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Ojami Cushion - Second Life: Series 1

Honoring the Past: The Second Life Collection
A traditional Japanese Obi is more than just a beautiful fabric; it is a vessel for memories. From the celebration of a coming-of-age ceremony to the quiet dignity of a family heirloom, these belts once bore witness to life’s most significant milestones. Today, many of these cherished pieces remain tucked away in closets, waiting for a chance to shine once more.

Our "Second Life" collection is an invitation to embrace the spirit of Mottainai—the Japanese philosophy of finding value in the old and honoring its essence. At Takaokaya, we embrace this sentiment by breathing new life into these pre-loved treasures. Our master craftsmen delicately repurpose vintage Obi into our signature Ojami cushions, evolving them from formal attire into essential pieces for modern relaxation.

Because every Obi is handled with individual care, each resulting cushion is a completely unique work of art. This transformation allows the intricate craftsmanship of the past to become a part of your daily comfort, ensuring that the legacy of your cherished fabric lives on in the heart of your home.

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Obi Belt

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Second Life

"Second Life" is an exemplification of the "Mottainai" spirit, seeking to breathe new life into preloved traditional Japanese garments, to spark joy again. We take vintage obi belts and transform them into relaxing products known as Kangu. This transformation not only honors the cultural heritage embedded in each piece but also allows the beauty and splendor of the obi belts to be admired and appreciated in our living space daily.

Obi belts collection

Choose your favorite piece of obi belt to create a unique and stunning piece of Ojami Cushion.

obi belt 1

This is a reversible obi belt filled with pine tree emblems. Known as "matsu", pine trees are iconic symbols that represent endurance, longevity, festivity and celebration, and eternal youth. You can choose to have your Ojami made entirely with the green or white side of the obi belt or mix the two colors up to create a duo-tone Ojami.

*Limited to only 4 pieces.

obi belt 2

This is a buddhist design of intricate floral motifs, known as housouge (宝相華文), created from an array of flowers, to symbolize elegance and spirituality.

You can choose to create an Ojami cushion using the entire floral motif or create contrast with the back of the obi belt.

*Limited to only 1 piece if made using front of obi belt.

**Limited to only 2 piece if made combining front and back of obi belt.

obi belt 3

From far, this look like a plain white obi belt with golden embroidery of floral motifs. Up close, you can however see that the white fabric is filled with beautiful woven patterns, known as "jimon"(地紋), for texture and aesthetics.

The embroidery featured on the obi belt are Spring flowers seen commonly in Japan.
Each Ojami will feature a set of the embroidered gold floral motifs.

*Limited to only 2 pieces.

obi belt 4

What makes this piece of obi belt outstanding is the creative display of the Shippo design, which traditionally is an unending chain of interconnected circles. On this obi belt, a new pattern is formed with the connected circles, adorned with flowers.

Shippo means "seven treasures", and is a reference to the seven treasures of Buddhism, made up of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, mantis shrimp, coral, and agate, representing 7 core values.

The Shippo design signifies harmony, prosperity, and good fortune.

The Ojami will be created using the Shippo pattern.

*Limited to only 1 piece.

obi belt 5

Featuring royalty colors of orange and gold, the Kanji on the front of the obi is the word "寿", which means longevity. In Japan, orange symbolizes love and happiness and in ancient times, the color was exclusive to the Crown Prince as it is a sign of prestige and status.

Choose to combine the front and back of the obi belt to create an Ojami of royal contrast or live long and prosper with the Ojami made entirely from the front of the obi belt.

*Limited to only 1 piece if made using front of obi belt.

**Limited to only 2 piece if made combining front and back of obi belt.

story of ojami

The Ojami Cushion is the brainchild of Takaokaya’s 3rd generation CEO, Koichiro Takaoka. Being particular about relaxing, he has always found it a little uncomfortable to fold the traditional zabuton cushion in half when sitting on the floor. So he wanted to revolutionize the experience of sitting down by creating a cushion that everyone can “sit comfortably by raising our bottom”, as part of his lifelong quest of pursuing the art of relaxation and creating kutsurogi products that put a smile on everyone who uses them. Inspired by the ancient Japanese beanbag toy called otedama (or ojami in the Kyoto dialect) and coupled with his many years of knowledge gained from creating kutsurogi products and making cushions, the Ojami cushion which offers unsurpassed comfort, finally came to fruition.

how to enjoy Kutsurogi

ojami cushion relaxation guide

why is the ojami so relaxing?