UBC LIBRARY BLOGGERS

As part of BCLA’s 2024 Climate Action Week, the Asian Library and Textile Cartographies Project are hosting a two-part Furoshiki Wrapping for Sustainable Gift-Giving workshop series.  

On Tuesday, November 5th, we hosted our first workshop in this series called “Planet-Friendly Wrapping: Making Furoshiki for Sustainable Gift-giving.” This event was hosted in partnership with the international Textile Cartographies Project, an arts-based participatory research group. Led by Dr. Elly Yazdanpanah, a post-doctoral fellow in Art Education at UBC, participants at this workshop sewed together their own pieces of furoshiki fabric out of fabric remnants. Attendees ranged from very proficient at sewing to brand new, but all were able to select fabric remnants of different colours, patterns, and designs and start hand-sewing them into a single sheet of furoshiki measuring approximately 50cm x 50cm. These can be used as a unique and personal way to wrap gifts, while saving scraps of fabric from ending up in landfills in the process! 

Creating Furoshiki out of fabric remnants at our workshop

Furoshiki display at the Asian Library

Our next workshop will be taking place on Tuesday, November 26th from 3:30pm-4:30pm at the Asian Library. Spots are limited, so be sure to register here: https://libcal.library.ubc.ca/calendar/vancouver/furoshiki2

You may purchase furoshiki from the Nikkei Centre for 10% off to be picked up at the second workshop. Orders must be in by Friday, November 22nd at 5:00pm. Please email asian.library@ubc.ca if you are interested in ordering and for the coupon code. 

What is Furoshiki? History and Origins 

Furoshiki refers to the practice and technique of wrapping treasured items, belongings, and gifts in a piece of cloth. The usage of cloth wraps has been part of Japanese culture for centuries, with the oldest piece of wrapping cloth dating back to the Nara Period (710-794 CE). Records at the time show these fabrics were referred to as “tsutsumi” (包), meaning ‘to wrap’. The term furoshiki itself emerged during the late Muromachi Period (1336-1573 CE) to early Edo period (1603-1868) with its widespread use in public bath houses. Furoshiki was used to wrap individuals’ clothing so they wouldn’t get mixed up with others’ and would then be used to wipe their feet and stand on while they dressed. This explains furoshiki’s etymology: furo (‘bath’, 風呂) and shiki (‘spread’, 敷). 

Beyond this initial use, furoshiki became a necessity for people’s everyday lives for wrapping, storing, and carrying objects. This regular use continued until approximately the 1970s with the wide distribution of single-use plastics. Supermarkets and department stores began offering disposable bags, and in the wake of the rapid economic growth after WW2, people started to think of furoshiki as old-fashioned or too much trouble.  

Furoshiki Today 

With environmental awareness and the need for climate action growing in Japan and around the world, furoshiki is now starting to regain popularity. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (小池 百合子 ), who was Minister of the Environment from 2003-2006, announced a campaign in March of 2006 called “Mottainai Furoshiki” to promote the use of furoshiki as an alternative to wasteful single-use plastics. An increased interest in traditional Japanese culture within Japan has also led people to rediscover the value of furoshiki.  

After the Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster of 2011, artists from Fukushima joined together to host a festival of roughly 13,000 people called Festival FUKUSHIMA!. Due to concerns over radioactive material, scientists recommended spreading some kind of cloth or sheet over the lawn. Organizers collected pieces of cloth from all over Japan to sew together into a giant furoshiki that was spread over the festival grounds. The project has crowd-funded the publication of a book with photographs of each of these large furoshiki, which you can check out from the UBC Asian Library here. 

Furoshiki Folding Techniques 

At our workshop on Tuesday, November 26th from 3:30-4:30pm, we will work together as a group to practice folding techniques. We have gathered various resources from the web that demonstrate the folding techniques we will be practicing as a group. Below are links to Japanese tutorials that are freely available online: 

Basic knots:

• Ma-musubi knot (basic knot)
  Hitotsu-musubi knot (corner knot) 

For wrapping objects: 

• Everyday Wrap (otsukai tsutsumi お使い包み)
• Double Knot Wrap (futatsu musubi　二つ結び） 
• Bow Corner Wrap/Ribbon Wrap (リボン包み) 
• Book Wrap (hon tsutsumi- 本包み) 
• Bottle/cylindrical wrapping (bin tsutsumi-瓶包み） 
  • Style 1 
  • Style 2 

To create bags: 

• Simple bag (シンプルバッグ) 
• Ribbon bag (リボンバッグ) 

Join us on Tuesday, November 26th for a full workshop including these folding techniques and more! Please pre-register here. Again, if you did not attend the first workshop or would like to obtain additional furoshiki, you can purchase furoshiki from the Nikkei Centre for 10% off to be picked up at the second workshop. Orders must be in by Friday, November 22nd at 5:00pm. Please email asian.library@ubc.ca if you are interested in ordering and for the coupon code. 

References 

Encyclopedia of Japan, s.v. “Furoshiki 風呂敷,” accessed Nov. 5, 2024, https://japanknowledge-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net.  

Kakita, Tomoko.  Furoshiki and the Japanese Art of Gift Wrapping. London: Laurence King Publishing, 2021. 

Japan. Ministry of the Environment 環境省. Koike moto kankyо̄ daiji ga “Mottainai furoshiki” wo seisaku shimashita小池元環境大臣が「もったいないふろしき」を作成しました. Last updated August 2016.  https://www.env.go.jp/recycle/info/furoshiki/index.html.  

Motion Gallery Crowdfunding Platform. Fukushima dai-furoshiki o hon ni shiyо̄! 福島大風呂敷を本にしよう！ 2023.  https://motion-gallery.net/projects/pjfbook.  

Ryall, J. (n.d.) The Spirit of Mottainai: Wrapping Beautifully with Furoshiki. Tokyo Metropolitan Government Brochure. https://www.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/english/about/tokyo/documents/tokyo_brochure_06.pdf  

Yamada Etsu and Okamoto Hiroshi 山田 悦  と  岡本寛.  Wrapping with Fabric: Your Complete Guide to Furoshiki, the Japanese Art of Wrapping. Tokyo: Tuttle, 2014.