I receive positive feedback complimenting what I teach in Sashiko Class as “uniq

I receive positive feedback complimenting what I teach in Sashiko Class as “unique”. It is probably true that not many people teach Sashiko from my perspective. “They” somewhat re-write Sashiko to Western Style. However, my teaching is NOT “innovative”. I am sharing something we forgot – or even, something we chose to NOT continue. Fortunately, I was born in the place where they “decided” to remember it as “Sashiko”. It isn’t like other established “traditional” cultures. Sashiko existed in our (their) ordinary, and therefore it is extremely difficult to find documents & records as structured form.
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I believe a folklore of “Things repeat (circulate) over 60 years (5 sets of zodiac)”. The Japanese started “reviving” Sashiko about 60 years ago. My family is one of those. In the last few years, and in the coming 5 years or so, Sashiko will be something different. That’s the cycle of change, and we as humans choose the change. If Sashiko becomes something different as our choice, I am ready to accept it, under one condition: “the change is done mindfully by acknowledging someone without power from the origin”. The current change in Sashiko happening in English is NOT wrong, but insufficient because some of the important elements of Sashiko are filtered off by Western Mindset. I used to consider this change by Western as a “good change”. However, by learning ongoing issues “in English”, I finally realize the violence of this ignorance. I understand the source of the pain I feel.
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In order for us to choose, we need to acknowledge. What I teach is something you could have learned from your great grandmother, with a bit of Japanese cultural essence. Please do not disrespect your roots. Please do not let others define what you are. Please do not follow someone’s marketing for easy answers. Sashiko isn’t for that – and that’s why we appreciate the time with “hand-stitching” in this super innovative era, right?
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考えれば考える程、刺し子とは「日常の営み」だったと思うのです。だから私達が紡ぐ言葉は、革新的なものではありません。ただ「新しい」と感じて頂けるのは、それが昔に存在して忘れかけられているものだからだろうと思います。忘却そのものが問題ではなく、その過程が存在するかと言うお話しです。西洋の正解に日本の文化が塗り替えられるのは、もう嫌なんですよ。
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2022-08-09 00:09:43

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