"风吕敷"将环保进行到底

In an effort to be more eco-friendly this Christmas, Japanese people are being encouraged to revive an old tradition. By using furoshiki cloths, they can wrap their presents and afterwards reuse the wrapping as a shopping bag.

Reporter:

For Christmas, colorful presents in Japan are wrapped in an unusual fabric. Rather than using traditional wrapping paper, they are packed in furoshiki, square pieces of printed cloth. Made from different fabrics, these Japanese cloths are tied using a variety of techniques, similar to origami.

Morita Chizuko, the head of the Furoshiki Research Group, has been researching the subject for over 20 years and is the author of over 13 books on furoshiki. The word furoshiki translates as bath spread, because the cloth was commonly used to carry bundles of clothing that people took to public baths. Beyond clothing, the cloth was used to wrap parcels and gifts and carry a variety of objects of different shapes and sizes.

But recently, the use of the cloth has diminished. Morita's main concern is finding ways in which the cloth can be reincorporated into modern life. The celebration of Christmas is a relatively recent phenomenon in Japan, but Morita hopes that furoshiki will be used instead of wrapping paper.

She believes that use of the textile as opposed to paper in gift wrapping could lead to a reduction of C02 emissions.

"I would definitely like to see people using furoshiki rather than paper to wrap Christmas presents. Wrapping paper is normally only used once before it is thrown away whereas you can use furoshiki over and over again."

There are many ways to fold furoshiki. The people in a class at the Myako Ecology Centre are learning how to make shopping bags. According to the centre, throw away shopping bags amount to a total of 6.5% of Kyoto's household waste. Event organizer Nomoto Mayuko explains why she set up the workshop.

"When you look at some traditions carried down from the past, they have a relevance to contemporary environmental problems. For example, looking at the need to reduce waste there are some very simple things that can help. That is why I have organized this workshop."

Furoshiki are used to wrap lunch boxes or hold different items of clothing within a suitcase, but for the most part their use is reserved for extremely formal occasions nowadays. The silk furoshiki produced in the Fuchida workshop is made to order and is almost exclusively used as part of Japanese wedding ceremonies.

When Hidetaka took over the business, he began to think about how furoshiki could be reincorporated into daily modern life. His solution was to design a range of cotton fabrics that he hoped will inspire younger people to want to learn to use furoshiki. To Kakefuda, the key point about furoshiki is the versatility of the cloth. It is reusable, washable, decorative and adaptable to wrapping or carrying objects of different shapes and sizes.