Japan is known for its simple yet very stylish folding techniques, which are especially noticeable with origami figures. However, there is another special art of folding:furoshiki. Furoshiki is a Japanese art form with which various creations can be made by knotting and folding cloths. Furoshiki gifts wrapped in cloths are becoming a real hype, not least because it is environmentally friendly.
Furoshiki is a fun and environmentally friendly way to pack and take things with you. Furoshiki occupies an important place in the daily life of Japanese people:it is actually a kind of lifestyle. Instead of packing things in plastic bags, groceries and other things are wrapped in cloth by means of furoshiki. Large furoshiki cloths are used as tablecloths, to decorate walls, as a scarf and to create a unique Japanese dress. Furoshiki is rightly an art form that has many applications.
Furoshiki probably originated in the Edo period (1615-1868) when public baths became popular. Originally, the square cloths made of cotton or silk (75cmx75cm or larger) were used to transport bath items, which is why the name 'furoshiki' is derived. 'Furo' means 'bath' and 'shiki' means 'cloth'.
In addition to bath items, the furoshiki also provided clean clothes for after bathing. Then they went to change clothes on the canvas. Not only the upper class uses furoshiki, the ordinary worker soon saw its use, packed his goods in furoshiki and when they arrived at the market, the stuff was displayed and sold on the furoshiki.
In addition to transporting bath items, 'fukusa' was used during the tea ceremony:the cloth covered the unused objects. Over the centuries, the use of furoshiki became more common and extensive.
Nowadays furoshiki is not only used in Japan, Western countries are also becoming more and more interested in this special way of packaging. Furoshiki is especially used when wrapping presents.
Although people in the West may pay less attention to it, in Japan you can't just use any random cloth for furoshiki. Especially not when it comes to wrapping a present. Each canvas is specially selected for use, culture, symbolism, structure and material. Perhaps it makes little difference to outsiders, in Japanese culture furoshiki is a ritual that is performed with care from the choice of cloth to wrapping.
To understand the true value of furoshiki, one must first understand what it means to give gifts in Japan. Giving and receiving gifts is a subtle affair in Japan. Anyone who receives a gift in Japan keeps a record of who has received what. This makes it possible to return a gift of the same value to the giver next time, to avoid embarrassing the first giver.
The idea behind this is as follows:if you give a more expensive gift, the first giver is obliged to buy a more expensive gift the next time. If you buy something that has less value than the gift you received yourself, you insult the first giver.
Since many gifts are given back and forth in Japan, many presents are kept and passed on again. To avoid returning a giver's own gift, it is understandable that one has to keep a complete bookkeeping in this way. When handing over a present, preferably with two hands, people say:“Tsumaranai mono desu ga….” (it's actually nothing, but still….).
Gifts are not wrapped in ordinary wrapping paper, but in a cloth using furoshiki.
Not only is the giving of a gift important, the presentation and packaging of a gift is just as important. Furoshiki is used for this purpose. Furoshiki in combination with a traditional gift is used to give seasonal gifts, to thank someone in a special way, for birthdays etc.
The pattern on the cloth used is specially selected so that it is beautifully expressed during packaging. Indirect communication plays an important role in Japanese life and also emerges through furoshiki:it is an expression of kindness, dignity and respect towards the recipient.
The following can be cited as an example:if you lend a book, you should not be surprised if you receive the book back wrapped in traditional furoshiki.
Even the Japanese parliament uses furoshiki:instead of suitcases, parliamentarians carry their documents in a large purple furoshiki. Older Japanese women wear furoshiki in their kimono to carry all the small groceries.
Furoshiki can be done in many ways and each method has a different name:
The advantage of furoshiki is that you not only give the gift itself, but that the cloth used is already a gift in itself, especially if you use a silk cloth with a beautiful pattern to wrap the gift. Fursohiki is certainly applicable to any gift:nice to wrap a romantic gift, but also original to wrap a gift for mother or a gift for father.
Where it is part of the culture in Japan, this is starting to become a hype in Europe. Not so much attention is paid to the different knotting techniques. Less value is also attached to selecting special cloths. Here it is a way to wrap gifts in a sustainable and budget-friendly way.
