FUROSHIKI, Versatile Japanese Ways of Using a Piece of Cloth

What is Furoshiki

Furoshiki is a piece of cloth used to wrap personal belongings for carrying. It was essentially what is now a bag, but relevant still. Just one piece of cloth in your bag can save you in a pinch, if you know how to use it.

History of Furoshiki

Furoshiki was not always known as "Furoshiki," but as many different names through thousands of years of its use, since it is pretty much just a square piece of fabric. As far as we know from writing, it was known as "Koromo (clothes) Zutsumi (wrapper)," "Hira (flat) Zutsumi / Tsutsumi(wrapper)"

The word "Furo (bath) Shiki (mat)" started being used around Muromachi era (1336-1573). There has always been a culture of public baths in Japan, and back in Muromachi era, they were steam baths, not soaking kind. It is recorded that Shogun (general) Ashikaga Yoshimitsu built a bath house and invited some Daimyos (feudal lords), where they used cloth with their family crest on it to store their clothing and to change on top of. Hence it is thought that the name "Furoshiki" started around then.

By Carmel Rose Dudley Argaman (כרמל רוז דדלי ארגמן), CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=176887882

How to use Furoshiki

There are many ways to use Furoshiki. They are not only great doubling as a gift and a gift wrapper, but also as a shape-shifting bag depending on what you are carrying. It can also be used as a table cloth, or just as a part of interior to cover parts of a space. I am not a Furoshiki expert, nor I have many sizes of Furoshiki, but I found a great website showing many ways to tie it to make bags. There are also many Youtube videos showing how to use Furoshiki.

https://www.kyoto-musubi.com/wrap/wrap_03.html

You can also add handles to make a bag instead of making handles with Furoshiki itself. The website below lists many inspirational usage of Furoshiki, from toilet roll covers to wearing it as a top.

https://www.e-furoshikiya.co.jp/SHOP/181491/181494/list.html

Heinz Huster, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

In Edo period (1808-1868) use of Furoshiki has spread to civilians mainly to carry and store belongings at bath houses, and eventually just to go out and about. In Meiji period (1868-1912) the use of Furoshiki has expanded to using it as part of a gift, as a gift wrapper. Japan has a deep tradition of gifting, which may be another topic for my blog.

For about a decade after the WWII, people who lived in cities and without their own farms used Furoshiki to carry groceries and essentials. When economy started to recover, paper shopping bags were invented, and with that, fabric bags. But Furoshiki remained strongly in Japanese culture, because of its convenience and versatility. Though I do not know if other families use Furoshiki regularly as mine, I remember my lunch box being wrapped in Furoshiki every time there was a school excursion (while at school, lunches were provided by school) in primary school. My mother would also wrap family lunches when we went on small trips on weekends.

Furoshiki now is more commonly used as a gift wrap, using beautifully designed cloths. There are many materials (silk, cotton, rayon, polyester) and sizes. They are traditionally not a perfect square but one side is 2-3% longer than the other. These days there are some that are squares. They can really be any size, but most commonly 45cm、50cm、70cm、90cm、100cm、120cm.

People carrying their belongings in Furoshiki in Edo Period. From The National Library Archives

I have 2 rayon Furoshikis that I bought in Japan.

Bottle wrapped can be a beautiful gift.

Any piece of fabric can be used to wrap or to tie knots to turn into a bag. This is also an eco friendly way of living with thousands of years of history. I myself want to master the use of Furoshiki, and start a collection (or make them with my favorite fabrics) of them.