Kokuyo A String of Beautiful Days Calendar

The Kokuyo String Calendar by Mio Ueda is a wall calendar where the date numbers are not printed, but embroidered into the paper with a single continuous thread. Each evening, you pull the thread out a little further – the numeral unravels loop by loop, and the day has passed. Born from a design submission for the Kokuyo Design Award 2015, where it won the Merit Prize, this calendar combines a simple craft technique with a very Japanese idea: that beauty and transience belong together.

Features

• Embroidered date numbers, no printing: All numerals on each monthly sheet are worked in loop embroidery using a single long thread. The thread runs in such a way that it can be pulled out from below – number by number, day by day.
• Daily ritual instead of passive reading: In the evening, you pull the thread end that hangs down. The numeral of the past day dissolves. This makes the passage of time visible and tangible – a brief, quiet gesture.
• Twelve sheets, twelve thread colours: Each month has its own thread colour. This creates a subtle colour rhythm on the wall throughout the year.
• Paper with fine, natural texture: The monthly sheets are made from washi-like paper – slightly rough, with visible fibre structure that gives the embroidered numerals a warm, handmade quality.
• Hanging via cord: Each sheet is folded through the middle over an included cord and hung from it. No frame, no nail for a spiral binding – just the sheet, the thread and the wall.
• Hand-produced in Japan: Loop embroidery cannot be manufactured by machine in large quantities. The craft production is part of the concept – and makes each calendar a small individual piece.

Use & Tips

• Hanging: Lay the current monthly sheet in the middle over the cord so it hangs evenly on both sides. Attach the cord to a hook, nail or tension rod.
• Daily pull: At the end of the day, slowly and evenly pull out the hanging thread until the numeral of the past day is completely dissolved. No need to tug – the thread glides smoothly through the paper.
• Month's end: When all the days have dissolved, the blank paper sheet remains – with the fine needle marks as the only evidence of the past month. You can keep it if you wish.
• Placement: Particularly striking against a calm background – light wood, plaster, natural linen. The sheet needs some space around it so the delicate numerals come into their own.
• Light: Sidelight makes the thread structure on the paper stand out plastically. Direct backlighting highlights the fine needle marks in the washi-like paper.

For Design & Craft Enthusiasts

Loop embroidery is the key to the mechanism: the thread is not firmly knotted, but guided through the paper in such a way that each loop holds the next – similar to chain stitch logic in textile embroidery, but adapted for paper. This allows controlled unwinding from below without the sheet tearing or the remaining thread tangling itself. The fact that this calendar exists as a series product at all is thanks to the Kokuyo Design Award: since 2002, the international competition has repeatedly brought design concepts to market maturity – Mio Ueda's String Calendar is one of these projects where the jury explicitly recognised the craft technique and the concept of transience.

Technical Specifications