Have a look at those beautiful varieties of envelopes. Those are all celebration for my daughter's' wedding. Amazingly, almost all different shapes. I don't know how many envelopes are there just for wedding. This is generally called “Noshi-bukuro in Japanese. You will put money into it and bring it with you to the wedding ceremony. Recently, the amount is said to be going for 30,000 yen. so quite high price. That's why they say when the wedding ceremony of your friends are going on in a row, you could be a poverty because of wedding rush.
This envelope is made of beautiful Washi or traditional Japanese paper, and banded with called MIzuhiki, decorative Japanese cord.
Mizuhiki itself is a Japanese tradition.
Please take a close look at the picture and you'll see the many shapes of the Mizuhiki. Some are flowers and some are auspicious crane.
Interestingly, the way of tied of Mizuhiki has a very important meaning. For wedding celebration, the Mizuhiki is tied in never untied way. The more you pull it, the tighter it will be tied.
This Noshi-bukuro is for celebrating of general happy occasions, such as having a baby or promotion. This type of Mizuhiki is tied easily untied. Because you wish to celebrate them some times, not once. Also, this Mizuhiki is not a real cord, just a picture. It's probably not put so much amount of money into.
And this type of Noshi-bukuro is for funeral.
This tie is uneasy way to untie, and the color is grey and green. It is never used red color on it.
You've seen various "Noshi-bukuro". Apparently, many foreign tourists buy it as a souvenir from Japan because it is really beautiful. You can get it even convenience store, but if you want to get nice one, you should go to a stationery shop. Probably you may know, Japanese stationery shop is pretty fun!
*If you want to go to see these nice envelopes and stationery shop in Tokyo, please join my tour, Kumi Yorisow Tour. I'm a professional tour guide. Contact
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Linda Steinberg (Tuesday, 14 September 2021 00:00)
Thanks for sharing, Kumi. These are so beautiful and I am always interested in learning more of Japanese culture. Hope you and the family are well and many congratulations on your daughter's wedding