Tenugui:More than Just a Hand-towel

being green, dance, decorative arts, fabric, fashion, fiber arts, inspiration, Japan, Paper Nado, Uncategorized

thepaperwoman

Tenugui is a  “handy-wipe”, which Japanese carry with them for daily use. But, as you can see here, they are used in a variety of different ways; like as part of a costume for parade performers, as giftwrap for  presents, as wall art, as a sash or scarf.

These pretty little textiles we’re neatly tied around the heads of the dancers during the Koenji Festival parade, which I attended last month.
A natural progression from paper is of course, textiles.  As a collector of affordable art or folk arts, I’ve taken on tenugui as my new obsession. Tenugui are now for sale on papernado.com.

Just in these last 2 months, I’ve learned more details about how tenuguis are made….will explain in a future  blog.

Other scenes in the town of Koenji.

Traditional Clothing Store Selling Tenugui

Devil Roof Tile of Temple in Koenji

Here’s a little video to enjoy, recorded in Japan.  Just click on link below, taking you to our new vimeo account:

http://vimeo.com/35285571