SUIFUTOSHA

A towel creation project that considers the future of fabrics and people

SUIFUTOSHA is a towel creation project run by the textile workshop Kobo Oriza and towel artisans of Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, a cotton textile production area.

The name "Mizufujinsha" contains three meanings: "people who live with water," "fabrics that live with water," and "fabrics that live with people."

Imabari City has long developed as a textile town, blessed with high-quality soft water with few impurities, which is suitable for bleaching and dyeing textiles. Towel production is said to have begun in Imabari around 1910, and there are now over 100 towel manufacturers. Abundant, high-quality soft water and expert washing and dyeing techniques result in towels with a soft texture and beautiful colors.

Material and weaving are closely related, and a good towel can only be made when the quality and thickness of the thread, the density of the weave, and the pile length are balanced. This sense of balance is cultivated through many years of experience in weaving a variety of fabrics. Mizufujinsha holds repeated sessions with artisans who have inherited the techniques handed down in Imabari, and pursues the possibilities of weaving with free thinking.

Mizunojinsha towels never make a loud statement. However, they quietly accompany you in your daily life, and before you know it, you won't be able to let them go...that's the kind of towel they are. Because they are something you touch repeatedly in your daily life, you want to choose something that is gentle on your skin and your heart. Mizunojinsha towels quietly respond to that desire.