Tenugui Towel Yuzen Dye | Matsu Tsuru

What is Tenugui?

手拭  Tenugui are Japanese traditional hand towels and they are used in many ways and so versatile.

The materials are thin, made of cotton and have unique patterns.

You might have seen that Japanese men wear it around their head or neck to wipe their sweat during the summer too.

Tenugui have a lot of cultural history so make great gifts and souvenirs.

The size of Tenugui is approx. 30cm x 90cm and it has become popular as a wall decoration with a tapestry rod.

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This tenugui towel uses the finest fabric “Tokuoka” among tenugui towels and dye it with the technique of Yuzen stencil dyeing .
It takes longer than usual to let the dye fully penetrate to the back side of the fabric, so the outline of the pattern is finished more clearly.

This tenugui features 鶴 Tsuru (crane bird) with 松 Matsu (pine trees).

The combination of two motifs is a design to celebrate the couple’s love and eternal youth.

Note: The top and bottom of the fabric is not hemmed usually.  This allows fabric to dry faster and not accumulating unwanted germs.  The fabric will fray but will stop with time.  Cut off the loose threads and allow the fabric to age gracefully.