We have continued Unshinkai with the hope of sharing the joy of Sashiko and the beauty of needle movement (Unshin) with many people. For years, I have dreamed of creating a project that would allow even more people to participate—widening the circle and discovering new expressions of Sashiko.

Now, with the addition of a new member to support the administrative side, this long-held dream is finally taking shape. Although the scale of this project may be just a small step, we hope it can become a starting point for Sashiko to spread in many different forms.

Participants are invited to freely stitch their own Sashiko onto a pre-made indigo-dyed cloth (a small furoshiki, 51cm x 51cm), and send it to Takayama by mid-September.

The submitted works will be displayed for a short time during a Sashiko exhibition scheduled for November in Takayama. Additionally, we plan to photograph the participating pieces and create a catalogue-style record to preserve and celebrate them.

As of May 2025, This Project is NOT available for Public.

Participation Admin Fee: $35.00 USD

Material Fee: $50.00 USD (1 piece of Koburoshiki for Sashiko)

• Koburoshiki's Size: About 51cm x 51cm
• Shipping for Materials, Shipping to us for participation, and Return Shipping after the exhibitioin aren't included to the pricing above as it differ based on your location.

Each person may submit up to two works.

We would like you to enjoy stitching freely, so please use your own Sashiko thread for this project. If you are interested in using the Sashiko thread we recommend, we will do our best to offer a special discount.

We considered including the cost of printing the catalogue in the participation fee, but in an effort to keep the fee as low as possible, the catalogue will be sold separately. We expect the price to be around $5.00 USD (for participants - $10.00 for others).

The Sashiko thread we recommend are available here. There are good reasons why we recommend it, and also why we continue to use it daily ourselves. For this project, we would like for you to use the recommended thread if possible. However, at the same time, we don’t want the type of thread to limit your creativity, so you are welcome to participate and create using any thread of your choice.

That said, we kindly ask you to consider one small but important point: the piece is meant to be a furoshiki (wrapping cloth). Because it is a furoshiki, we will not be attaching a backing. Since the back side will remain visible, we hope you can avoid making it overly messy or having large thread jumps that might catch on fingers during use. This can be addressed by using [Kasane], so please choose a thread that allows for secure layering with Kasane if possible.

Please note, having a messy back or knots doesn’t mean you cannot participate. We simply ask that you join the project without attaching a backing to your piece.

Since this project embraces "free design," truly any design is welcome. You may choose to use just one traditional pattern, or create something pictorial or even illustrative—whatever you wish.

While we encourage freedom, we kindly ask for your understanding that we cannot accept designs that fall into the following general categories:

• Anything that violates public order or morality
• Anything that could potentially harm or offend others
• Anything that infringes on copyright

We hope you will express your own Sashiko world on a 51cm x 51cm indigo-dyed canvas.

[Other Notes]

• Since the definition of "Sashiko" can be quite broad, any design is acceptable. However, please keep in mind that this is an exhibition centered around "Sashiko."