Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Furoshiki - Eco Bag

We have to think about reducing garbage and wastes for the universe. Eco bag is recently more popular in Japan. When we go shopping, we are given vinyl bag for putting things in after buying. Japanese consume a lot of these bags and it is a problem for environment. We buy and use Eco bags to reduce them and this action is thought as the sign of thinking of earth. When we go to supermarket or convenience store, we say "No vinyl bags" to clerk at the register. (However, I often think it is a trend. Because some people buy expensive these bags of brands and are satisfied. I doubt they are really thinking of environment.)
Anyway, it is important to do something for environment conservation. But there was a traditional custom in Japan. It is Furoshiki. Furoshiki is a square cloth and we used it as the material of wrapping. A Furoshiki has a lot of various ways to use. I bought a book of Furoshiki and large Furoshiki. It is very light and simple. Very convenient ! Only a cloth ! This is global Eco system. I found the website in English. http://furoshiki.com/home.php You can try Furoshiki Bag.


This is my Furoshiki. The design is Hyotan (Gourd).

2 comments:

FabrizioTorri said...

i like it a lot.

usually i saw, in manga or anime, the kind with the design that in the webpage you linked is called "karakusa": is that design the most common used?

Ricky said...

Yes, Karakusa is typical design. Green Karakusa is common. I have a trivia about Karakusa Furoshiki. Almost Japanese imagine sneak thief at the old time. Because they used green Karakusa furoshiki. They wrapped stealed things in green Karakusa furoshiki and escaped from the house sholdering it. But present thieves never use it. It is so remarkable in town. Japan was so peaceful in these period.