Sashiko Journal
When and where did sashiko begin?
Why did people stitch cloth?
Why did they repair damaged clothing again and again?
How did clothing differ between colder and warmer regions of Japan?
Who was doing the sewing?
Once I began researching sashiko, I found question after question that could not be answered by looking at sashiko alone.
I needed to learn about cloth and clothing. About cotton and bast-fiber textiles such as hemp and ramie. About work and labor, women and children, regional climates, and everyday life.
I began to feel that if I truly wanted to understand sashiko, I needed to look beyond its stitches and patterns and learn about the historical circumstances and the everyday lives of the people who made, wore, repaired, and reused cloth.
That realization became one of the main reasons I started the Sashiko Journal.
I Wanted to Understand It for Myself
I teach sashiko at canoha in Tokyo, Japan.
I can show people how to stitch and introduce different patterns. But the more I taught, the more I began to wonder about what lay behind them.
Why did people begin stitching cloth in the first place?
Why did certain ways of stitching remain in particular regions?
If I was going to teach sashiko, I felt I could not simply pass over these questions. That feeling gradually became stronger.
And I am Japanese. I began to feel that there was value in reading Japanese historical sources for myself and tracing a textile tradition that developed here in Japan. That does not mean I believe that being Japanese automatically gives me the answers.
Quite the opposite. There are many things I had taken for granted, overlooked, or simply never noticed precisely because I grew up and live in Japan. So I decided to go back to the sources.
Rather than repeating assumptions or explanations I had heard elsewhere, I wanted to read the records left by people in the past, as well as the work of researchers who came before me, and examine things for myself, one question at a time.
The reason I began this research was actually very simple.
I wanted to know.
At first, that was all.
But as I continued, I began to think that perhaps these were not questions that only I wanted to ask.
People who practice sashiko.
People who love historical clothing and textiles.
People interested in mending or in what is now widely known internationally as BORO.
People who wonder why cloth was once used, repaired, and reused so carefully.
Surely there are others who want to know too.
So rather than keeping what I discover to myself, I decided to share it little by little.
First, here on this website. Also on Instagram.
And someday, when the research has grown into something more substantial, I would love to bring some of it together in a small printed booklet.
Tracing Sashiko, One Source at a Time
Sashiko Journal | Tracing Sashiko Through Historical Sources is a series in which I read historical books, records, and other sources to explore sashiko alongside the everyday lives that surrounded it.
I do not want to read one source and conclude, “This is how people in Japan lived in the past.”
Japan is geographically and climatically diverse, and life differed greatly according to period and region. The kinds of cloth people could obtain were not the same everywhere. Social standing, occupation, and a household’s economic circumstances also affected what people could wear.
For that reason, I try to keep several things separate:
What the historical source actually says.
How an author or researcher interprets that evidence.
What canoha comes to think after comparing multiple sources.
When books alone are not enough—for example, when looking at contemporary developments or the ways Sashiko, BORO, and Visible Mending are understood outside Japan—I also consult reliable online sources such as museums, universities, public institutions, and academic research.
And I intend to keep adding new books and materials to the research.
Every time I read another book, I understand a little more.
But strangely enough, every answer seems to create new questions as well.
“I want to read that source too.”
“I want to know more about this period.”
“I want to share this with someone.”
The more I read, the more there is to learn—and the more I want to share. That is why the Sashiko Journal is not a collection of finished answers.
If something is still unknown, I am happy to leave it as unknown.
If I later find another source, I may return to the question and think again.
In this way, I hope to continue tracing sashiko—its past, its present, and where it may go from here.
First Series | Ten Questions About Cloth
1 | Why Was This Cloth Not Simply Thrown Away?
There was a time when obtaining even a single piece of cloth required far more labor and expense than it does today. Why did people continue using damaged cloth again and again?
2 | Mending Began Before the Cloth Tore
We often think of mending as something we do after a hole appears. But a Japanese sewing manual published in 1927 describes ways of reinforcing cloth once it had begun to thin—before it actually tore.
3 | What Happened to Clothes Once They Could No Longer Be Worn?
Was the life of a garment over once it could no longer be worn? Clothes could be taken apart, remade into other garments, and later reused again as bedding or household textiles. This article follows what happened to cloth after its first life as clothing.
4 | Who Held the Needle?
Who did the work of sewing clothes, repairing them, and keeping cloth in use? This article looks at household labor and the roles of women and children.
5 | How Did People Layer Cloth in Cold Regions?
Layering cloth could do more than reinforce a garment—it could also help protect the body from severe cold. Looking at clothing preserved from Japan’s snowy northern regions, we explore why layers of cloth mattered.
6 | What People Could Wear Was Not the Same Across Japan
The spread of cotton did not mean that everyone throughout Japan suddenly had equal access to cotton clothing. We look at regional differences in materials, distribution, and everyday life.
7 | What Do We Mean When We Call Something “Sashiko”?
Is the history of the word sashiko the same as the history of people stitching, layering, and reinforcing cloth? This article separates the history of the name from the history of the techniques themselves.
8 | If Mending Was the Goal, Why Were Patterns Necessary?
If reinforcement alone were the goal, simple stitching might have been enough. So why did stitched patterns become part of some sashiko traditions?
9 | When Did Clothes Stop Being Things We Repaired and Become Things We Replaced?
Clothing was once repaired and worn for as long as possible. At some point, replacing damaged clothes became increasingly ordinary. What changed in the way we make, buy, and live with clothing?
10 | Why Are We Stitching Again Today?
Today, cloth is no longer scarce for most of us, yet mending and Visible Mending are receiving renewed attention. The reasons we repair today may be very different from the reasons people repaired cloth in the past.
Sources Used in This Research
The main books and historical sources used throughout this project are listed on the Sources page.
This series does not end here.
I will continue reading, following new questions as they arise, and sharing what I discover along the way.