The Traveler's Gaze - Matsuo Basho and the Poetics of WABISUKE

A Traveler's Gaze: Matsuo Basho and the Form of Silence

One spring day, the sooty backing paper of a sliding door flew off and fell onto the beams of a Kyoto townhouse.
What was written there was scribbled in faded ink.
They were seasonal words written by someone.

"The voice of flowers blending in with the twilight rain"

At that moment, we realized that colors and words are not records, but memories.
They are born in someone's life and disappear along with the landscape.
However, the traces that prove that it was there still stir our hearts.

WABISUKE's creations are an activity that captures and gives form to such "subtle beauty."
The colors of memories and words of the season are subtly hidden in everyday items such as clasps, pouches, and bags.
It is also an attempt to create something that will stay in the user's mind, like a landscape encountered during a journey.

Basho's Journey and the Poetics of Silence

The days and months are passing passengers of a hundred generations, and the years that come and go are also travelers.

This sentence, written by Matsuo Basho at the beginning of "The Narrow Road to the Deep North," has a quiet and profound philosophical resonance, comparing the passage of time to a traveler.
A person's life is like a never-ending journey. We go through each day, blown by the wind and guided by the seasons.

Basho's journey was not just a journey.
By immersing himself in the landscape and becoming one with nature, he was able to capture inexpressible emotions and feelings in his haiku.

The quietness of the cicadas seeping into the rocks

This poem contains a dialogue between a silent rock and the cicada, the voice of life.
Basho may have believed that the deepest resonances lie in silence.

Color is something to read and carry around

The colors of WABISUKE are something you can touch and feel by reading about them.
For example, the color "Aonibi" evokes the serenity of a cloudy sky and the depth of aged metal.
"Benikake Sorairo" evokes the vermilion of the evening sky.

These colors are
In her blog, she writes about the seasons and memories behind her work in poetic words.
You can feel the colors by reading it. Carrying it around will bring back memories of the scenery at unexpected moments.
It resonates quietly within the user, just like Basho's haiku.

What dwells in the margins

There is much that is left unsaid in Basho's haiku.
Within the constraints of seventeen syllables, he avoided telling everything, believing that the power of poetry lies in the "blank spaces."

WABISUKE's expression also values ​​white space.
For example, the colors and patterns used for the lining of the purse are deliberately subdued.
The shape of the pouch is designed to fit comfortably in the hand, while still allowing for flexibility in how it can be used.
Without talking too much or explaining too much, allowing the user to add their own story to it.
That is our "form of silence."

Timeless fashion and for users a hundred years from now

Basho left behind the phrase "futei ryuko."
By looking at both the unchanging and the changing, I tried to get closer to the essence of poetry.

WABISUKE also stands between tradition and change.
Rather than simply using old color names and seasonal words, we reexamine them with a modern sensibility,
Delivered in a way that resonates with modern life.
It is a place of respect for the past and a vision for the future.

A haiku from WABISUKE

I entrust my name to the hazy color of the travelling sky

A journey tracing memories of seasonal words and colors while learning from Basho's perspective.
Like the scenery you encounter along the way, something that stays in your mind will be gently placed in the palm of your hand.

This blog is written to take those who purchase WABISUKE products on another journey.
A story of color hidden inside the purse, a philosophy of space embodied in the shape of the pouch.
I hope you will quietly enjoy these works through Basho's gaze.