“Wagara-Yukataji Aloha Shirts” made of domestically produced fancy Yukata cloth with traditional Japanese patterns are developed, designed and sold by KANTARO’S. Tsuyoshi Fujii, the owner of the shop, gave the name to the products. A Japanese taste and a Western style are successfully blended, while there are no oversights in every detail. As the cloth sold for Yukata is 40 cm in width, two pieces of cloth are sewed together at the back. Two back tucks are made for easy movement and air permeability. Buttons are made of natural materials, mainly bamboo. The Chest, waistline, sleeve width and armhole opening are made loose. The sleeve is sewed to the sleeve cap and stitches are given on the seam. Before going on sale, the prototypes had been tried on by a lot of people with various body types and improved in the process of trial and error. Mr. Fujii says, “We made efforts to design it so that the front piece won’t be pulled up even when worn by a person with a little potbelly. We are also careful about the patterns of the pockets to fit those on the body pieces. As is explained by Mr. Fujii, there are thoughtful considerations given to cover for our figures.

Urushi-ring is an acrylic based ring with a lacquered top created by Masako Ban, an internationally acclaimed accessory designer. Her innovative application of materials and appreciation for Japanese craft techniques has taken her design to a new frontier. The simply designed yet profoundly deep urushi-ring distills the essence of modernism in Japanese craft work today. Manufacture requires highly skilled techniques to lacquer on the small surface of the ring. and achieving the perfect color and texture takes considerable time. After much trial and error, using different craft artists, each expert in their own acrylic and lacquer techniques, and combining the sum of their skills, she perfected this unique piece in which two materials; acrylic and lacquer, delicately complement each other. This is a ring which over time as the piece ages, the gloss and colors change subtlety and the more you can appreciate its beauty.

Waka is a form of Japanese poetry also known as Yamato Uta (songs) or '31 letters'.
  
Tanka poetry is one branch of waka. Already in the Nara or early Heian periods, the 'Manyoshu' ('Collection of a Myriad Leaves'), had been compiled consisting of tanka. In the Heian period, nagauta and sedoka poetry lost their popularity and waka came basically to mean tanka.
  
Tanka consist of 5 phrases of 5,7,5,7,7 words each or 31 letters.  This is the only rule for tanka; there are no others. You can choose whatever topics you like, for example, daily life, nature, etc.

Tanka has various forms that enable the expression of a wide variety of feeling. Set epithets may be put in front of some special word; puns may be used using homonyms, words with the same pronunciation, but different meanings.
  
People will continue to compose Waka poems that will change as the use of words change, too.