For the next few minutes or so, they’d keep apologizing that the gift was crappy, while putting away their furoshiki. Their furoshiki often had their family name or kamon (family emblem) embroidered on and it’d be used again as a gift wrapper on their next house visit. Furoshiki is not only elegant but eco-friendly. Furoshiki – Traditional Gift Wrapping Cloth of Japan!
Presenting a gift wrapped in a furoshiki in Japan
You can also use furoshiki in your everyday life. When I was a senior high school student in Yokohama, my lunch box was always wrapped in a small furoshiki. At lunch time the furoshiki would become a luncheon mat on the otherwise very dry school desk.
Obento lunch box wrapped in a sakura cherry furoshiki
This is why we started to offer a furoshiki gift wrap service at Takaski.com. If you are buying gifts for birthday, anniversary, school graduation, retirement, etc, it’s worthwhile to get a furoshiki wrap so that the receiver of your gift can recycle the furoshiki.
How did the culture of furoshiki get started in Japan? Furoshiki began to be used in the middle of the Nara period (AD 710 to 794), in traditional Japanese onsen baths. The removed clothing was tied up in furoshiki and the aim was to prevent mixing up the bathers’ clothes. Gradually the system of folding spread and was used by merchants and traders to protect their goods or gifts. Just like we do today now at Takaski.com
Sadly, though, this cool cultural practice of furoshiki began fading away as the plastic bags became more readily and cheaply available in Japan. Why bother carrying a furoshiki when you could easily buy a pressy wrapped in a plastic bag in a matter of a second?
In recent years, though, furoshiki is coming back in a big way. The Japanese Ministry of the Environment has organized several campaigns to promote the use of furoshiki again, to ensure environment protection in Japan and worldwide. The culture of furoshiki is thus increasingly popular overseas and more and more foreigners are turning to furoshiki as a support for environment.
For instance, a research group in Argentina promotes the use of furoshiki through the investigation of techniques and ways to adapt to Argentine customs.
Also, how cool is it to use a furoshiki with your name or kamon on it when you present a gift? I just goes to show that you care about environment and take good care of your belongings.
Furoshiki production is one of the oldest industries in Japan
Currently, furoshiki are made of different fabrics, including silk, cotton, rayon and nylon.There is no one set size for furoshiki, they can range from hand sized to larger than bed-sheets. Furoshiki could cost from US$3 to thousands of dollars depending on the size, the material used and the fame of the producer.
We offer a wide range of furoshiki and you can find the one that you are looking for at Takaski.com. If you like to have your name or kamon (family emblem) embroidered, we can do that, too. It’d be just so cool to be able to own a special furoshiki that can be used, reused and passed down on to your offsprings for many generations to come!
Why not start using elegant and eco-friendly furoshiki in your daily life and make a difference?
