“I want to share the beauty of Sashiko. I just don’t want it to be so different from what it is”. In today’s live streaming, I phrased my feelings like this. It is my pleasure to see the Sashiko inspiring many others regardless of who they are. I believe, however, it is fair to try to share the original form of “it” instead of “free-interpretation”, since my life is(was) around it.
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The Japanese accept the “difference” quite well. We “contain” the difference and let it stay simultaneously. As I have been sharing on Patreon & Web, “Futon” you imagine is not the “Futon” in Japan. Same thing goes to Sushi, Matcha, and so on. The Japanese do not fight back so much because “They know they can keep the authenticity by themselves”. How about Sashiko? It was too ordinary for us to make a big deal. Not all Japanese know what it is. Therefore, someone has to speak up – and it is me for now. “Matcha” is not the same as grounded Green tea… Futon is not a foldable sofa… Sashiko is not a name for the pattern. When you become a smart learner, you will get more out of it. ☆
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英語で刺し子について語るのは、心底「刺し子を広めたい」と思っているから。ただ、広めたい刺し子は「(日本的な文化を包括した)刺し子」であって、なんでも良いという訳ではありません。刺し子だけじゃなくて、沢山の日本語が未完成のまま英語に翻訳されています。「抹茶」は緑茶を粉末にしたものじゃありません。でも、「手軽に飲めるお茶」として、抹茶という言葉が使われたりしています。その言葉の奥にある文化、歴史、道具、そして考え方を知って欲しいなぁと。せっかく興味を持ってくれる人がいるのであれば、もっと面白くなる所まで知ってもらえたら良いなという気持ちで、英語で配信しています。日本語?日本語での配信は学ぶことの方が多すぎて、恐縮してしまうのですよ。(刺し子の配信で抹茶の浅はかな知識を語るのは恐縮すぎる)。
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2020-06-19 15:02:22

I love your comparison and there’s absolutely no doubt about it. We experienced Japanese only truly in Japan. I say this after travelling to your country out if love for all things Japanese. 🙏
Keep up the fight!
I agree 100% I discovered I can never find real sushi anywhere but in Japan it is more than just the sushi sama it is also the environment of the rice and fish . Many different pieces make the whole .
Your expression in English is so wonderful I can almost hear you saying the above. Due to where I live I can only sometimes (if the weather is right) watch your YouTube. But it is so true. I often describe to students that if they look at how food is different in different areas of out country so too it is around the world for craft techniques & the tradition behind them
Beautiful!❤️
This is a wonderful explanation 🙏 thankyou for helping me learn
@linentow75 this beautiful work 💙
History is important, I think it’s good you teach that. Small question about original form vs free interpretation. Didn’t it start off as a basic repair technique. Feel like it went through some free interpretation along the way to achieve the patterns and beauty you utilize today. I’m sure you interpret it differently than other artisans. You do constantly say you hated it before, can’t see how that wouldn’t affect how you interpreted it over the years. I just feel like art needs to be open to interpretation to find the new. I’m not trying to be a troll but things change, it happens. Some changes take, others don’t. One thing that doesn’t is the history. Like I said initially, you’re inclusion of it is important..
Thank you for sharing the authenticity of your culture. 💚
@myeyann