DIY Life

Have you heard of furoshiki? These traditional Japanese square cloths are getting a lot of attention lately, as a "green" alternative to wrapping paper and plastic shopping bags. Furoshiki means "bath spread" -- in feudal Japan, they were used to bundle and protect people's clothing at public bath houses, but over the years, their standard use has been to tie up any bundle you can imagine (they've even been used as baby carriers). The word is pronounced something like "f'-ROHSH-kee".

The term is a general one, not referring to any particular size or pattern, though most are around one-and-a-half to a little over two feet on a side. They usually have a printed pattern and a stitched hem around the edges. Unlike wrapping paper, which is often too creased and weak to effectively reuse, furoshiki can be part of a gift, and can be used again and again. They can also be tied up in various ways to make an "instant bag."

See much more about furoshiki, including diagrams, videos, alternatives, and places to shop, after the break!

They have created a page, also available as a downloadable PDF, showing many ways to wrap and tie furoshiki. If not using furoshiki as gift wrap, you can use them to protect and carry two books, or a watermelon, or bottles of wine. If you are using a furoshiki as a gift wrap, why not print out the PDF and include it with the gift?

For more information on the history and cultural uses of furoshiki, check out this 1994 article from The Tomen Journal. The author explains that there's a knack to tying them so that they're the most useful, so don't be discouraged if the furoshiki shoulder bag you made doesn't work out the first time. If you want even more details than that, try this Google Books excerpt of Kunio Ekiguchi's Gift Wrapping: Creative Ideas from Japan.

InfomapJAPAN has another great article about furoshiki. They mention that one of the supposed traditions surrounding gift-wrap furoshiki -- that the cloth should be returned to the giver with a small gift inside -- is debatable.

Layers of Meaning shows some furoshiki-type products, like a laptop computer wrap and a cloth with built-in handles, and refers us to Life in Kyoto, a site with particularly pretty photos of furoshiki in use.

A recent exhibit in Tokyo of new furoshiki designs by numerous artists also touched on this trend.

There are a handful of interesting videos about furoshiki at YouTube. Check out the following:

• Furoshiki (KKS News) (about 2.5 minutes): English narration, but it's drowned out by a Japanese dub. Some fast animations of folding techniques, as well as a furoshiki fashion show. "Furoshiki is wonderful! Furoshiki is joyful! Furoshiki is useful! Furoshiki is beautiful!"
• Kakefuda Kyoto - Famous Furoshiki Store (about 8 min): English narration. One of the shop's workers demonstrates folding technique in more detail than the previous video, showing several styles of carrying bag and various wrappings. (Ironically, though, check out the very non-green packaging of the ladies' purchases at the end of the video! A furoshiki in a package in a paper bag. Japan is famous for over-packaging.) Probably the most useful of these videos.
• How to FUROSHIKI wrapping (a little over 1 min): no real narration. This is similar to the Kakefuda video, in that it seems to have been shot in the same location and features the first "teardrop" style of bag shown in that video. It's less informative, but it's shorter, and of lower quality, meaning it's an easier download.

Furoshiki can be made of various fabrics, but are often made of rayon chirimen crepe. Rayon chirimen crepe cannot be hand-washed: it will stiffen if you soak it in water. It must be dry-cleaned (or just never washed -- dry cleaning isn't the most eco-friendly process). For this reason, you'll see some furoshiki made of other fabrics. The Life in Kyoto site mentioned above says that cotton ones are to be tied tightly, while silk should only be tied loosely.

If you're interested in trying furoshiki, but don't want to spend the money for the authentic Japanese model, why not try it with a bandana or a large, thrifted scarf? Imports aren't very eco-friendly anyway, and furoshiki are often used in just the same way that non-Japanese people might use a big, square scarf.

If you sew, you could also make your own from any fabric you like: just handkerchief-hem a square of fabric (the blog Mommy Cooks has some good instructions for furoshiki, if you need them; there's a similar "make a furoshiki" article at eHow). If you want to make an "authentic-looking" furoshiki without using rayon chirimen crepe, consider polyester or cotton chirimen crepe, which are washable. Fabric Tales is a wonderful place to buy Japanese-style fabrics, but if you want something from your local craft store, go for a colorful synthetic crepe.

If, however, you'd like an authentic furoshiki, try the following resources:

• JUN Japanese Gifts has a furoshiki section with a wide selection of colors, prints, and sizes. Mostly rayon, but they have several styles in cotton and silk. Some of the silk furoshiki are extremely expensive (around $300), but other styles start around $18.
• Wahooya Traditional Japanese Style has a good furoshiki selection with slightly lower prices than JUN Japanese Gifts. They show some double-sided cloths, as well as some that have been attractively folded and packaged. (Wahooya has also created a strangely relaxing YouTube video showcasing some of their wares.)
• Buy4AsianLife has a smaller selection of furoshiki, priced on the high side, including the little apparatus you can use to hang one on the wall.
• Hospitality Japan's furoshiki selection is nice, but the prices are in yen, so they may look higher than they really are.
• There isn't much to buy at Furoshiki.com at the moment -- just one cloth -- but check out the gallery and the links.
• Natalie at CRAFT posted a while ago about "Furochic," a new American take on the concept, which might interest some people. The cloth squares, created by Jenny Wren Paperie, retail for $12, which is on the inexpensive end for furoshiki.
• A Froogle search on furoshiki turns up an array of options.

[suggested by this post on Spluch.]