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People ask: “Is it okay to do Sashiko on Denim Jeans. It isn’t traditional.” – I answer, “Yes, of course. But, please try to learn what Sashiko is”. I am NOT denying the change in culture – without changes, it isn’t culture. I just want “changes” to be sincere, not by ignorance, not for the profit of someone who doesn’t belong to.

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“Sashiko & Denim” is one change. Before I started stitching denim in 2006, it wasn’t as popular as today. I didn’t see many Sashiko & Denim done together. As I had shared an analogy with “Aspirin”, damaging the denim for the purpose of mending, and calling it Sashiko Mending, is very culturally distorted & “wrong”. Apply Sashiko stitchings to strengthen the denim fabric when the denim gets a bit soft but before a hole is probably the “original” image of Sashiko & Denim. We can prolong the denim life by Sashiko. Well, eventually, no matter how much we stitch, the denim will get a hole. Then, it is time to mend the denim with Sashiko stitching (if you want). So, I am NOT saying Sashiko mending with denim is all inappropriate. If you happen to have a hole, it is very beautiful to repair it instead of replacing it. I just want to share how “irrational” to see the act of damaging the fabric for the purpose of mending. You would feel the same if one is damaging their health by not-sleeping, yet celebrating the recovery from headache by taking aspirin.

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Mending itself is perfectly fine. However, mending isn’t the whole picture of Sashiko. I want them to learn how to stitch throughout the denim first so we can prolong the denim life before mending.

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平面裁断とか、そもそも野良着とかを作る職人さんと一緒に育ってきた環境で、「動きのある立体裁断はしないの？」とか無邪気に聞いてみたりするわけです。今でも記憶に残っているお返事が、「余り布にハサミを入れたくなくて」というもの。これは配信でも伺った、日本的な素晴らしい繊細な感覚だと思います。布には痛覚はありません。ただ、「布が痛いんじゃないか」と感じられること。また、それを言葉にしても変だと思われないことは、日本が誇るべきことだと思っています。「布の補修」は刺し子の大切な一部分です。ただ、補修をする為に布を駄目にするのは、やっぱり本質からはズレるんだろうな……と、自戒の念も込めて。僕はまだこの感性が足らなかったりするので。日々是勉強です。

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#Sashiko #JapaneseSashiko #SashikoMending #VisibleMending #SashikoStory #SashikoDenim #日本の日常 #刺し子 #刺し子デニム

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A definition is powerful. It gives us a clear description for the mutual understanding. Without proper definition, a discussion won’t be valid. However, at the same time, when a definition is done by ignorance (either with good intention or for one’s convenience), it has the power to change something important. I used to explain Sashiko as wisdom in “poverty”. Poor Japanese people practiced Sashiko. It is true that they were in extremely harsh conditions, but I now wonder if it is okay for us to define them as “poor”. This is profound advice from my new menter, Yoshiko Wada (@yoshiko_wada_). I have been thinking & imagining & researching. Translation & definition is difficult because “poverty” in Japanese – “貧しさ” has a bit different nuance. (So I think it is okay to say that Sashiko was in 貧しさ）.

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We have our personal definition of words. How do you define “being rich/wealthy”? A pile of c-notes in front of you? A digital number on the PC monitor? List of real-estate you own? I have a vivid boundary between “rich” and “decent”. For me, “being rich” means that I can purchase what I want, in a grocery store, without checking the price tag. For me, “being rich” is liberation from minor worries for next week. I do not want a fancy watch because it doesn’t mean “being wealthy” to me. I know you have different definitions. It is quite natural with wanting “money”. We just have to know that the definition can be “personalized” based on the condition.

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For me, Cultural Appropriation causes pain when people pretend that they know the definition of something foreign. Not knowing is fine. We are here to learn. I am learning – flipping all of my definitions of Sashiko as “wisdom in poverty”, thanks to Yoshiko-Sensei (She is “the” teacher of Shibori, so please learn from her, too). 

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柳宗悦氏の著書、”手仕事の日本”の一節に「貧しさの美しさ」という表現があって、（昔の）刺し子もその一つだなと思っています（刺し子は地域によって特色があるので全てではないけれど）。英語で紹介する際には、貧しさを”Poor/Poverty”を訳して紹介してきたのですが、ご縁を頂いた先生よりとても貴重なご指摘を頂きました。そう。”貧しさ”と”Poor”は、同じ意味ですが、圧倒的に違う何かがあるのです。何が違うのか。これは逆に日本語で説明することが難しい。前提とは凄いものです。必ずどこかで説明に挑戦してみようと思います。

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#Sashiko #JapaneseSashiko #JapaneseBoro #SashikoStory #Boro #SashikoDefinition #日本の刺し子 #刺し子 #襤褸 #ぼろ

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It was 2020 I wrote the script. After so many struggles, I uploaded the video about “Sashiko & Cultural Appropriation”. It is on our Youtube.

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There is a significant “twist” in translation (or filtering) when Sashiko was introduced with “mending”. Many people think Sashiko is a mending technique. It is true that mending is a part of Sashiko, but not sufficient description. Mending is a small part of Sashiko. Let me bring up a challenging analogy to explain this twist.

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When we have a headache, we take pain-killer pill. Although there is nothing wrong with pills, it is better to take care of our health so we do not need the pain killer. Sashiko is “self-care (before taking the pill)” and mending is the pill itself. The Japanese practiced Sashiko so they didn’t need to mend so often. Now, people are enjoying Sashiko as if they enjoy taking the pain-killer with neglecting their health. Even more strange, some damage themselves to have a headache so that they can take aspirin (damage the fabric to have “Sashiko mending”). There is nothing wrong with depending on the medicine. However, it is not a core of our health-care. If we start accepting that we all need to take aspirin without caring about our health, or even damaging our brain on-purpose to enjoy the aspirin, something essencial will be lost. 

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In 30+ years of my life with Sashiko, I personally never used the word “Sashiko mending” in Japanese. Yes, mending is a very important part of Sashiko, but not the core. Since many misunderstand, when non-Japanese get profit out of this “twist”, then I consider it as “C/A” which I hope I successfully described in the video. Boro is also NOT a word for mending technique (please read the past posts. The description to your question is there).

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文化が違う場所で何かを説明する時、たとえ話はとても大切です。そして、そのたとえ話が真実からズレていないか確認して下さる方々の存在はもっと大切です。たとえ話なので完全に一致はしません。でも、意味が壊れてしまうのは駄目。刺し子は味噌汁。運針は登山。英語圏での「刺し子＝補修」という流行においては、体調管理をしないで痛み止めばかりを服用している人のたとえ話を思いつきました。また配信で話すか、ビデオ作ります。薬の半分は優しさでも、半分は化学品ですからねぇ。そりゃ服用しないにこしたことはないわけで。

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#Sashiko #JapaneseSashiko #CulturalAppropriation #SashikoStory #Mending #SlowFashion #日本の日常 #刺し子

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I concluded the 400 seconds presentation on @SelvedgeMagazine with a statement: “Sashiko was a Japanese form of stitching to pray for another day to live…” Then, I received a request to elaborate what I meant by “praying”. Yes, it is my pleasure to do so. However, it requires some conditions to be shared to explain – some Japanese philosophy – which is deeply related to Animism. I added a link to my article about “Sashiko and Animism”. Please find it from my profile link. ☆ As you imagine, the “pray” in this context is a bit different from the western style of praying as defined “to address God with confession or thanksgiving”. The majority of Japanese who lived in Shinto didn’t believe in “One God” asking for forgiveness. They believed each “element” contains the spirit (God), and therefore they appreciated what they had. ☆ “Stitching to pray for another day” represents the “time to be mindful of what they had”. As much as they may have lived in harsh conditions, they appreciated what they had. This is a brief explanation of “Pray” in the context. By the way, it is kind of interesting, but in Japanese Shinto, in my understanding, the “praying for specific spirit” was a type of “contract” between human and spirit. Ah… I am going off from the main topic… anyhow, the Japanese naturally believed in animism in their ordinary, and therefore, the prayer was more like a “custom” to appreciate what they have. I will keep sharing the stories on this. Please read the article first if you are interested.

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どこで読んだのか忘れてしまったのですが、「神道におけるお参り（祈り）とは、つまりは八百万の神様との契約である」という文章に衝撃を受けた覚えがあります。西洋の絶対神への畏れや贖罪とは違い、◯◯するから●●してねという神道的なやり取りは、確かに契約っぽくて面白いなぁと思ったのです。契約って書くと少し嫌な気がするかもですが、でも、あながち的は外してない。 ☆ 現代に生きる僕らは、どうしても僕らの価値基準で物事を判断しがちです。勿論、主観がなければ何事も前に進まないのですが、同時にできるだけ客観的に過去を見つめられると良いなぁと思ったりするのです。刺し子は幻想化されてしまっていて、流れに乗る方が簡単で利も大きいんでしょうけれど、でも文化を語る以上、幻想化されて喜んでる場合じゃないとは思うんですよね。 ☆ #Sashiko #Animism #JapaneseSashiko #SashikoStory #刺し子
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March 22, 2021 at 03:00PM

Let’s “celebrate” our new name of this account, @SashikoStory…. Yeah… what a Sunday. 日本語の大切なお知らせが続きます。スクロールダウンください。 It was okay before, now the previous name “Sashi,Co” (with period, not comma) seems to be violating some Instagram rules. so, do not use period, please. Use our new name 📛 ☆ Keiko and I named it with many wishes. It is sad to change the account name here, but the new name “SashikoStory” may be more self-explanatory for what we do here. Since Atsushi & Keiko = as Sashi,Co was something we put so much effort on, please, please help us out to share Sashi,Co is now also @SashikoStory. (We will keep using the previous name in other platforms). If you have our previous name in your profile or description, your account may be restricted somehow. Please change it to @SashikoStory. Thank you very very much. ☆ All of other account I have, @upcyclestitches and @sashiko_dad are both recovered as well.

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大変お騒がせしました。原因は僕のアカウント名でした。笑えないけど、仕方ない。半分やけくそです。淳＝Sashi,Coで定着してきた感じはするし、思いも沢山込めた名前なので残念ですが、これは仕方ないです。ここインスタグラムでは新しい名前、@SashikoStoryで行きます！ ☆ 問題は、「ピリオド」だったみたいです。コンマでもハイフンでも大丈夫っぽいのですが、ピリオドだとURLだと認識されて弾かれてるみたい。これまで何も問題なかったし注意もなかったので、吃驚はしているのですが……。これまでにご縁を頂いて、以前の名前「Sashi,Co」をプロフィールに入れて下さっている心温かい方は、プロフィールに制限対象の名前があることで、ここ数日、投稿等に制限がかかってしまっていたようです。本当にごめんなさい。このアカウント自体は何もなく、自分をタグ付けすることもなかったので、今日になるまで気が付きませんでした。これに懲りず、また@SashikoStoryをタグ付け頂けると嬉しいです。今度は……大丈夫だろ……と。新しい名前で、少し違和感があるかもしれませんが、インスタグラム以外では変わらずSashi,Coを使い続ける予定です。引き続き、どうぞよろしくお願いいたします。 ☆ #Sashiko #SashikoStitching #刺し子 #SashikoStory March 21, 2021 at 07:46PM
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