For more than 125 years, award-winning Kyoto-based Tatsumura Textile has been tasked with the restoration of priceless ancient Japanese and Chinese textiles as well as commissions from the Japanese Imperial Household.

Driving the success of Tatsumura Textile is its mastery of Nishiki weaving. Nishiki, the art of woven light, is the pinnacle of silk weaving, originating in the old capital of Kyoto, and is far more complex than European brocades. It is a three-dimensional art form consisting of multiple woven layers, each with beautiful gradients of spectacular color, and gold and silver accents that vary in intensity depending on the angle and light.

The founder of the distinguished Tatsumura Weaving Factory (present-day Tatsumura Textile) was Heizo Tatsumura, an advocate of “weaving art”. While he found early success in commercial weaving, his works were quickly infringed upon by competitors. Tatsumura, however, turned what was sure to be a disaster into an opportunity.

In the first decades of the 20^th century, he dedicated himself to collecting and studying fragments of textile designs and patterns that had come to Japan via the Silk Road over 1300 years ago. These included motifs from as far away as Sassanid Persia and Tang dynasty China. With this invaluable heritage, he created one-of-a kind textiles for kimono and obi and items for tea ceremony that were unrivalled in the industry.

Tatsumura Textile’ silk brocades continue today to draw inspiration from their restoration work on tapestries from a number of notable historic buildings in Japan, including the Shosoin Repository (the treasure house of Todaiji Temple in Nara), as well as Horyuji Temple, the world’s largest wooden building.

Heizo Tatsumura’s pioneering expertise and peerless originality have been handed down over three generations, allowing Tatsumura Textile to not only tap into the nation’s long history of intricate craftsmanship, but also address everyday problems with innovative and artistic solutions.