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Tag: 更鐵

Furoshiki and the Elegance of Simplicity

By:
Ai Kanazawa
March 20, 2013Textiles Saratetsu

Furoshiki by Saratetsu in our shop ->

Japanese love to puzzle about how to make simple things elegant. Everyone knows about Origami, but there is also wrapping cloth or Furoshiki, which can be described as the textile version of Origami.

I have been exploring creative ways of using these square pieces of fabric over the past few weeks.

Butterfly pattern furoshiki draped over sofa back
Butterfly pattern furoshiki draped over sofa

This beautiful furoshiki was hand-dyed onto linen by Saratetsu in Tokyo using a stencil with a vintage butterfly motif. I have previously blogged and posted on Youtube about the story of furoshiki stencil-dyeing, but I want to explain in this blog about its history, tradition, and uses.

A butterfly furoshiki bag hanging on a peach tree.
A butterfly furoshiki bag hanging on a peach tree.

Wrapping cloth known as Tsutsumi have been mentioned in writings from as far back as the 8th Century AD. One reference is to a cloth wrapped around an imperial costume stored in the Todaiji Shosoin Imperial Repository in Nara. So the practice of wrapping things for storage has been taking place in Japan for more than 1300 years.

And it was not that long ago that these simple but versatile cloths were part of everyday Japanese life. They were used to carry or store away practically anything. Even children wrapped their books in furoshiki to go to school.

Hon-tsutsumi, or the ‘two books carry wrap’
Hon-tsutsumi, or the ‘two books carry wrap’

Using furoshiki for carrying personal items fell out of fashion in post-World War II Japan when owning a Western-style bag became fashionable. At around the same time, Japanese department stores started giving paper bags to customers to carry their purchases. I remember when I was a young girl enjoying the status symbol feeling of carrying a paper bag from a major department store such as Isetan.

Despite the waxing and waning of fashion fads, if furoshiki did not efficiently serve its purpose, how could it have survived for more than a millennium? As I explored and experimented in different ways to using a furoshiki, I discovered many advantages of using this benign piece of square cloth.

Three same size furoshiki they only become as big as the items you are carrying
Three same size furoshiki. They only become as big as the items you are carrying.

First, they are flexible. They only become as big as what you carry in it. Secondly, they are easy to clean. If you’re coming home from the beach carrying a sandy towel, all you have to do is to dust it off.  Moreover, if you are giving away or returning the content, you can fold it away after use. This is especially useful when you are taking a bottle of wine to a dinner or returning a library book. This adaptable and continuous use of furoshiki makes them economical and environmentally friendly.

The Japanese Ministry of the Environment has a wonderful site where they have diagrams of different ways of using a furoshiki. For all you book worms, the hon-tsutsumi, or the ‘two books carry wrap’ is especially intriguing and my favorite. Next time you go on a picnic, maybe you’ll be inspired to take your lunch or favorite books in a furoshiki. Now that would be a fashion statement for the ages.

KotoKoto Visits a Dye Studio Engaged in the Disappearing Art of Yuzen Hand-Dyeing

By:
Ai Kanazawa
May 20, 2012Textiles Saratetsu

Hand-dyed wrapping cloth by Saratetsu in our shop ->

Take a look at this silk fabric that has been dyed into deeply contrasting colors on its two opposing sides.

Silk wrapping cloth by Saratetsu Tokyo.
Silk wrapping cloth by Saratetsu Tokyo.

This is the work of Saratetsu, the last remaining hand-dyer of wrapping cloth (or furoshiki) in the central 23 wards of Tokyo. Owned and operated by Hagiwara Ichizo, Saratetsu has been dyeing yuzen-style for three generations since 1910. Ai was given a tour of their studio in early May.

Yuzen is a method of dyeing fabric by using sticky rice husk resist. Hagiwara-san says that by only using this traditional dye resist is it possible for a thin fabric such as silk to be dyed into a different color on each side. While many dyers in Japan have switched to machines and other more economical methods, Saratetsu has continued to carry on the yuzen tradition by dyeing everything by hand.

Yuzen dyeing is extremely labor intensive, involving detailed accuracy and care at each step of the process.

In the following photographs, yuzen-dyer Harima Jun of Saratetsu demonstrated the dyeing process for KotoKoto:

Preparing the wooden dye board by misting it with water to activate the rice resist
Placing the fabric on the board
Placing the paper stencil with pins

 

Applying dye resist onto the fabric

 

 

 

 

 

carefully removing the stencil
Sliding the stencil to continue the pattern.
Then going back and repeating this process many, many times!

Saratetsu specializes in free hand and stencil yuzen-dyeing, and their attic is full of hand carved paper stencils that were previously used. The patterns of old stencils are beautiful and continue to appeal to our modern eyes. KotoKoto is discussiing with Saratetsu to revive one of these old paper stencils onto fine linen.

Can we do it?

Read the next blog post about Saratetsu ->

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