"KURASHIKI TEMARI,"
Drawn with Denim Yarn
In handcrafts rooted in a particular place, there is a beauty cultivated through time — passed from one pair of hands to the next. We have continued to engage with these stories, weaving them into our devotion to jeans-making.
This season, our focus turns to Kurashiki Temari, a folk craft of Kurashiki, Okayama. Using the very yarns that go into our denim, we have created a special piece that only MOMOTARO JEANS could bring to life — geometric patterns drawn, stitch by stitch, in indigo.
"Kurashiki Temari," Threading Wishes Together
The temari (handball) has long been treasured as a talisman of "harmony" and "good fortune in love." Originating in the Heian period as a pastime of the aristocracy, temari-making spread, with the popularization of cotton in the Edo period, into a folk craft cherished by the people.
A round core is built up by hand, and long threads are wound layer upon layer in a meticulous process. Carrying the prayer that "all things may roll in a good direction," this handwork has watched over people's happiness for generations.
It was the meeting of this temari tradition with the mingei (folk craft) spirit of the Kurashiki region that gave birth to Kurashiki Temari.
Its origin lies in the vision of Yoshinosuke Tonomura, the founding director of the Kurashiki Mingeikan (Museum of Folk Crafts). Some fifty years ago, deeply moved by the Higo-mari of Kumamoto, Tonomura wished to root a temari culture distinctive to Kurashiki. Since then, the craft has been carried on to the present day by the local women of the Kurashiki Temari Kai (Kurashiki Temari Association).
Reflecting the climate and aesthetic sensibility of Okayama, each piece quietly mirrors the memory of this land — passed down as a talisman of good fortune.
The Maker's Spirit, Carried Forward
▲ Sachiko Kanahara, representative of the Kurashiki Temari Kai
In recent years, it is Ms. Kanahara — granddaughter of the late predecessor — who has breathed new life into the tradition. Having grown up watching her grandmother make temari from a young age, she resolved in 2014 to take up the craft, answering her grandmother's wish to pass it on to the next generation. Even as the Temari Kai faced the reality of an aging community of makers, she has steadily widened recognition through publications and exhibitions, continuing to "make and connect" the craft forward.
In earlier years, vivid colors were used for both the foundation and the stitching threads, but the approach has been quietly reconsidered over time. Today, in pursuit of tones that settle naturally into the landscape of Kurashiki, calm, naturally dyed yarns are also explored. To realize the colors she envisions, Ms. Kanahara sometimes gathers plants herself and dyes the threads by hand.
▲ Yarns dyed by Ms. Kanahara herself. The beige is dyed with yamamomo (bayberry), the gray in the foreground with kunugi (sawtooth oak), the red with bengara (red ochre), and the green with a combination of indigo and yamamomo.
For the core of each piece, momigara (rice husks) and reused washi paper from old calligraphy are used. Cherishing humble materials at hand, and giving them new life — here lives the "wisdom of everyday living" that Japanese mingei has long held dear.
▲ Threads are wound layer upon layer over a core of rice husks and reused calligraphy washi paper, gradually shaping the form.
「KURASHIKI TEMARI」TESSEN・ASANOHA
This season, MOMOTARO JEANS has crafted original temari, our thoughts laid alongside the handwork that breathes through Okayama.
The threads used are the very yarns that go into our denim, dyed in indigo. From among the traditional patterns long carried on by the Kurashiki Temari Kai, we chose two that resonate especially well with indigo: Tessen (clematis) and Asanoha (hemp leaf), bringing them together into a singular, special piece.
Ordinarily, the stitching thread for temari is a 20-count, three-ply yarn. For this work, however, we chose the same single-ply yarn used in our denim. The twist that arises with each stitch is corrected, one stitch at a time. Only through this delicate adjustment does a balanced geometric pattern finally take shape.
Finished slowly, stitch by careful stitch, KURASHIKI TEMARI invites you to enjoy the beauty of handwork that resides within each individual piece.
TEMARI-TESSEN
The tessen (clematis), with vines as strong and supple as iron — its name itself meaning "iron wire." Its intertwining form has long made it an auspicious motif symbolizing bonds and good en (connection in love and life). For the under-thread of TESSEN (the soft pale-indigo yarn), we use hanmō yarn — re-spun from the cutting waste of denim production.
TEMARI -ASANOHA
A continuous hexagonal pattern based on the leaf of the hemp plant. It carries wishes for healthy growth, protection from misfortune, and prosperity.
Kurashiki Temari
The making of Kurashiki Temari began in the late Shōwa era, when Yoshinosuke Tonomura — founding director of the Kurashiki Mingeikan — captivated by the beauty of the traditional Higo-mari of Kumamoto, called upon the local women of Kurashiki to take up the craft.
In time, the techniques were carefully safeguarded by the hands of the community, and have been carried on to this day.
Unassuming and quietly composed, its presence reflects the very landscape of Kurashiki. As a form of handwork rooted in this land, its circle continues, softly, to widen still.
