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“Tenugui”, or “hand towel”, was an integral part of life of Japanese people in the Edo Period (1603-1867). It is a multi-functional cotton cloth used for many purposes other than just a hand towel. Because of its simple form of textile, it can be used as a place mat, kitchen cloth, gift wrapping, book covers, and other coverings. When you use two, you can even create your own Noren to hang in your home.
For women, using tenugui as a scarf, make-up cape, band for hair when washing your face, is recommended.
One of the great things about using tenugui is that it saves electricity and woods because there is no need to use the hand dryer/paper towels after washing your hands in restrooms.
Also, even after they are deteriorated through heavy, long use, they can be used as dustcloth. After they outlive their usefulness, they can be thrown away as burnable garbage .
Not only can tenugui be used in so many different ways but they can also be used for a long time. This ecological mind inherited from people in the past is something we should value and cherish.
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Each HIROCOLEDGE tenugui is hand-dyed by the specialists who inherit the delicate, artistic technique of Chusen, which is a traditional Japanese dyeing method from the Meiji Period (1868-1912).
Chusen is one of the Katazome methods and commonly used in dyeing yukata and tenugui. In chusen, a specialist applies resist paste through a hand-carved stencil then pours dye compound on the pattern. Using the chusen coloring technique, tenugui is always reversible, with patterns appering both on the front and reverse sides.
Some irregular colors/patterns may be noticeable on the fabric since they are all hand-dyed. However, this is part of distinctive characteristics of tenugui known and loved by the Japanese for more than 100 years, and we hope you come to enjoy them as well. |
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