The first Online Lecture (Webinar) I offered in a closed group setting was a great success. I am now preparing for the lecture on Sashiko for both in-person & Online. It is NOT a workshop or class to teach the technique. It is more like a “Story-Sharing” in a presentation style. Although I have so many stories to share, the messages can be summarized into several topics. In order to offer an enjoyable (Online & In-person) Lecture, I would like to understand which story resonates with them, or inspires them the most.
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Could you please comment here if you have a specific story, concept, mindset, or any writing I have done here that was powerful enough for you to keep it in your memory? I share so many stories that I cannot locate when & where I shared. However, I can write the same story again over and over.
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As I did not know what to teach in 2017 because everything was so ordinary to me, it is challenging for me to understand which story is “better” for non-Japanese audience. Your feedback will help me to develop a lecture, or even Youtube videos. Thank you for your time in advance!
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10年前、大槌刺し子について初めて人前でお話したのが、刺し子に関した講演の初回でした。その後、ご縁を頂ける範囲で人前でお話をさせて頂いてきました。配信もそんな講演の大切な練習だったりします。こうして思いを共有し続けることで、ワークショップの依頼だけではなく、ワークショップに付随する形で講演を依頼されることも増えてきました。原則として針を動かして運針の実感をして頂きたいので、ワークショップに注力をするわけなのですが、同時に「話だけでも聞きたい」と思って下さる人がいることは、とてもとても有り難いことだなと思っています。
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日本語で刺し子を話す時、ある程度の台詞を持って話をしています。わかりやすく響きやすい言葉が、存在します。「刺し子は味噌汁みたいなものだ」という長年使っている例えは、僕が伝えたい刺し子の本質を的確に表現していると思うのです。英語だと、どのような表現が一番響き、また伝わるのか。これは実践を通して学んでいく必要があるのかなと思っています。願い続けて、望み続けて10年目で一つの形ができました。ここから10年後には、もっと講演という形でも刺し子についてお話をしていけたらいいなと思っています。ワークショップと両輪としながら。
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2021-08-01 13:29:34
Your story about working with the women after the tsunami. And how it changed your feelings about Sashiko
The story about that you left Sashiko but then you came back to it. Many of us may try to escape our past, even a cultural past, but our past truly does follow us and wet cannot deny it.
I am interested in all that you share. But I do want to learn more of the meaning of sashiko so that I can be more respectful of the practical , artistic and cultural sitching of the homeland of my Japanese Aunt Rose. She married my Uncle when he was stationed in Tokyo with the U.S. Army in the early 1950’s.
i remember your earlier post about animism and how sewing needles are respected within sashiko. it’s interesting to me because i’m american/canadian where the culture is instead heavily centered on the disposability of items, clothing and mending tools included. i do try to be sustainable and reuse as long as possible but i do often find myself falling into the trap of wanting something shiny and new. i don’t know much about animism but after seeing your post about respecting the sashiko needle it made me realize it would be much easier to appreciate my smaller items / older items if i treated them like they were deserving of respect, or like they carried/embodied the stories of experiences theyve been through in order to have the signs of wear that they do
For me, it isn’t the story as such. For me, it is your enthusiasm and emphasis to make us understand what sashiko means, was and is. Perhaps, a way to start is to explain why is that important. X
I would happily listen to any stories you tell!!
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The topic -and all the stories around that- that resonates with me the most is cultural appropriation and the pain that it causes. I wasn’t aware of that before, now I’m learning. 🙏🏼
I often think about the special day for thanking your old broken needles. That story really has stayed in my memory, there’s something really beautiful about it.
All the times you’ve talked about sashiko being seen as “mending” (only) in the west versus what sashiko in its totality is. I totally believed that sashiko is a style of mending things (only!) When I first ever learned about it. It took a little while to learn how to be ‘doing’ sashiko outside of just mending. “Sashiko makes the fabric stronger!” Is a phrase that has stuck to my mind. Also, as an aside, the idea of there being “sashiko fabric”. I have used all kinds of stuff for sashiko and sometimes the fabric fought with me and my needle- I was learning how to ask the fabric how it wanted to be stitched. I have some old Japanese fabric and something about the weave feels like it is perfect for sashiko- the fibers just “make a path” for your thread. Is that what the ‘sashiko fabric’ is?