The Arimatsu Collection

Founded in 1608 along the Tokaido road, an important route connecting Kyoto with Edo (modern Tokyo), by Shokuro Takeda and a group of eight other villagers from a local cotton-growing region, Arimatsu quickly became known for selling tenugui to travelers. What started out as a simple, utilitarian item soon became elevated by Takeda and others' innovative new techniques for creating more complicated dye-resist patterns, and Arimatsu tenugui became sought-after omiyage for traveling daimyo. Over time, the shibori workshops of Arimatsu began dyeing fabrics for garments like yukata and kimono, as well as noren, split curtains that hang in the doorways of traditional Japanese businesses and homes. The Takeda family, led by 14th-generation master Takeda Kahei, continues to produce shibori fabric in their home workshop. They had been joined throughout the Edo period by other textile-producing families, including the Hattori clan who founded the business now known as Igetaya in 1780.