Blue ocean waves

青海波 seigaiha

Blue ocean waves

Endless overlapping waves wish for a calm, peaceful life that continues forever; named after a gagaku court dance and suitable all year, including celebrations.

Continental wave motif; in Japan from ancient times, named in the Heian/Edo periods

Overlapping arcs depicted the sea on early Chinese maps, and in Japan the motif already appears on a haniwa figure from Gunma. Its name comes from the gagaku court dance Seigaiha, whose dancers wore it; Genji dances it in The Tale of Genji. In the Edo period the lacquerer Seikai Kanshichi devised a brush technique for it, and it spread to lacquer, mother-of-pearl inlay (popular in the Genroku era), ceramics, roof ridges and dyed textiles.

Technique catalog · draft for review

Every way to wrap, carry and wear a furoshiki.

The furoshiki.com archive, sliced into annotated steps with plain directions, plus techniques found in research.