We had the most amazing day dressing up in kimonos in Kyoto!
I was so happy that I found this kimono rental shop.
It was located right next to Fushimi Inari shrine, which is a fantastic location for enjoying a photo shoot with children as there is ALOT of space and areas for them to explore AND there is a gorgeous green forest up the back.
How did I find the Kimono Rental Shop? Cindy the shop owner had actually recently liked one of my photos on instagram! I was so happy she found me, because when I checked her shop instagram it looked so friendly and cute that I booked a session immediately!
I am so grateful I did – Cindy was extremely kind and patient with my energetic kids. She made it look like a breeze and my kids (and myself!) had so much fun. I had been a little hesitant to book kimono rental initially, as I thought it might be too exhausting for my kids and I wasn’t sure if they would enjoy it, but they absolutely LOVED the whole day and I am so glad I did it!
And a huge thank you to the cameraman Kazu! He was fantastic and so great with children – he was extremely patient and constantly helped them and as a result they had alot of fun during the photo shoot.
If you would like to try kimono rental, I highly recommend booking!
Here are the details:
- Kimono rental shop: Uruwashiki Kimono Rental and Wedding Salon
- Languages: Cindy can speak Japanese, Chinese and English! She also has lovely staff who can speak many other languages including Korean, French and Spanish.
- Address in Japanese: 京都市伏見区深草稲荷榎木橋町26-1
- Google map link
My son being dressed by the shop owner Cindy in the kimono under-layer before putting on his cool kimono pants and jacket. He was mesmerized by the whole process and VERY excited about the thought of looking like a samurai!
My daughter was so excited to be wearing a kimono! She kept jumping up and down so it was quite hard to put the kimono on, but the shop staff were so kind and patient! Finally she managed to settle down so they could tie the kimono into place 🙂
LOVE this beauty corner! This is where they do your hair and makeup. I highly recommend to book the hair and makeup – Cindy and her staff were extremely clever with doing hair styles. Also, I was planning to do my own makeup, but in the end I hadn’t had time and I was too tired! Haha. So I asked Cindy to do my makeup too and I am so glad I did – I was so happy with my makeup and the colours for blush and lipstick that she used, and I think it was really important for the photos!
This is me having a cup of green tea while I was waiting. So much fun! Can you see the Japanese kimono bags on the shelf? Once you are all dressed in kimono, you can leave your bags at the shop and take one of these cute kimono bags with you for the photo shoot! SO fun! They were a perfect size for my camera and purse, and really matched with the kimono outfit 🙂
All ready and waiting in the shop entrance for mummy to dress in kimono too! As you can see there are alot of kimono colours and patterns to choose from. All of them were like brand new and so beautiful. They also had alot of accessories to choose from!
Ready to walk to Fushimi Inari shrine!
There was a short fun walk to Fushimi Inari shrine. There are cute little shops and food stalls along the way.
Fushimi Inari shrine was beautiful!
My kids enjoyed ringing the bells at the shrine. It was also a great photo opportunity!
Family photo!
Photo of our photographer Kazu! He was fantastic and so kind! My kids were running all over the place, but he always managed to steer us in the right direction and take lots of photos in the process. He took over 500 photos in just 1 hour!
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How much did you pay for the rental?
Hi Claudine, thank you for your message! I paid about 20,000yen for the kimono rental for me and the kids. This was fantastic as I also had my makeup and hair done. All the prices are on the website, so I do highly recommend to check there as it shows the details. x Kate
Hello, how much did you have to pay for the photographer to go with you? and how long ?
Hi Bo, thank you for your message! The photographer was 20,000yen for 1 hour. It was fantastic and the photographer is very professional and kind, and great with kids. I highly recommend it! 1 hour was perfect as kids usually only can focus for an hour max 🙂 x Kate