Textiles

The fabric of Japanese culture and design.

Dyeing and dipping, weaving and stenciling, threading together fabric with stunning designs that hold the heritage of Japan within every stitch and fiber - textiles are an essential aspect of Japan’s cultural heritage that have decorated generations upon generations of people within the country. Iconic Japanese styles of clothing, such as kimono, often require fabric that is resplendent and refined, with entire teams of specialized artisans completing just a single part of the complex creation process, but the importance of textiles doesn’t just end there - tenugui cloth towels, woven obi belts, restaurant cloth entrance partitions, and countless other products feature the handiwork of textile artisans.

A staggering range of different tehcniques have been developed to design textiles throughout Japan’s history. Dyeing, such as aizome indigio dyeing, arrived in Japan as early as the third century BCE, while other innovations came much later, such as kyo-yuzen’s hand-painted methods developed in the Edo Period, Japan’s era of flourishing art and urban culture. Regardless of the method used, each features its own unique history and cultural significance, sustained in contemporary Japan through a host of dedicated artisans.

Surround yourself with the fabric of Japanese heritage by visiting the studios of these textile masters.