I took this in Tokyo in November a few years ago.  I like the idea of a group of friends dressing up on a Saturday afternoon and going for a walk in the park.

Of course I don’t know that they’re friends.  It might be an office outing, or a group of people who have just met on a themed tour.  That afternoon we did see a number of small groups of women in kimonos participating in what looked like tea ceremonies in small wooden houses by the lakes.  Maybe this group had been, and were now off to catch the metro home, or for a spot of sushi or a bowl of noodles at the array of food outlets at the end of this path on the edge of the park.

I like the way they have ordered themselves into colour co-ordinated rows: blues at the front, pink behind; and that they all have sensibly large handbags, held by their sides.  Is there a protocol for how to carry a bag when in a kimono?

It would be fun to know where they’ve been, where they’re going and who they are; but it’s just as interesting to know none of these things and to imagine instead.