'Kaizen' Fish Pouch

The project of designing and making a utilitarian fish pouch was both fun and exciting, as it gave us the opportunity to craft something totally different from what we normally make.

The idea has given us the chance to put to good use the numerous small scraps of precious vintage Japanese yukata cotton fabrics, we accurately and respectfully have set aside over a long time.

In Shinto philosophy, there is a belief that everything in the world, including natural phenomena, objects, and beings, possesses a divine essence or spirit. All that exists in this planet is believed to have a purpose, a soul, and a unique divine presence. We firmly believe nothing should go to waste, even small remnants of our lovely vintage Japanese fabrics.

As we progressed in our journey of crafting the fish pouch we learned a lot, we improved on all the minute details day after day. After a few rounds of trials and errors and design adjustments, our fish pouch, with joy and gratification, came to life.

For each one-of-a-kind fish pouch, meticulously crafted in Singapore, with love, multi patterns textiles are artfully combined, the object encompasses drawstrings for ease of use, different coloured wood buttons are added for the eyes to make the fish ‘lively’.

A bleu contemporary Japanese fine cotton fabric lining is added to give body and volume to the creation.

As we were delving to find an appropriate Japanese word for our fish, the name ‘kaizen’ magically popped up. It was a delight to uncover the meaning behind the word ‘kaizen’ which holds significant cultural meaning and symbolism in Land of the Rising Sun.

‘Kaizen’ is a noun, expressing the values of continuous improvement, becoming one percent better every day. This name reflects what we hold dear in our daily activity.

We decided to call our fish pouch creation ‘Kaizen”.

In Japanese, "sakana" (魚) or "uo" (魚) is a generic word associated with fish that in the culture and tradition of the Land of the Rising Sun the fish relates to good luck, fortune, prosperity, harmony, and balance.

The Chinese word for fish, "yu," sounds like the word for "wish," so fish is often presented as gifts to bring good wishes to the recipient. In Chinese culture, like the Japanese, the fish is symbol of good luck, fortune, abundance, and harmony, wealth, and fertility.

Do you have at least one of DGA Threads fish pouch lucky charm?