I was born in a Sashiko family in 1983. In 2008, I started facing Sashiko as “work/business”. Ever since, with many ups and downs, I have been thinking how we can “continue (make it sustainable)” the Sashiko. Recently, I developed the phrase – “I would like to pass down Sashiko”.
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A decade ago, Sashiko described in English made me happy. It was my goal to make Sashiko as a “trend”. Although I wasn’t allowed to “teach” Sashiko officially, I met many good people from all over the world in our store. I even thought – “it is such a fortunate thing that western people introduce Sashiko” after receiving several comments that some western people deserve the respect for translating the culture from Japanese to English. Please don’t get me wrong. I sincerely respect some of them. However, I just cannot keep silent in “filtering” the culture.
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It isn’t very Japanese thing to do by saying something straight forward, but here it is. “Sashiko requires a thimble”. Some Sashiko in Japan don’t use thimble, but when one talks about the “general” Sashiko in English, they need to share/teach the use of thimble in order to avoid the filtering. A thimble isn’t optional. It is a must.
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If you aren’t sure about the thimble, please learn from us. Many of our students think the thimble is the must to have in enjoying Sashiko. It is a life-time skill, and that’s how we can pass down the culture of Sashiko.
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度々書いてきていることなのですが、改めて。「日本語以外で刺し子を教える(伝える場合)、刺し子に指ぬきは必要ないと教えることは文化を歪めてしまう」と上記の英語で書きました。僕達の刺し子にとって指ぬきは必須です。どんな指ぬきにしろ、指ぬきが必須な刺し子作家さんは多いと思います。もちろん、指ぬきがなくて刺し子を楽しんでいらっしゃる人もいると思います。日本語で刺し子をする上では、それは自由だと思います。ただ、日本語以外でそれを伝える際、「刺し子=指ぬきは必要ない」という一般化には、疑問を投げかけていくつもりです。出汁がとれない日本料理人とか嫌なんですよね。
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#Sashiko #Thimble #SashikoThimble #CulturalAppropriation #JapaneseSashiko #SashikoStitching #刺し子 #指ぬき
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