Kimono Exhibition

Kimono Show

The Japanese Culture Center, Japanese Arts Foundation, and Aikido International Foundation sponsor an annual public exhibition featuring pieces from its kimono collection. At its heart is the Nakashima Kimono and Obi Collection.

Professor Ikka (Seiko) Nakashima was the daughter of a successful Japanese industrialist prior to her marriage to an American Sergeant she met in post-war Japan in the occupied northern island of Hokkaido. After moving to the United States and gaining the American citizenship of which she was so proud, she set about teaching thousands of students over 50 years the arts of ikebana (flower arranging), chado (tea ceremony), shodo (calligraphy), Japanese classical dance and Japanese as a Second Language; all this in addition to her career as a microbiologist. In 2006, Professor Nakashima was invited by Emperor Akihito to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo to receive the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, for her tireless efforts to educate and spread traditional Japanese culture. She died in 2014 and her extensive collection of kimonos and obis along with tea ceremony implements, ikebana containers and other cultural items was donated to the Japanese Arts Foundation by her heir, Ameer Ali. Over the years, this core collection has been expanded and enhanced through private donations and has become one of the largest private kimono collections in the United States.

Entrance to the event is free but donations are welcomed.  Part of the proceeds will help fund the Japanese Arts Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading awareness of Japanese culture and arts throughout the Chicagoland area.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Japanese Culture Center, 1016 West Belmont Avenue, Chicago, United States