#visualmending

I have a beautiful family, who continuously encourage and support me. Without them, I wouldn’t be teaching Sashiko in NYC. She is one of my first students in the US. The photo is her latest (& greatest) work with Sashiko she learned. I am proud of her. I am happy for her. Moreover, her “caring” letting me “sharing” Sashiko. ☆ I have many other “friends” we keep in touch after the workshops. It is not my intention to make a hierarchy or structure | my goal is to share the Sashiko and be happy in the community there. Artist? Master? Genius? Title me whatever you want. I appreciate the admiration from you. However, what I want to be is someone you would care - friends, family, and someone who keep doing something important to you. Thank you @sharondenner for sending me photos of such a beautiful “In process of being Boro” Jacket. ☆ - - - ☆ 「NYCで刺し子ワークショップ」。今でこそ「今週末ワークショップ行ってきます〜」っと簡単に言葉にしていますが、実は相当に実現困難なことです。沢山の、いやマジで本当に沢山の方の応援と支援を頂いて開始することができ、また今日も継続できています。僕が「運が良い」という理由。NYCで刺し子のワークショップをする為に投資したのは時間だけです。借金ができなかった当時、ご厚意だけでこれだけの実績を残せているのは、支援下さる方のお力です。 ☆ 写真は一番の支援者のシャロンさんの最近の刺し子です。これがもう、嬉しくて仕方ない。「刺し子を教える（教わる）」となると、身構えてしまう方もいらっしゃるかもしれませんが、僕がしたいことは師弟制度を確立することでも上下関係を作ることでもありません。一つだけ。仲間が欲しいんです。もっと砕くと、”刺し子友達”が欲しい（笑）是非、僕と恵子さんの友達になって下さい。”できないこと”ばかりの二人ですが、でも、刺し子にだけは真摯に向き合っています。疎遠になってもOK。違うなと思ってもOK。ただ、ご縁を頂けることに何よりも嬉しさと感謝を感じるのです。ず〜っと、孤独な刺し子と向き合ってきたので。親父亡き後、殻を破ろうとしてきていますが、これほどまでに皆さんとする刺し子が楽しいのかと、我ながら吃驚しています。 ☆ #Sashiko #SashikoJacket #JapaneseBoro #SashikoClass #SashikoStudent #LearnSashiko #JapaneseSashiko #Patchworking #Mending #VisualMending #Quilting #刺し子 #刺し子教室 #刺し子仲間 https://www.instagram.com/p/B2xJZsup4hi/?igshid=nfpnetjeh0zw

I hope I am communicating well to share the core message of the Sashiko we practice. “It is perfectly fine to enjoy Sashiko for the cool looking (result).” and “I am happy when you call your stitching Sashiko as long as you ‘try’ to understand and respect the Japanese culture” The message is as simple as these 2 sentences. A person made me sad by deciding “Atsushi is trying to be the authority in Sashiko.” ...No... Again, I am just a man who happened to be good at Sashiko and wants to preserve its form as much as I can. ☆ I don’t think anyone practices Sashiko as the Japanese originally did. If my daughter is freezing at night, I dare not start mending the blanket for her. I will go get a new fleece blanket right away. We practice Sashiko because it is beautiful. It is perfectly fine. However, we also learn that the results get more beautiful and Sashiko become more enjoyable when we care about the process of Sashiko. Sashiko has its origin where the people couldn’t get the new blanket when she wanted to give her child the new blanket. Understanding history and culture makes a huge difference, we believe. ☆ 毎回長々と書いておりますが、紹介しているのは結構シンプルなお話で。簡単に纏めると、「刺し子は日本で生まれて、日本っぽさがあるので、それにも興味を示してね。」というだけの話。運針という刺し子の過程が楽しいよねというメッセージはありますが、だからといって、結果を気にしないわけじゃない。カッコいい物作るの、素晴らしいじゃないですか。 ☆ 昔の日本人が刺し子をしていた様な状況で刺し子をしている人は、きっと現代にはいらっしゃらない気がしています。寒さに凍える家族の為に針を持って布を補修するような状況になったら、買いに行った方が良い。どこかでバイトしたほうがよっぽど早い。でも、その当時の日本人の生き様、考え方、想いに、現代の私達の思いを巡らせる事（思いを重ねること）で、文化は、その形を、できるだけ残せると思っています。だからこそ、「日本の刺し子」を伝えていきたいなぁと思うのです。 ☆ #Sashiko #SashikoJacket #BeautifulSashiko #Handstitching #VisualMending #刺し子 #刺し子ジャケット https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxx1Ud_JS6g/?igshid=1n5cin1hvsaxp

The Denim Mending I (Atsushi) introduce on this account is not the traditional Sashiko. I hated the path my family created for me to be the Sashiko artisan, and after so many detours in life, the Denim Mending became a point where I realized how precious it is. The point that “the hated path” became the privilege and my fate. ☆ I have so many stories to share. I was raised surrounded by numbers of Sashiko practitioners “chit-chatting” what they liked (& disliked, of course). The conversations were merely noise once, but now it is the wisdom that I can share. ☆ So, when I talk about Mending (or Boro, for that matter), there is a concept I need to explain thoroughly about Japanese - “Shame”. It will be my life-long journey to explain this mindset we have, and Sashiko is a good vehicle to explain, I believe. ☆ Once, Mending represented the poverty level in their life. It was so shameful to show the patches and they try to hide it. In a small village in Japan, they even bury the Boro under the ground to hide their past. People told me their feeling of shame that “they had to show the ‘ugliness’.” Then I asked, “Would the poverty the shame?” They denied. Regardless of their words, “ugly”, they couldn’t explain what the shame they had. ☆ They weren’t wealthy. They had no choice but mending. However, they were so beautiful. The accumulation of words from them left me one saying to me. ☆ “Wealth (Money) can be a good measure of what the person can do, but it never measure who she/he is.” ☆ We live in a different society in comparison to the Japanese who traditionally practiced Sashiko. The culture alter over time in a process of adjusting the current society. I change that, and therefore I say my Mending isn’t traditional. However, it is also another important mission to “share” the original version of what we implement today. I even feel that I came to the US to accomplish this goal (I came to the US to evacuate from my family initially). ☆ I will be on Youtube Live at 9pm on Wed to answer the questions regarding “Sashiko story”. ☆ 英語で書き出したらめちゃくちゃ長くなった……のですが、実は先日の配信で話したことです。アーカイブをご覧下さい。 ☆ #Sashiko #VisualMending #Mending #SashikoStitching #TraditionalSashiko #Boro https://www.instagram.com/p/BviEeisAxhG/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1pbux8lax9wgb

A series of Sashiko stitching makes one Boro piece. Interestingly, we find it very artistic after more than a few hundred years. I wonder what they were thinking when they made stitching. We only can imagine, but trying so resonate how we feel over years of time is kind of fun and satisfying. ☆ The photo is a Boro (to-be-Boro) piece made by Keiko. Keiko sometimes feels that she connects her consciousness to the people who practiced Sashiko over time. I know it sounds a bit eccentric, but I now understand how she feels. The Unshin - needle movement is not about being better than the others. No competition to the others there. No judgement to others, and hopefully no judgement to oneself. It is all about the dialogue to oneself. That is why, we enjoy this simple - some people consider it “labor” - work. It is my journey to explain how we understand & interpret Sashiko after 35+ years of experience. I hope you can join us to this journey to enjoy Sashiko, and something beyond Sashiko. ☆ ちょっと気分が尖った時は、襤褸をみる。恵子さんが襤褸を作る時、「できるだけ昔の人と意識を共有するようにしている」っと、簡単にとてつもないことを言ってくれます。200年以上前の人と意識を共有するって……と思われるかも知れませんが、きっと刺し子をすると「あれ？」っとわかる日がくると思っています。喜怒哀楽という人間臭さが襤褸らしさの核だと思っています。 ☆ 丁寧に文章にして、言葉にして、「刺し子は競争じゃないぞ＆刺し子は誰かと比べるものじゃなくて、自分と対話するものだぞ」って紹介しているつもりですが、やっぱり昨日投稿したような動画を出すと、「速さ」とか「結果」にこだわってしまう人は出てきますよね（コメント欄にちらほら）。それも覚悟の上での投稿でしたが、「楽しさ」よりも「技術」が伝わってしまうのは、俺の能力不足というか、「伝えること」の難しさを実感しています。僕がすることは変わらないんですけどね。愚直がキーワードで、明日の配信では、この「運針という単純作業も向こう側」について、少し語ろうかなと思っています。たぶん、まだ話したことがない気がするので。 ☆ #Sashiko #SashikoStitching #Boro #JapaneseBoro #JapaneseTextile #VisualMending #SlowFashion #刺し子 #襤褸 #人間らしさ #運針 https://www.instagram.com/p/BunCVQLAGgx/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=hng8zaass5g9

I had a request to zoom up the photo of Keiko's latest Jacket. As you know, all hand stitched. The beauty in inperfectionism, yet we tried to be perfect. In these days, I am wondering if Sashiko is a form of art or not. Regardless of definition, the Jacket by Keiko touch the heart. ★ 先日投稿した恵子さんの最新ジャケット。「実際に着た所の写真が欲しい」「近影の写真が欲しい」というリクエストを頂いたので、まずはクローズアップから。恵子さんが実際に着た画像は、義妹が里帰りから帰ってきた時にお願いする予定です。 ★ 米国でもいろんな刺し子関連本が出版されるみたいです。興味津々なので、手に入るものは手に入れるつもりですが、何にしても、恵子さんの作品は飛び抜けているなぁと思うのです。ま、年季が違うわな。 ★ #Sashiko #SashikoJacket #Mending #MendingFashion #VisualMending #inperfect #Hitomezashi #JapaneseBoro #KeikoFutatsuya #刺し子 #刺し子ジャケット #一目刺し #二ツ谷恵子

It is our pleasure to announce that we will offer another Sashiko Stitching Workshop in NYC (TriBeCa Area). It has been about 4 months from the last time, and we probably will not have it until the summer ends. Please take this opportunity to learn Sashiko from Atsushi in person. ☆ No previous experience needed. We will provide every materials you need. Then, you will learn the “Core” of Sashiko to encourage you to enjoy Sashiko in your days. Check the detail on our website → https://upcyclestitches.com/sashiko-workshop-april-2019-in-nyc/ ☆ #Sashiko #SashikoClass #SashikoWorkshop #Quilting #VisualMending #Mending #UpcycleStitches https://www.instagram.com/p/BvkBmSHl45v/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=f641t79xu3jt

We have another priority over “business” - family. Sashiko was the ordinary custom for the Japanese to care someone they had (like family). So, if I sacrifice my family for achieving my goal (to share the culture of Sashiko), it lose the sense of whole purpose. Family comes first. The believe comes second. It is probably not the standard of business, but we respect ourselves for that. ☆ Speaking of family, we recently adopted a cat. I realize why my Japanese family didn’t have cats when I was a child (we had dogs). Sashiko and Cat doesn’t go well together :D. The cat sharp nail can pick the Sashiko stitches, and it make a bit of mess. My Sashiko denim (whole stitched) has a bit of damage already. Well, it is okay since I can fix it. Kasane can function as knots. Sashiko stitching become part of fabric over years so it won’t get off so easily from the fabric. Yet, a cat nail picking the thread on the denim was a bit of “trouble” I didn’t know. Oh, don’t let a cat play with the thread. It will be one expensive thread ball. ☆ 先日の配信でお話した「刺し子と猫の相性の悪さ（笑）」。猫とじゃれ合っていると、爪が針目をひっかきます。重ねをしていれば針目は解けないし、刺し子糸の特性上、長い時間経過すれば糸が布の一部となっていくのですが、やっぱり猫の爪は相性が悪かったです。想定外でした。でも、猫も大切な家族。週末、娘と博物館に行って、楽しんで。家族との時間の上に刺し子を続けていければいいなぁと思っています。 ☆ #Sashiko #SashikoCat #SashikoDenim #SashikoJeans #VisualMending #刺し子 #刺し子と猫 #刺し子ジーンズ https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu1u2wuA8yi/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=nxs5cxkdqd0s

Seeing Matt for the event, @75Collective, and I took my mother Keiko. Look at her smile. She is so happy to share what she loves to people who understand the passion and love to Sashiko. Another workshop by Atsushi, coming in 12/8 and 12/9 in TriBeCa. ☆ 12月にワークショップ講師として参加するイベントの会場にて、恵子さんも巻き込んで打ち合わせ。センスが良いデザイナーにべた褒めされて、笑顔が爆発の恵子さんです。 ☆ 数年に一度しか顔を見せられない息子ですが、米国での活動を通して、母親の楽しんでいることを世界中の人に知ってもらうことも、親孝行の一つの形なのだなと信じて頑張っています。ま、英語ほとんどわからないのに、あれだけ爆笑できてれば大丈夫だ。逞しい。 ☆ #Sashiko #KeikoFutatsuya #JapaneseBoro #VisualMending #SashikoWorkshop #75Collective #刺し子 #襤褸 #古布 #ジャケット https://www.instagram.com/p/BqTqu03F-zI/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=t7svvnspt3xm