Wearing a kimono can be a daunting task, where one must follow numerous steps and protocols steeped in tradition to prevent making a fool of oneself.
And wrapping the obi around the kimono and tying a knot may be the most difficult part of the entire process, where a single mistake can ruin the silhouette and force one to start over — the main reason why according to some statistics more than 90 percent of Japanese women can't put a kimono on by themselves.
But Australian Fiona Graham — more commonly known in Japan by her geisha name, Sayuki — learned from the onset in becoming Japan's first Western geisha three years ago that there was a much simpler and practical way of wrapping an obi. This is a way that has been favored by geisha for decades: using the "tsuke-obi," one that has been cut in two, allowing women to slip into a kimono quickly without any assistance.