Thursday, March 22, 2012

Osusowake

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I am loving 'osusowake' at the moment. It's a word used to describe a small gift given to a friend when you share a little of something you already have. For example when you buy a roll of stickers but share a small section of them with a friend, or if you have too many sweets then you can share some with a friend. In the past I've received an 'osusowake' of some mini packets of 16 grain rice from a friend. I had previously mentioned that I was looking for quinoa in Tokyo and she had found a rice that had included quinoa as one of it's 16 grains. My friend is so sweet that she translated the 'how-to-make' instructions into English and included the packaging should I wish to buy it again when I ran out next. It was such a sweet gesture!

On another occasion, when I went for crafternoon at Kazumi-chans house, I had tried to make a folder similar to the one I had learnt how to make at Kazumi-chans house only to realise I needed the special elastic she had. A day or two later a mini sample pack of every colour of the elastic and some lolly coloured ribbons arrived in a sweets box at my house! They were packaged so sweetly inside cupcake patties. I almost cried it was so sweet. It was another 'osusowake'.

The history of the word 'osusowake' is really lovely. It has it's origins back when hand making kimonos was very popular. The leftover fabric from making the kimono was shared with other friends. From what I can gather:

'Suso' is the bottom hem remnants of fabric
'Wake' is to divide
So it's like the diving and sharing of excess fabric samples.
To me this is so beautiful and poetic.

A friend of mine attended my Fabric Book Cover workshop and mentioned she wanted to make another one so I packed up some fabrics and trims for her to make her next book cover. A Hello Sandwich Osusowake.

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The package got a little damaged in my bike basket on the way over to my friends photo studio but Boco-chan didn't seem to mind too much and she set off taking photo of the small gift.

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While Boco-chan was photographing her present I set off taking photos of her craft samples. She said she was inspired by my Hello Sandwich Gift Wrapping Book to make these plastic bag pompoms! I loved the fact that these craft samples were on the shelf just next to her studio desk! ha ha - a little bit of work - a little bit of pom pom action - a little bit of work...


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These are her cute pompoms.

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And I received these lovely 'osusowake' mini chocolates from Boco-chan.

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Boco-chan and I had a delicious lunch and then enjoyed a sanpo in Yoyogiuehara.

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There's us peeking through the window!

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The cutest bread shop which becomes a noodle shop on Wednesdays! They make noodles direct from the pages of a recipe magazine.

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More sanpo and then a blend coffee at this little place.

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A really lovely afternoon.

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xoxo

22 comments:

  1. I like a lot your adventures in Japan :) that gift looks cute and poethic

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    1. Thank you Ruzu :) Ha it looked a lot better before I squeezed it into my bike basket :)

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  2. this post made me smile after a long day :) I used to do a similar thing and called them sos parcels, you've inspired me to try Osusowake. thanks! x

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    1. Yes! do try! The more osusowake in the world the better! :)

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  3. That is a great word!!Your posts make me miss Japan so much! I lived there as a child and have such fond memories of the Japanese and all their ways to be kind.
    There is another phrase I used to love, and now I can't recall it exactly...I think it is "dondo hare"? I was told it meant "happy ending in life". Does that sound right? If you figure out what I am trying to say, please let me know if I am correct.

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    1. ooo I haven't heard of that! but it sounds lovely and I'll have to check it out!

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  4. love hearing about your time in Japan....it makes me smile inside and out....and love the new word...I love giving osusowake....eeekk....and having a delightful word for it...even better....can you tell me how to pronounce it :)

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    1. oooo thank you for your sweet comment!
      ha...
      o-su-so-wa-ke
      you can listen to it pronounced here:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukvje_NI-1w

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    2. thank you for the link....it was an informitive video...i will be watching more of her posts in the future...I am sure..:)

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  5. Thanks for your many osusowake DA! Always nice to receive and always beautifully wrapped

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    1. pleasure DA~! always fun riding over and leaving something at your door! Thank YOU too for all your nice presents too! chocolate and cute stationery in the mail! And the mini floral tissue pack!

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  6. I love your pictures and stories about life in Japan so much! It's all just so cute! I love the story behind the word 'osusowake'. So lovely.

    Katie x

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    1. it's such a lovely story about the history of the word isn't it!

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  7. Hi! Your blog always inspires me :) I love the osusowake concept! A friend of mine is going to give me some of her supplies tomorrow, so I guess I'm gonna get a nice osusowake :D

    Have a creative weekend!

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    1. how exciting! lucky! I can't wait to hear what you received! Happy Creative weekend to you too!
      xoxo

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  8. What a beautiful post and sweet concept! Love it!

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  9. I love the feeling the word gives, it's nice to get a little something every now and then. This post made me feel happy for some reason, I especially loved the last picture...
    thanks!

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  10. I used to do a lot of swap parcels with friends overseas and I did not know it's called Osusowake in JP. ^^

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  11. Osusowake. It's such a lovely idea. I just bought some pieces of fabric from Africa and I can probably do something like this with friends. =)

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  12. I just discovered your blog through a Greenhouse Design email, so pleased to find it, it's absolutely delightful ☺ I will come back and take some time to look around properly.

    I love the idea of Osusawake, its such a lovely idea, in a way Green house design shared a little of you today.

    Lee

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