canoha is a small shop and workshop in Tokyo, Japan. I started canoha in 2017, originally with handmade accessory workshops, and began teaching sashiko in 2018.

As I continued teaching sashiko, I found myself asking more and more questions. Why did people begin stitching cloth in the first place? Why did certain ways of stitching remain in particular regions? What was happening in everyday life around the cloth we now call sashiko?

Because sashiko developed in Japan, I wanted to return to Japanese historical sources and read them for myself. Living in Japan does not automatically give me the answers; familiar things can sometimes be the easiest to overlook.

So I return to the sources. I read old documents, books, research, museum materials, and other records, and try to separate what the source actually says from later interpretation—and from my own thoughts.

At first, I was researching simply because I wanted to know. But as I continued, I began to think that others might be asking similar questions too: people who practice sashiko, people interested in old clothing and textiles, people drawn to mending or BORO, and people wondering why cloth was once used so carefully and for so long.

This Journal is my way of sharing what I find, little by little.

The Sashiko Journal | Tracing Sashiko Through Historical Sources follows sashiko through old documents and research while also looking at the everyday life surrounding cloth.

I try not to take one source and turn it into a statement about all of Japan. Life differed by period, region, social position, occupation, available materials, and household circumstances.

As much as possible, I distinguish between what historical sources actually record, how researchers have interpreted those sources, and what canoha thinks after comparing several sources. For modern subjects that cannot be followed through historical documents alone—such as contemporary Sashiko, BORO, and Visible Mending—I also refer to museums, universities, academic research, and public institutions.

The more I read, the more questions appear. So this Journal is not a collection of finished answers. When something remains uncertain, I prefer to leave it uncertain. If new material changes the way I understand something, I may return to it again.

That is how I hope to keep tracing sashiko—past, present, and whatever comes next.

The English edition is not a direct translation of the Japanese version.

In Japanese, I spend more time explaining the historical background surrounding sashiko: clothing, materials, regional differences, social conditions, and the everyday lives of the people who used cloth. I wanted Japanese readers to understand that background first, and then consider sashiko within it.

For the English edition, I have taken a different approach. Too much detail about Japanese historical systems and terminology can sometimes make the central question harder to see, especially for readers who do not already have that background. The English articles are therefore edited more compactly, with the main question and key evidence brought forward more clearly.

The English and Japanese editions may differ not only in length, but also in emphasis and in the amount of historical context included. Some explanations that appear in Japanese are intentionally omitted from English.

If you would like to explore the fuller historical background, I hope you will also try the Japanese version—even if it takes a little extra effort. You may find details and connections there that were intentionally left out of the English edition.

Japanese words such as sashiko, boro, and terms for historical clothing or materials are sometimes kept in Japanese or romanized form when a simple English translation would lose part of their meaning.

This Journal is an independent research project by canoha, not an academic publication or an official history of sashiko.

I work from historical documents, published research, museum collections, academic sources, and other materials that I consider relevant. I also try to make clear where I am presenting information found in a source, where I am referring to a researcher’s interpretation, and where I am offering canoha’s own view or hypothesis.

Even so, the way sources are selected, compared, and understood reflects my own research process. New material may lead me to reconsider an earlier view.

Please therefore read the Sashiko Journal as one research-based perspective rather than a single definitive account of sashiko. Where sources are provided, I encourage readers who wish to go further to consult them and form their own understanding.

Because this is an ongoing independent research project, I generally do not respond to individual questions about historical interpretation, terminology, particular source materials, or requests for personal research guidance. Please use the Journal and the references provided as a starting point for your own further research.

All original writing, translations, editorial structure, explanations, and interpretive commentary created for the Sashiko Journal by canoha are original content unless otherwise noted.

You are welcome to share links to the Journal. Short quotations may also be used where permitted, provided that canoha / Sashiko Journal is clearly credited and a link to the original page is included.

Without prior permission from canoha, please do not reproduce or republish entire articles or substantial portions of them; publish or distribute translations of the Journal; adapt, rewrite, reorganize, or reuse substantial parts of the content for websites, social media, newsletters, videos, classes, teaching materials, books, publications, or commercial use; or present canoha’s original research organization, interpretations, explanations, or editorial structure as your own work.

Please do not remove the source, rewrite the material and republish it as original content, or use substantial parts of the Journal as the basis for another publication or project without clear attribution and appropriate permission.

Historical facts, public-domain materials, and works created by other authors or institutions that are discussed or cited in the Journal remain subject to their own rights and conditions. canoha does not claim ownership of those materials. This notice concerns canoha’s own writing, translations, selection, organization, explanations, and commentary.

For uses beyond ordinary quotation, please contact canoha in advance.

© canoha. All rights reserved.

The main books, historical documents, and other sources used throughout this series are collected on a separate reference page.

View Sources & References →

The first ten questions are only the beginning. I will continue reading, researching, and sharing new questions and discoveries as the Sashiko Journal grows.