Fabric Festival

If you find yourself in Tokyo in late February, you may be lucky enough to visit the Some no Komichi—Fabric Festival. It’s a stunning sight to see the long strips of fabric called tanmono draped all along the river as far as you can see. In the past, it was normal in this area to see these tanmono hanging up like this to dry after having been rinsed of dye in the water. These fabrics were later cut and sewn into kimonos. Fun Fact: I found it very interesting that almost all tanmonos are the same size, the only thing that makes kimonos different sizes is the amount of hem that they leave in the seams. That way kimonos can be passed down from generation to generation and simply be altered to fit the varying sizes.

The festival showcases the art of dyeing and screen printing with signs along the way that describe the different methods that create the various prints. Throughout the area you can also see short curtains on display in front of restaurants and storefronts called noren. All of the noren on display during this time have been made by students, local artists, and professional dyers for the festival. Not only are the different fabrics beautiful to look at, if you’re interested in the history of the area or the techniques used, it can be quite informative as well.