Christmas is approaching. It is fun to prepare gifts for this and that, but it tends to be a bit of a pattern. In this issue, we will introduce four ways of “tenugui towel wrapping” that will take your gift to the next level.
Calendars are indispensable to our daily lives. Prior to the solar calendar, the lunar solar calendar, known as the “old calendar,” was used.Yin refers to the moon and is a sophisticated calendar that incorporates both lunar and solar movements. It was introduced to Japan from China in the Asuka period (7th century) and has been adopted as a way of knowing the changing of the seasons. In this issue, we will guide you through the 24 seasonal divisions of autumn and winter.
Have you ever heard of “Hosokawa Dyeing,” in which two stencils are used to dye? This is a technique of Hosokawa Dyeing in which the process of “glue placement, dyeing, rinsing, glue removal, and drying” is repeated two or more times to create a single pattern.
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!
Christmas is approaching. It is fun to prepare gifts for this and that, but it tends to be a bit of a pattern. In this issue, we will introduce four ways of “tenugui towel wrapping” that will take your gift to the next level.