Somenosato Ochiai, General Incorporated Association SKU: BJ_P_00010

Tokyo Traditional Dyeing · Tenugui · Ise-giku] Set of 3

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Product Details

PRODUCT DETAILS

Three Cloths, One Flourishing Rhythm

This set brings together three 100 × 34 cm cotton tenugui, each carrying an Ise-giku composition in a distinct pairing of color. Viewed side by side, the chrysanthemum blossoms and curling foliage create a generous rhythm across the cloths, while Tokyo Honzome Chusen gives the pattern a dyed-through presence on both faces.

USE & APPRECIATION

Ways to enjoy the Ise-giku set

Choose a color for the morning

Begin with a small choice of color as you arrange the three tenugui indoors. Pink and brown create a different mood from blue and teal or teal and yellow, although the Ise-giku pattern connects them all. Lift one for a closer look at the cotton and chrysanthemums, then choose the pairing you would like to keep in view.

A woman examining a pink-and-brown Ise-giku tenugui with the other two cloths arranged on a wooden dressing table.

Pattern at the table

While arranging an indoor table, take a moment to unfold the blue and teal tenugui and enjoy the pattern in your hands. Chrysanthemum blossoms and curling stems bring detail beside plain ceramics, with the other colorways offering a different mood. Use the cloth as a textile accent kept clear of food and spills, following the no-washing guidance.

A seated woman holding a blue-and-teal Ise-giku tenugui at a table, with two other colorways folded beside her.

A small arrangement before guests arrive

Before guests arrive, give a clean indoor sideboard a small arrangement of color. The three tenugui share a chrysanthemum design, so you can display them together or let one pairing take the lead. Open a fold to reveal more of the cotton pattern and enjoy how it sits against wood and simple ceramics.

A woman arranging three Ise-giku tenugui on a wooden sideboard in a softly lit room.

Give the floral detail room

Create a small indoor textile display by overlapping the three folded cloths while leaving each color pairing visible. The white margins give the dense Ise-giku pattern space to stand out, and the shared flowers make the different palettes easy to compare. Change which cloth sits at the front to enjoy another emphasis without changing the whole arrangement.

Three folded Ise-giku tenugui in blue, yellow-and-teal, and pink-and-brown combinations on a pale stone surface.

A coordinated gift to share

For someone who enjoys textiles, the three-piece set offers several ways to appreciate one design. Each cotton tenugui carries the same chrysanthemum rhythm in a different color pairing, inviting a closer look at the relationship between pattern and color. Present them together and share ideas for an indoor display, along with the care guidance.

The three Ise-giku tenugui arranged separately on pale fabric, showing their different paired colors and shared floral pattern.

OBJECT PASSPORT / CARE & USE

Care & Handling

Care summary for the Tokyo Honzome Chusen Ise-giku tenugui set: washing, ironing, and outdoor use are not permitted.

Use and display the cloths indoors. Washing and ironing are not permitted.

OBJECT PASSPORT

Product details

Dimensions
100cm×34cm
Material
100% cotton
Product weight
35 g
Origin
Japan
Craft Heritage

CRAFT HERITAGE

Craft Heritage

Tokyo Honzome Chusen is a stencil-dyeing tradition rooted in sosogi-zome, a method devised by indigo dyers in Edo for dyeing tenugui cloths near the end of the Edo period. An early form of the technique is thought to have been established by the mid-19th century.

From the late Meiji period onward, Tokyo dyers also applied chusen to yukata fabric and continued to refine the process. Because dye is poured through folded layers of fabric from both sides, the finished cloth is dyed through on the front and back, combining fine patterns with subtle variations in color.

Today, the technique is used for tenugui, yukata, fashion accessories, clothing, and interior goods.

How It’s Made

TRADITIONAL CRAFT PROCESS

How It’s Made

About the Making Process

Tokyo Honzome Chusen is a stencil-dyeing process in which resist paste is applied through a stencil before dye is poured through layers of folded fabric.
Repeatedly folding and stenciling the cloth places the resist in matching positions on both sides.
Dye is then poured from the front and reverse of the stack, producing a pattern that carries through both faces of the fabric.
Methods include single-color dyeing, sashiwake, bokashi, and hosokawa dyeing.

1. Stencil Application
  • A framed stencil is placed on the fabric, and resist paste is applied with a spatula.
  • The fabric is folded precisely at the pasted edge, and the process is repeated so that the resist is applied in matching positions on both sides.
2. Dyeing
  • Several lengths of folded and stacked fabric are dyed by pouring color from a long-spouted kettle. The entire stack is turned over, and dye is poured from the reverse side as well.
  • The methods include single-color dyeing, sashiwake, bokashi, and hosokawa dyeing. In techniques such as sashiwake, barriers of resist paste separate the colors. For fine patterns, a guiding rod directs the dye to the intended areas.
3. Finishing
  • The dyed fabric is washed to remove the resist paste and excess dye.
  • It is then dried in sunlight to complete the process.
Meet the Maker

MEET THE MAKER

Meet the Maker

MAKER · OCHIAI, TOKYO

A Dyeing Culture Carried by a Community

Some-no-Sato Ochiai preserves more than finished textiles. It carries forward the knowledge of how designs are drawn, stencils are cut, color is judged, cloth is stretched, and skill is passed from one person to another.

A person in a blue kimono standing at the timber gate of Some-no-Sato Ochiai in Tokyo.
Yoko Takaichi, Representative Director and Cultural Steward

Yoko Takaichi’s path into this world began through the neighborhood itself. Raised close to kimono through her mother, who worked in tailoring, she later created a local community publication while raising her family. A visit to the dye house Futabaen led to her involvement with Some-no-Komichi, a community project created to make Ochiai’s nearly hidden dyeing culture visible again. In 2015, she served as the project’s representative. She now leads Some-no-Sato Ochiai as its representative director.

Her role is to hold together the workshop’s cultural purpose, its relationship with the neighborhood, and the work of the dyeing craftspeople. The workshop’s craftspeople carry out the dyeing, while Takaichi connects their work with the wider community as its representative.

A Century of Dyeing in Ochiai

The workshop traces its lineage to Futabaya, established in Ochiai in 1920. The district had become a center for dyeing as makers moved upstream in search of cleaner water along the Kanda and Myoshoji rivers. At its height, the area was home to more than 300 dye-related businesses; lengths of cloth being rinsed in the river were once part of the neighborhood’s everyday landscape.

That industrial landscape has become far smaller, but the work continues. Some-no-Sato Ochiai was established to carry the century-old workshop heritage forward, train people, share the culture, and keep hand processes present in the city where they developed.

Why the Hand Still Matters

Edo dyeing is a sequence of judgments. A design is translated into stencils; cloth is fixed evenly to a long printing board; paste and color must be applied with control; each layer must meet the last. A single Edo Sarasa design may require dozens of stencils, while especially complex work can require hundreds. In the coloring room, recipes handed down over time are not simply repeated: craftspeople continue to adjust and develop color by eye and by experience.

These hand processes create the rhythm of pattern and depth of color associated with Edo dyeing. The judgment of craftspeople working with stencils, paste, and dye shapes its expressive character.

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