THE MEANINGS WOVEN IN
格子
kōshi
A wish for lives that cross and hold together, like warp and weft.
Lattice
Bonds that hold →01
Where it comes from
Koshi takes its name from a lattice of thin wood or bamboo set crosswise, and its lines meet like the grid of a go board. If stripes come from the lengthwise threads, a lattice appears when the crosswise threads join them, so koshi is counted as a kind of stripe. In Noh, thick robes woven with a fine lattice were worn for dignified elders and priests, and a still finer lattice marked even higher rank. In the Edo period, kabuki actors made their own lattices fashionable, some with letters hidden in the grid that spelled out a name.
02
On the cloth
Lattices have been woven into obi as fine checks, as one grid laid over another, and as a lattice traced with the leaves and stems of flowers. Large and fine checks were woven into kimono cloth from early times, and okina-gōshi, a bold lattice holding many fine lines inside it, appeared on round obi.
03
To give
Koshi suits daily things made to last, and a gift for two who are building something together. It is for someone you hope will stand steady, with good people crossing their path.
A word to keep
碁盤縞
goban-jima
Go-board stripes. A lattice of lines and spaces of about the same width, like the grid of a go board.
Two questions
What wish can the Lattice (格子) pattern carry?
A wish for lives that cross and hold together, like warp and weft. Koshi suits daily things made to last, and a gift for two who are building something together.
Where does the 格子 pattern come from?
Koshi takes its name from a lattice of thin wood or bamboo set crosswise, and its lines meet like the grid of a go board. If stripes come from the lengthwise threads, a lattice appears when the crosswise threads join them, so koshi is counted as a kind of stripe.
