kimono Everyday Wear） （established August 2015）
Member, Kyo no Hanamachi Networker Kouenkai（Kyoto Hanamachi Networkers Support Association）（from October 2017）
Member, Kyoto Shimabara Suehiroya Kottai no Kai（from November 2017）
Executive Officer, KIMONO Club（from November 2017）
Proponent and instructor, "Wasou Myself Project"（from December 2020）
Officer, Jusan-mairi Tokuyoji Hosankai（Tokuyoji Temple Jusan-mairi Support Association） （from March 2021）
Ambassador, Hi no Moto Project, Hi no Moto Culture Foundation（general incorporated foundation）（from April 2023）
Executive Committee, "Wa de Miseru – Okayama Oshare Style" （Showcasing Japanese Style – Okayama Fashion Style）（established January 1, 2024）

 

Registrations

・Trademark registration, "Kojima Obi"（registered July 2017, No. 5962763）
・Utility model registration, "Obi for Japanese Dress" （registered November [Reiwa year unclear in source — likely 2019], No. 3224432）
・Trademark registration, "Kurashiki Wa Denim" （registered November 2020, No. 6312191）
・Patent pending, "Obi" （filed March 2025, Application No. 2025-44694）
・Secondhand dealer license （registered April 2026, Okayama Prefectural Public Safety Commission, No. 721020031005）

 

Kimono Dressing Schools（Organizer/Head）

・Maemusubi Soke Kino Wasou Gakuen, Nasu Class（opened February 1997）
・Kanzaki Ryokuchi Plaza Maemusubi Kimono Dressing Class（opened January 2002）
・Shumi no Kimono Senshoku Kondo Maemusubi Kimono Dressing Class（April 2016 – March 2025）
・Traveling/on-site kimono dressing classes

Kimono Dressing Instruction

Okayama University Tea Ceremony Club（2001–2008）
Okayama Prefectural Saidaiji High School Tea Ceremony Club（from 2016）
Okayama Gakugeikan High School / Okayama Gakugeikan Seishu Junior & Senior High School, Koto（Japanese Harp） Club（kimono coordination instruction, from 2021）

"Furisode Myself Project"（from January 2022）
"Children's Kimono Myself Project" （from July 2023）
"Graduation Ceremony Myself Project" （from January 2024）
"Shimotsui Yoiakari" （Shimotsui Evening Lights） yukata dressing instruction（from May 2024）

May 2023 — Interview video for the "Ghent Museum（Belgium）Japan Exhibition"

 【 INTERVIEW  WITH  KIMONO  SENSEI 】 （English/Japanese)

 

 

Awards

25th Okayama Kimono Bunkabito,Kimono Hakase（Kimono Cultural Ambassador, Kimono Doctor）（Okayama City Mayor's Award）

 

Other

Wedding attendant/assistance work（from January 1997）

~From the Sankei Shimbun, November 18, 2017, "Hito"（People）column（excerpt）~Proposing the "Project to Make Kimono Everyday Wear" in Okayama
Natsuko Nasu （age 49）

She is quoted as saying that domestic denim is an Okayama culture that can be shared with the world, and that she was drawn to an unpretentious, distinctly Okayama style of everyday kimono wear.

As the organizer of a kimono dressing school proposing new ways to tie obi, she has for several years, together with makeup analysts and painters, been promoting the "Kimono wo Fudangi ni Project" (KFP), aimed at making kimono part of everyday wear.

 

Her ongoing work sending "wa bunka"（Japanese culture）out from Okayama led to her being named, in October, the 25th Okayama Kimono Bunkajin, "Kimono Hakase," by the Okayama Prefecture Kimono Specialty Store Association（chaired by Kondo Norihiro）.

She notes that local people are often unaware of Okayama's own distinctive character, and feels that alongside orthodox Kyoto-style kimono culture, there is room for a hub city with its own everyday-wear kimono culture.

In 2016, an opportunity to take part in a gathering on Japanese culture in Kyoto led her to think of combining local textile specialty products to express an Okayama identity. The resulting "Kojima Obi" attracted considerable interest, and she trademarked and commercialized it that same year.

 

She reflects that while a way to send this message outward has been established, the question of whether the "heart" behind it is truly there remains.

With the rapid increase in foreign tourists to areas such as the Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter — popular as townscapes "unlike anything in Kyoto" — her recent focus has been on whether Okayama's own style of omotenashi（hospitality）rooted in wa（Japanese） culture is genuinely developing through such encounters.

That same month, she organized an affordable event in which a tayu（courtesan-entertainer）from Kyoto's Shimabara district, visiting friends in Okayama, taught "wa no omotenashi"（Japanese-style hospitality）; about 60 young participants with no prior connection to the hanamachi（geisha districts）came away praising it as "an old world made new."

She is quoted as saying that an obi is something meant to be tied, and that it seems able to tie together people and people, town and town, past and present — and perhaps the future too — and wonders what she will send out into the world next.

 

　

KFP ~Project to make kimono everyday wear~
Founded in the summer of 2015 as a group under this project name, with the aim of passing traditional ethnic dress on into the future.