Tsujikura "KIWAMI"

Genuine handmade washi paper is made in everyday life, with care and honesty, and with love put into each and every sheet.

This is a sentiment that has remained unchanged from the past to the present and is cherished by each and every washi craftsman. Using high-quality kozo paper as the raw material, craftsmen carefully hand-make each sheet.

Each sheet of handmade washi paper has a slightly different thickness. Because Tsujikura's umbrella craftsmen join together many sheets of washi paper to make a single umbrella, they hold the sheets up to the light and select sheets of washi paper of the same thickness to avoid any differences in thickness.

Many of Tsujikura's Japanese umbrellas are made with black bamboo or female bamboo for the handles. When Japanese umbrellas first started to be used in Japan, bamboo was used not only for the ribs but also for the handles. Later, as Japanese umbrellas became more popular and were mass-produced, bamboo was replaced by wooden poles.

Tsujikura wants to continue to preserve the traditional Japanese umbrella manufacturing techniques. We use black bamboo and female bamboo for the handles and wood for the clasps. The more you use them, the more comfortable they become in your hand.
The sound of the wooden clasp when you open the umbrella is gentle.

All of the umbrellas are made from domestically produced, natural materials. The Tsujikura "Kiwami" umbrella was born from the fusion of Tsujikura's 300-year history of Japanese umbrellas, "Ecchu handmade Japanese paper" and "Kurotani handmade Japanese paper." This umbrella truly deserves to be called "Kiwami."

The papermaking process, which has been continued for over 800 years, is committed to "hand-made" (tesuki), and each sheet is carefully made by hand by craftsmen who have inherited the tradition. Kurotani Washi is made from high-quality paper mulberry, and all steps from processing the raw material to processing are done by hand, resulting in a strong paper.

In 1983, this technique was designated an intangible cultural asset of Kyoto Prefecture. The beauty of Kurotani Washi is beyond imagination, but the craftsman knows the rigors of the manufacturing process, and yet he continues to protect and nurture Kurotani Washi. This sense of mission overlaps with Tsujikura's feelings about Japanese umbrellas, and a collaboration between Kurotani Washi and Kyoto Wagasa-ya Tsujikura was realized.

The texture is unique to Ecchu handmade washi paper. When light passes through it, it envelops you with a sense of transparency and a tasteful soft color.

By combining this with washi paper, a beautiful wabi-iro umbrella was created. The lacquer on the ribs of the umbrella brings out the color, and is applied in multiple layers to give it a dignified shine. Made from carefully selected materials by skilled craftsmen, the umbrella is not only sturdy, but also beautiful when standing.