I have been sharing Sashiko for 8 years, both from a technical & cultural perspe

I have been sharing Sashiko for 8 years, both from a technical & cultural perspective. I have shared many videos online for free (although my video editing skill isn’t so good). Live Streaming is always available. I try my best to share stories (close to) daily here… all of my activities are for the purpose of “passing down” the Sashiko we have been practicing for decades.
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In the beginning, many of my kind friends advised me NOT to share our Sashiko online so easily as the Internet is all about “copying”. They worried I would lose the potential income source. They were 100% right. After 8 years, I see the “Form” of our Sashiko became the main trend of Sashiko. You can find it everywhere on the Internet with the same thimble & the same form – which was never available before 2017. This is the power of the Internet & “Self-Taught”. Materials are everywhere & wisdom doesn’t get compensated (or valued).
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I check other videos periodically to see what they copy and what they don’t get. Most of them do not mention the upstream (where they learned from). It makes me sad to see it because it is how “a wisdom” can be diluted, and eventually lost. In Japanese philosophy, we have the respect for a master-disciple relationship – and we even have a specific word to be a branch of its big tradition. Because of this philosophy, we (Japanese) have many interesting cultures & traditions. I am seeing the potential end of it. I won’t stop sharing – but it is pretty devastating to see “it” diluted.
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I won’t beat the “free contents”. I have a family to support. “Sashiko” has become an entertainment, and a commodity – and unfortunately, something important isn’t really preserved. All I can do is “ask for decency”, though. Without an upstream, we will lose the mainstream we benefit from.
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活動開始当初から「真似はOK」と銘打っているので、真似をして頂けるのは有難いことだと思っています。ただ、パクられるのは嫌なのです。私（達）の何十年かをかすめ取られている感じがして。日本には「師弟関係」という当たり前が存在します（正確には”存在しました”）。この師弟関係で担保されるのは、「流れ」です。源流はしっかりと明記されますから。日本文化において︎︎流という形が存在するのは先人への敬意であると同時に、日本独特の文化が守られてきた大きな一因だと思うのです。源流を蔑ろにすると、いずれ本流もなくなります。文化も一緒です。
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なんだかなぁと思うのです。こうして民間の文化は失われていくのかと思うと、そもそもの「真似はOK」が間違っていたのかもしれません。でも、信じたいのですよ、日本的な「何か」-「心意気」を。
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2024-09-21 06:26:43

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