By Ines Keane
Ask three sources how old the furoshiki is and you will get three answers. One says more than 1,300 years. One says over 1,200. One starts the story in the Nara period, 710 to 794, and stops there. They are all describing the same thing: a piece of cloth used to wrap and carry whatever needs wrapping.
What it is
Wikipedia defines furoshiki as traditional Japanese wrapping cloths used to wrap or transport goods. It says they are much less formal than the fukusa, a cloth for presenting formal gifts, and are not generally used for that. The cloths are almost square, with the height slightly greater than the width. The materials named are silk or cotton, with rayon, nylon or polyester in modern versions.
A Tokyo language school’s column describes them as made from one piece of fabric and says they can wrap and carry almost any shape of item. That is the point of the object. A box, a bottle and a bundle of clothes all go in the same square.
Where the name comes from
The word is made of furo, bath, and shiki, spread. Wikipedia says the usual explanation is that high-ranking bathhouse visitors packed their belongings in cloth decorated with their family crest, and it marks that claim as needing a citation. The language school column gives a different picture: a shogun’s steam bath in the Muromachi period (1338 to 1573) used silk cloths printed with family crests so that guests’ clothes stayed separate. In the Edo period, it says, public bathhouses spread, and the cloth served as a mat for undressing and a wrapper for carrying clothes.
A Kyoto producer’s own history page adds that the word furoshiki appears in a list of items left behind by Tokugawa Ieyasu, who lived from 1543 to 1616, and that in the Edo period the baths in question were steam baths, not soaking baths. By the middle of the period, it says, people used furoshiki and hirazutsumi interchangeably. The language school column translates hirazutsumi as “flat folded bundle”.
Before it was furoshiki
Wikipedia says the earliest cloths were called tsutsumi, wrapping, and in the Nara period were used to protect precious temple objects. The producer’s page says records from that time show people keeping valuables wrapped in tsutsumi, and that documents from the Kamakura period (1192 to 1338) mention koromozutsumi, which it calls the predecessors of today’s wrapping cloths. The language school column says the oldest surviving example is kept at the ShÅsÅin, a wooden storehouse at TÅdai-ji in Nara, and says Heian-period nobility used the cloths to wrap and carry clothes.
Sizes
Wikipedia gives sizes of 45 by 45 centimetres, 70 by 70 and up to 100 by 100. The language school column says the most common are squares about 70 or 90 centimetres wide. The producer’s navigation lists four size bands for its current range: 45 to 50, 68 to 70, 90 to 120, and 130 to 195 centimetres. These are different ways of grouping the same idea, and we do not pick one.
Laying out the pattern
Wikipedia gives two layout rules. The main pattern is always on the bottom half, so that it shows in the centre. The gift should fit within one third of the cloth. It adds that traditional motifs include cranes, turtles and pines, and that patterns are printed on both sides.
Why it faded, and why it came back
Wikipedia says use declined after the war, largely because of the spread of paper and plastic bags. The language school column agrees and adds that interest returned with environmental awareness. Both say that in 2006 the Minister of the Environment promoted a specially designed furoshiki to encourage reuse; the column names it the “Mottainai Furoshiki”. Wikipedia says the ministry published a leaflet with 14 folding patterns. In 2020, according to Wikipedia, The Observer reported growing interest in the UK, partly as an alternative to single-use wrapping paper.
A phrase worth keeping
The language school column notes that “oo-buroshiki”, literally a large furoshiki, is an expression meaning a tall tale. Our reading: a cloth that can hold anything is a natural image for a story that holds too much.
Dates in order
- 710 to 794: Nara period; tsutsumi used to protect temple objects, according to Wikipedia. The language school column gives the period as 710 to 784.
- 1192 to 1338: Kamakura period; koromozutsumi mentioned, according to the producer’s page.
- 1338 to 1573: Muromachi period; crest-printed silk cloths in a shogun’s steam bath, according to the language school column.
- 1543 to 1616: Tokugawa Ieyasu’s lifetime; the word appears in a list of his items, according to the producer.
- 1603 to 1868: Edo period; spread through public baths, according to the column and Wikipedia.
- 2006: the environment ministry’s campaign, according to both Wikipedia and the column.
Side by side
Age: the producer says more than 1,300 years, the column says over 1,200, and Wikipedia gives the Nara period. Nara dates: 710 to 794 in Wikipedia, 710 to 784 in the column. Origin of the name: bathhouse visitors with family crests in Wikipedia, a shogun’s steam bath in the column, a mention in Ieyasu’s belongings from the producer. We do not choose.
What kind of sources these are
Wikipedia, an open encyclopaedia. A language school’s blog-style column, written by an instructor, which is a general overview. A Kyoto producer’s own site, which is a firm describing itself and its trade. We found no museum or government source for the history; the ministry leaflet is known to us only through Wikipedia.
Questions a buyer would ask
How big should it be? The sources above suggest sizes from 45 to about 100 centimetres are common. How do I fold it? The sources name a leaflet of 14 folding patterns but do not reproduce them, so we do not either. Is it only for gifts? Wikipedia says it is less formal than the fukusa and not generally used for formal presentation.
What we left out
We left out the description of the modern Kyoto firm’s founding dates and company figures, and its use as bags or pillow covers, which appears only in a quoted interview. We left out any wrapping instructions, since none of our sources set them out. We left out the language school’s comparison with wrapping cloths elsewhere, to keep to Japan.
Roam first. Shop later.