Sarashi shirts feel smooth and light in the breeze, along with a touch of playfulness. Our classic summer clothing balances comfort and style for casual outings, trips to cafes, and the like.
"Furoshiki" has been used in daily life since ancient times. It is a versatile cloth that can be used not only as a wrapping cloth, but also as a mattress or a bag, depending on the occasion and lifestyle. In this issue, we would like to share with you the charm of the square cloth “Furoshiki".
The Japanese tenugui is a perfect union of traditional craftsmanship and modern functionality. Each item is carefully handcrafted with utmost care by master craftsmen.
Kamawanu tenugui are multi-purpose accessories designed to complement your home life in a variety of ways that are both functional and decorative. Tenugui can be used as table runners, placemats, napkins, and as modern ornamentation to bring a splash of color and Japanese taste to your home.
Kamawanu tenugui are the perfect accessories to help offset your wardrobe! Chic, modern, and subdued, they can be worn as breezy scarves, as bandanas, or used in a variety of other ways.
Based in Tokyo, Kamawanu has been producing our original tenugui designs since 1990. Tenugui have been part of Japanese culture since the Heian period (794 to 1185), first as a utilitarian object for drying one’s hands and later as fashion accessories in old Edo (now Tokyo). Our tenugui are created by master craftsmen using a mix of traditional and contemporary techniques and technologies.
The patterns on our tenugui are fresh and modern, yet inspired by historic Japanese aesthetics. Our office are based in lively Shibuya, one of Tokyo’s cultural hubs, the perfect spot to identify what connects with some of the world’s most discerning customers.
A craftsman carefully pours the dye.
One of Kamawanu’s craftspeople creating the stencils used to dye our tenugui.
The more you wash a tenugui, the softer it becomes. Tenugui are dyed, not printed, using a technique called “chusen” which dyes all the way through the material and makes it reversible. Chusen-dyed colors slowly slightly fade with time, providing the experience of the colors “settling” with regular use. With more use and washing, Kamawanu tenugui become intimate objects, reflecting the Japanese term “mono no aware”, or an empathy for objects.
Rinsing one of the tenugui
Clay paste applied to create stencil masks
The finished tenugui-note the soft and relaxed colors!
All of our tenugui are made by hand by master craftsmen who earn a living wage. Each batch of tenugui is the result of hours of care and labor by individuals attentive to the smallest details—how craft should be!
Tenugui work excellently as ad-hoc bags. Just tie a few knots and your fashionable scarf becomes the perfect bag or purse… Or better yet, accessorize and use two tenugui—one as a scarf and one as a bag!
Sparkling sunlight filters through the trees, you can hear the birds of summer, and a refreshing breeze brushes your cheeks – the season of bright sunshine has arrived. Sarashi shirts feel smooth and light in the breeze, along with a touch of playfulness. Our classic summer clothing balances comfort and style for casual outings, trips to cafes, and the like.