[Wrapping up the Heart as Well]

The other day, I found a furoshiki cloth lying on my dresser with my kimonos. Normally, I would have prepared a paper bag or a bag to carry a set of kimonos, but I felt the comfort of spreading out the furoshiki and carefully putting them all together. I could carry a change of clothes, study materials, and other items I wanted to carry without losing their original shape, and the moment I untied the knot after carefully carrying them to the destination, I felt as if I could switch my mind! I feel as if I can switch my mind to "Now!"

Wrapping. A familiar habit is to wrap a lunch box, isn't it? I have been doing this since I was a child, but I feel that a tightly tied bento box not only has a practical aspect, such as preventing the contents from spilling out or contaminating the surrounding items, but also contains a wish for a safe and happy day. When the recipient unwraps the knot of the lunch box, which is not visible, he or she also senses the feelings that are contained in the package.

The culture of wrapping has developed around the world since ancient times for storing and transporting food. In Japan, hemp, straw, and rope were also used to wrap things, but in the Nara period (710-794), Western and ancient Chinese techniques were introduced to Japan, and high-quality silk fabrics were produced. In the Shosoin Repository, which holds valuable historical documents on Japan in the Nara period, a cloth called tsutsumi still exists and is considered to be the oldest textile in Japan.

Later, during the Muromachi period (1333-1573), tsutsumi came to be used for bathing, and is said to have come to be called furoshiki. In the Heian and Muromachi periods, baths were steam baths, so people did not bathe naked but wore a yukatabira or fundoshi (loincloth), which they laid inside the bath and wiped their bodies and feet on after bathing. When public bathhouses were built in the Edo period (1603-1867), common people began to wrap hand towels and change of clothes in furoshiki, and the practice spread from samurai society to the general public.

Even today, when we think of occasions when people wrap important things in cloth and bring them to the bathhouse, the "furoshiki" comes to mind, reflecting the Japanese mindset of handling gifts with care and sharing joys and sorrows with the recipient on occasion. The perspective of adding one's heart both for oneself and for the recipient in the act of wrapping seems to be a true part of Japanese culture.

Why don't you fold not only furoshiki but also handkerchiefs, hand towels, etc., small and quickly unfold them when needed to carry your precious things with your feelings?

Kiya's Kokura-Ori Handkerchief Thick Konshima
https://www.shokunin.com/en/kiya/kokuraori.html
Marukawa Shoten's Azuma Bukuro
https://www.shokunin.com/en/marukawa/azuma.html

References
https://www.eisai.co.jp/museum/curator/column/090904c.html
https://www.miyai-net.co.jp/furoshiki/history/
https://www.pack-kimura.net/useful/article052696/