The history of urawaza in the Japan Times
I wrote an article for today's Japan Times about the history of urawaza. Urawaza is the name of a book I wrote; it's a collection of lifestyle tips and tricks, and it was published in April by Chronicle Books. Here, I explain the origins of the concept, the word, and the proliferation of the idea in Japan and the US.
Urawaza—quirky, everyday Japanese tips—head West (Japan Times)
Urawaza: Secret Everyday Tips and Tricks from Japan (Amazon)
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Cool, I've had to book on my 'to buy' list for a while, Maybe I'll order it after I move.
I see "how to fold it's line" movie in the pic - I watched that for like 15 - 20 minutes and still couldn't do it.
Whts p wth ll ths sddn lf-n-Tky spmmng?
s Bngbng chngng frmts?
Urazawa = great book. Thank you, Lisa.
I do have one question though, regarding what is for me, the most critical tip in the book: preventing persperation discoloration in new white shirts.
What exactly is "adhesive spray"? "nori"? What might be a common brand or product name (available in Tokyo).
@3Rancor: Lisa is a guest blogger. She lives in Tokyo, as do many of us BB readers, from the looks of things.
Darue: It's perhaps easier explained than seen, so let me try.
Grab the t-shirt halfway down, about a hands width in from the far side, with your left hand.
With the right hand, pick up the shoulder of the far side of the shirt, taking hold about as far in as where you placed your left hand.
Fold the shoulder down to the bottom of the shirt (folding it over your left arm in the process), and grab the hem with your right hand, so that you're holding both it and the shoulder (pinching the ende of the folded t-shirt together, as it were). At this point, your left hand should be pinching the inside of the fold that's now the right side.
The magic happens about here: Lift the t-shirt by the points you're holding. Pull your left hand out (roughly speaking towards your left shoulder) whithout letting go of the t-shirt. This should inverse the shirt, so that the side that was inside the fold appears.
Stretch it slightly and shake out any parts that haven't fallen in place, and fold what's now the dangling bottom end of the mostly folded shirt in under the top end.
rancor01@3: "Is Boingboing changing formats?"
Yes. You should have already received the neural implants that convert the Tokyo-related posts into posts about Duluth and Wichita. If you don't have your neural implant or don't know how to connect it to your hindbrain, please contact our reader services agent, Kata Sutra, by semaphore immediately.
The Japanese T-shirt folding video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK1nGpvaHno ) looks suspiciously like they are just running the video backwards - you'll notice jump cuts and the T-shirt mysteriously smoothing itself out.
Quick folding can be done, however you can't make the shirt smooth itself out after you lay it down! There is a detailed VideoJug instructional video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An0mFZ3enhM&feature=related
I don't know if the Japanese video was inspired by this.