In order to fully describe the culture of Sashiko, proper understanding of how Japanese culture has developed is essential. What is the proper understanding, then? Well, many people spend their whole life studying it, so it isn’t easy to describe on SNS in one post. Please keep learning, as I keep sharing while learning. ☆
There are, of course, reasons for my frustration toward the word “Freedom (of interpretation)”. It is crucial to understand the concept of “Mura (Village Community)”, which may be categorized as “collectivism”. In extreme terms, the freedom (as an individual) did not “exist” in the ordinary of Japanese peasant life. There are many other stories around this extreme, and I come to understand that “Sashiko” is one form of individualism in the extreme collectivism. However, someone’s saying, “It is free to interpret a word, and whatever is fine” is too shallow to accept. If they don’t use the word “Sashiko”, then I have no problem. When they use the word “Sashiko”, I hope they “try” to respect the culture behind the word. Ah, I have so much to share. ☆ – – – ☆
幼少期から刺し子に触れ合う(触れ合わざる)環境にいると、「刺し子ってなんだろう?」と考える時間は、どうしても増えます。特に”期待”と”強制”が加わると、否定から入るので、一層考えます。僕が刺し子について語るのは、そういう昔の、「一見刺し子とは関係のない読書量」からきています。 ☆ 「難しい話をしたくない」ので、できるだけ例えを使って話をするのですが、時々(頻繁に)失敗して、「こいつは何を話しているんだ?」となります(笑)。でも、きっと、語り続けることで僕自身の気持ちの整理をつけているんだろうなと。「刺し子は村社会の中の個人のあり方」と昔難しく考えたことを、3年間の配信を通して、刺し子は日本人にとっての「お味噌汁」であり、レジャーとしての「登山」だ……という感じで纏められています。本来はとてもシンプルな刺し子。わかりやすく語れるような知識と頭の回転を身に着けたいものです。 ☆
2020-06-21 12:09:20

Very eloquent and heart-felt input. Thanks for sharing your valuable knowledge this way!
👏👏👏💙💙💙gracias por compartir tu cultura 👏👏💙👏💙
この、かすり模様に柿の花、本当に素敵です💕例え話、難しいですよね〜🤣
味噌汁の例えは秀逸でしたね
Such thoughtful words.
Beautiful. 💗
Total opposite to many western culture now. As time moves on we have become more individual. Collectiveness still exists in small quantities I often refer to them as an unspoken rules I often get upset inside when they are broken but usually that or those people are not aware of the unspoken rules .
🙏