Furoshiki is a choice.

Why I Choose Furoshiki.

Once a month, I attend a kimono styling class where I study how to style and wear one beautifully. My regular lessons take place at my teacher’s home nearby, but from time to time, I visit a kimono shop where bolts of beautiful fabric are displayed. One of the great pleasures of the class is being able to work with high-quality kimono and obi, creating different combinations and learning through hands-on experience. In the middle of summer, traveling in a kimono requires a fair amount of thought and preparation.

In July and August, we wear usumono, lightweight summer kimono made from sheer fabrics such as ro, sha, and ra.

What to wear.
Which obi to pair with it.
How to coordinate the obi-age and obi-jime.
And how to stay comfortable in the heat.

With kimono, there is something to consider at every step, from putting it on to styling it and wearing it well.

Over the years, I have seen many people wearing kimono.
And I feel that not many people have found their own sense of style in the way they wear it. I am still learning, too.
Simply wearing a kimono does not necessarily make everyone look beautiful.

The color you love is not always the color that suits you best. With kimono, where a large area of fabric sits close to your face, the difference becomes especially noticeable.

Depending on how you wear it, a kimono can make you look older or add visual weight to your figure. For a long time, I was also bothered by the feeling that I looked heavier when wearing kimono.

Traditional kimono are constructed primarily with straight lines. To create a balanced silhouette, the curves of the body are often adjusted with padding so the overall shape becomes more column-like. I have a narrow waist with more curves around my bust and hips, so I need some adjustment when I wear kimono.

To be honest, I never particularly liked this part. Adjusting my body to fit the kimono, in order to achieve a beautiful silhouette, always felt a little uncomfortable to me.

Perhaps that is why I have come to understand that wearing kimono requires creativity.

It is not something you learn in a day.

You wear it.
You try something.
You make mistakes.
Then you make another adjustment.

Through this process, little by little, you begin to understand what works for you.

Perhaps wearing kimono is not simply about carrying on a traditional form of dress. It is also a way of developing your own sense of beauty and personal style.

With Western clothing, there are many sizes and styles to choose from.

It takes less time to get dressed, and once you find something that fits you well, you are ready to go.

I love Western clothing too.

There is a well-known story about Steve Jobs choosing to wear essentially the same outfit every day because he did not want to spend time deciding what to wear.

From the perspective of efficiency, that is one perfectly reasonable choice.

But lately, I have come to appreciate the value of choosing and making small adjustments.

What do I wear?
What do I pair it with?
How do I want to present myself?
How do I want to use it?
And how do I make it my own?

I believe those small choices, repeated over time, become part of who we are.

And this is where I see the same quality in furoshiki.

A furoshiki does not have one fixed purpose.

You choose the size according to what you want to carry or wrap.

You change the knot according to the purpose.

You change the way you carry it.

Sometimes it becomes a bag.
Sometimes it wraps a gift.

One square piece of cloth can take on a completely different form simply through the way you tie it.

That is where your own creativity comes in.

And through those choices, your personality begins to show.

Kimono and furoshiki share something important.

Neither begins as a completely finished form.

You choose.
You arrange.
You tie.

And through that process, Creation begins.

That is why I choose furoshiki.

Because it is considerate of the environment.
Because it is part of Japanese tradition.

Of course, these are important qualities of furoshiki.

But they are not the whole story.

“I choose this.”

Making that decision for yourself.

Then finding your own way to use it.

That is where I find the beauty of furoshiki.

Both kimono and furoshiki require a little extra thought.

And perhaps that is why we develop a deeper attachment to them.

Perhaps that is why we want to take care of them and keep using them.

There are also different choices when it comes to materials.

I personally love cotton furoshiki hand-printed by artisans.

The texture of the fabric.
The character of the dye.
The traces of human hands in the making.

There is something you feel when you touch it, and something that grows with continued use.

That is why I am committed to creating furoshiki made from hand-printed cotton.

At the same time, recycled polyester furoshiki are also available in other parts of the world.

Using discarded materials again as a resource is another way of thinking about sustainability.

Cotton has its own qualities.
Recycled polyester has its own qualities.

I do not believe one is right and the other is wrong.

What matters is knowing the characteristics and background of the materials, and then choosing what feels right for you.

What you wear on a hot day.
Which obi you pair with it.
Which bag you carry.

Just as you make choices according to the occasion, you can choose your furoshiki according to the material, color, pattern, and how you want to use it.

There is no single answer.

There is only:　“I choose this.”

And I believe our individual sensibility begins to show through those choices.

In tea ceremony, kimono, and furoshiki, I value the experience of encountering something authentic.

When we encounter something made with care, we begin to understand its background.

We sense the hands of the people who made it.

And we develop a desire to treat it with care.

I hope furoshiki will become part of everyday life, not something reserved only for special occasions.

Choose something that feels right for you, and find your own way to use it.

What matters is not following someone else’s definition of the correct choice.

It is making your own choice.

Choose how you use your furoshiki.
Choose how you tie it.
Choose the material.
Choose the color and pattern.

Let your own sensibility become part of every choice.

I love living this way.

I choose furoshiki.

What kind of furoshiki will you choose?