Namba Gear’s Japanese distributor, MI7, excitedly told us that the new Gear Wraps are a perfect example of the Furoshiki Culture which has been embraced for several hundred years in Japan. Furoshiki is a traditional cloth used to help achieve the 3Rs; Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
In Japan, a furoshiki is an oversized square cloth, dyed in one of any number of colors and patterns, used for carrying and storing things, as
well as for wrapping gifts, spreading on the floor, or even decorating a room.
However, the custom and culture of using furoshiki faded away in about 1975. It is just a very recent trend to revive the use of furoshiki as movements to conserve the environment and re-evaluation of Japanese traditional culture have become more prominent.
An important feature of furoshiki is that it is always reused. One would never throw away a furoshiki. Using furoshiki will thus reduce the use of raw materials to create packaging and decrease the use of excessive packaging, and thus contribute to saving resources and energy. A lifestyle based on the 3Rs (the reduction, reuse and recycling of waste) plays an important role as one of the measures to conserve the environment, and this lifestyle is truley necessary today.
Our friends at MI7 believe that it is time for the furoshiki to flourish again with musicians using Namba Gear’s Gear Wraps.