Many many years ago, you may have mended your jeans. After 40~50 years have passed, you learn there is the word “Boro” for that. You didn’t know that there was a name for what you did. Well. Boro is a foreign word for you, so what you did may be Boro or may not. Instead of framing what you did into the current trend & wording, please be proud of what you actually did. Why isn’t just “mending jeans” enough? Why do you have to use the word “Boro”?
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I am NOT saying you shouldn’t use the word Boro. I just want you to know that the word Boro carries more than “mending whatever”. Since what you did 50 years ago wasn’t in Japan, it may be the same, or maybe different. It is, of course, “mending” for sure, but Boro? We don’t know. Therefore, please be “careful” and try to learn what “Boro” may be for one group of people: like me.
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I say this outloud because there is another group of people who use “Boro” (or Sashiko) for other purposes rather than just referring to the practice you did. It can be for “money”, “recognition as the Artist”, and “validation”. Without them, I wouldn’t speak up. It is okay when they “try” to learn what Boro means… but when they say, “I don’t care. Leave me alone (but I will keep calling it Boro)” is the form of C/A causing a lot of pain.
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Please be proud of your own culture. You do not need to name what you did from the foreign culture, so I am proud of my own culture of Sashiko & Boro. If you are interested in the Japanese culture, mindset, philosophy, and practice of Sashiko & Boro, then you will probably choose to keep learning. I welcome you here, and this account is for sharing something that people have not shared yet. I’m fine with anyone using the word, but don’t ignore.
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I am posting this because I had to work on huge emotional labor this morning toward the ignorant comment saying “Word doesn’t matter so stop whining”. (It was on a FB group – not mine) The word and name matter to me. I am learning, though, how C/A can happen.
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とんでもないことになったので、連投です。来週配信でお話します。一つお題。「襤褸（ぼろ）の核になるもの」って一体なんなんでしょうか？文化は進化すべきものだと考えますが、中心核になるものは変えたくないのですよ。いや、それにしても本当に勉強になります。
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2021-08-12 12:54:11
Is the correct term boro or boroboro?
Words do matter and thank you for posting this💐💐💐
Remendar !
補強、補修の刺し子を繰り返し行なって時間をへての襤褸だと思います。現代ではそこまでしなくてはいけない状況ではありませんが、なぜ裏側から布を当てで来たのか、襤褸やぞうきんの上で食事とかはないという考えがどうしてなのかは大事な事だと思います
Yep I agree. I’m a visible mender, I like to show the age and restoration of a garment. I don’t want to hide the garments age or history.
Yes to this ❤️
Hi
Agreed. Respect the craft and culture behind the craft.
Thank you for sharing. 💚🧵
Techniques naturally will evolve over time, using the name sashiko etc is a way of honouring the history behind the technique and crediting it’s origin, using traditional Japanese patterns in modern embroidery without referencing the Japanese origin of the technique seems disrespectful. Things move with time, if sashiko and Boro were only used now as for traditional reasons would these techniques survive?
Thank you so much. I am uplifting mending. I grew up with mending. Boro and Sashiko techniques and philosophy make my heart soar. Thank you for sharing it. I feel honored to have access to some of these wonderful techniques and will be respectfully incorporating them into my mending practices. Solidarity
Words do matter. I’m with ya. Language carries culture and a lot of folks do not understand that. Asking people to choose their words carefully and intentionally is not asking too much, especially about somethingdear to you. Too many people act and speak without thinking and without empathy. For instance, I try to practice sashiko (increase beauty of my daily wear and strengthen the fabric), but I would never say *im
I usually have to read comments and your replies a few times to come to some understanding. I think I understand that sashiko is not just specific patterns of embroidery, it is an entire practice of culture, mindset, intention, technique, and then result. So if someone is doing a stitching pattern that is similar in form to sashiko, they are really just skipping the whole of sashiko and trying to emulate the end result. It’s decoration. It’s not sashiko. Maybe this is like someone repairing a broken pot with gold paint and calling it kintsugi. They are just trying to emulate the result (maybe some try to have the intention) but they are not practicing (or achieving) the art of kintsugi.
Is this somewhat what you are trying to teach us in this post?
It really hit home when I saw someone’s decorative stitching work that they are saying is sashiko. Even to me, a westerner, it seemed rude to call it that, having read a few of your posts.
Correction of this musing would be appreciated.
it’s impossible to converse with people who think words don’t matter. they are willing to say ANYTHING and expect to have no consequences. thank you for writing this!