Ito Tabane
Located in Murasakino, Kyoto, Terajima Hotarashoten is one of the few remaining workshops specializing in the production of gold and silver thread since its establishment in 1897. In the past, the gold and silver thread industry flourished in Kyoto alongside Nishijin-ori weaving, and gold and silver threads supported the foundation of Japanese traditional culture as a special light adorning costumes and festival tools. The hangings for the Gion Festival, garments for Shinto rituals, and Noh costumes – the thread adorned with real gold leaf symbolized their "sacredness."
Unlike modern synthetic fibers, the gold and silver threads carefully preserved by Terajima Hotarashoten are still made using traditional methods: applying lacquer to Japanese paper and meticulously pressing real gold leaf onto each piece. From adhering the foil onto the lacquer to finely cutting it and twisting it into fine, strong threads – every step requires the skilled handiwork of artisans, and the number of workshops preserving this manufacturing method is decreasing year by year.
To prevent this traditional manufacturing method from dying out, Terajima Hotarashoten has long continued to produce materials for Shinto ritual garments and cultural property restoration.
However, with the decline of traditional Japanese clothing culture, the demand for gold and silver threads significantly decreased. As Nishijin-ori production plummeted from its peak, the gold and silver thread industry also faced a quiet crisis. Despite being a material that supports culture, the severe decrease in producers threatened the very existence of the tradition. In this situation, Representative Director Daigo Terajima continued to ask how to apply the techniques cultivated over a long period to the modern age.
The new brand "Ito tabane" was born as an answer to this question.
It reinterprets gold and silver threads, once special materials for rituals, into everyday accessories. In traditional crafts, this was a major challenge and, at the same time, an attempt to open the door to the future.
Ito tabane accessories skillfully utilize the inherent beauty of the real gold-leaf-adorned thread while redesigning it to complement modern attire. The thinness and softness of the thread, the elegant luster created by lacquer and foil, and the three-dimensional shadows created by layering – a material long considered "the light of sacred rites" transforms into a delicate and quiet brilliance for everyday life.
The brand name "tabane" (束ね), meaning "to bundle," not only refers to bundling threads but also expresses the wish to bundle tradition, techniques, and the artisans' aspirations to create new value. Mr. Terajima's attitude of "not just preserving tradition, but changing its form to connect it to the future" quietly resonates within this name.
As Kyoto's traditional crafts face a major turning point, Ito tabane was born not as a challenge to protect the past, but as a challenge to deliver light to the future.
The technique of real gold thread, carefully preserved by a workshop for over 100 years.
That technique now resonates with modern life in a new form, continuing to emit a soft light in the time of those who wear it.
