A Beginner’s Guide to the Japanese Art of Furoshiki
Who needs a crumpled plastic bag when you can carry anything with a pretty fabric? Discover the art of furoshiki, or traditional Japanese wrap, which has been used to transport and pack items for over a thousand years.
The word furoshiki (風 呂 敷) refers to a craft in addition to the fabric itself, which is usually decorated with colorful designs. This roughly translates to “bath (furo) spread (shiki)” because the fabric was originally used to carry items to the public bath and was later used as a kind of bath mat. Nowadays, it’s just a smart way to pack and carry bottles, food, gifts, and other items.
The first time I was drawn to art was when I was doing a little research in Japan for an upcoming trip (I’m one of those people who obsessively explore the places I visit). In this video I saw on the NHK World website , the instructor demonstrates – after about 24 minutes – how to quickly tie a container for wine, sake or liquor bottles (pictured above). Seeing this, I wondered what else could be done. Quite a lot, it turns out.
How beautifully wrapped gifts!
Why waste wrapping paper when you can wrap a gift beautifully with just a few quick knots. It looks great and you can either give the recipient the furoshiki as a bonus gift or just ask him back to use it again.
How about packing your takeout lunch or bento box?
Maybe you’d rather have a fancy handle to make it easier to carry over lunch:
Or perhaps you just want to knit a versatile handbag or shoulder bag to carry a variety of everyday items:
What do you need to get started? Well, all you need is furoshiki of course! If you manage to come to Japan and find a seller for handmade furoshiki, do so. But if not, you can find some decent options that cost around $ 10 apiece with a quick search on Amazon (many of them work for Prime). If you want to sew on your own, or prefer to use some fabric that is lying around in your house, just make sure the fabric is large enough to use and looks good on both sides. The most common furoshiki sizes are 17 to 18 inches (45 cm) and 27 to 28 inches (72 cm). Now connect!