焔Maison HomuraShop
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五 · Cloth — Everywhere in Japan

Furoshiki

The name means bath spread. You stood on it while you undressed, then wrapped your clothes in it.

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Furoshiki — Everywhere in Japan
Everywhere in Japan · Named in the Muromachi period

At a Muromachi bathhouse you spread your cloth on the floor, stood on it to undress, and knotted your clothes inside it while you bathed. Furo, bath; shiki, to spread. The name has outlived the practice by five hundred years.

What survived is a square of cloth with no fixed purpose, which turns out to be the most useful thing in a house. It is a bag, a wrapper, a parcel, a cushion, a sunshade. The shape it takes depends entirely on the knot, and the knots have names.

Furoshiki — from the left
From the left

None on the shelf right now. We find these one at a time. Leave your email and we will write the day a Furoshiki arrives — nothing else.

On the shelf now, from other workshops

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Pieces like this come and go, and most of what the house finds never goes online.

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How it works
  1. Write to the house. A person in Fukuoka replies, usually within a day or two.
  2. When a piece is agreed, the house sends you a private payment link, and you pay by card.
  3. It ships from Japan.

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Pick a budget and who it is for — that is enough. We write back with photographs, condition and a price.

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Furoshiki — at the workshop
At the workshop
How it is made
  1. 染めSome

    Dyed by stencil or by hand, most often in indigo.

  2. 裁ちTachi

    Cut square — the size is chosen for what it will carry, not for a shelf.

  3. 縫いNui

    Hemmed on all four sides, since every side becomes a knot.

  4. 包みTsutsumi

    The last step belongs to whoever uses it. There are named ways to tie it.

A wrapped gift in Japan is often handed over, opened, and the cloth handed back. The wrapping is not part of the present. It goes home with the giver and does it again next time.

We use them here. Nothing leaves this house in plastic if a square of cotton will do.

Furoshiki — from the right
From the right
Walk around it
Furoshiki — FrontFuroshiki — LeftFuroshiki — BackFuroshiki — Right
Notes
The name
Furo, bath — shiki, to spread
Shape
Square; the object decides the size
Common pattern
Karakusa — scrolling vine, and a thief’s cliché
Etiquette
The cloth goes home with the giver

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