New Designation of Tokyo Honzome Chusen as Traditional Craft under the Act on the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries

1. New designation of a traditional craft

Concerning the new designation of Tokyo Honzome Chusen, a collective name for dyeing methods utilized in Tokyo, Gunma and Tochigi Prefectures, on August 28, 2023, the Traditional Craft Designation Subcommittee of the Manufacturing Industry Committee under the Industrial Structure Council held discussions on the craft and decided to newly designate it as a traditional craft. On October 26, 2023, this designation was announced by a public notice and the craft has been listed accordingly as an item designated by METI. The number of designated traditional crafts now comes to 241.

By becoming a designated item, this craft can use the name "traditional craft.” In addition, producers’ associations and other related organizations are able to receive Subsidies to Support Traditional Craft Industries for such efforts as fostering successors and cultivating demand by formulating promotion plans and having them authorized. It is expected that the utilization of subsidies by the support measures will promote the development of production areas as well as the traditional craft industries as a whole.

Reference: Details of the Act on the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries

The Act aims to provide enriched and prosperous lives to the public and contribute to the succession of traditional technologies and techniques to the next generation, as well as to the economic development and creation of employment in various regions across Japan, through the promotion of traditional craft industries. The Act stipulates the requirements that a craft should satisfy to be designated as a traditional craft.

Note: Requirements that a craft should satisfy to be designated as a traditional craft (Article 2 of the Act):

The craft should be:
(1) used mainly for everyday life;
(2) hand-crafted for the major part of the manufacturing process;
(3) manufactured by traditional technologies or techniques;
(4) mainly made of raw materials that have been used traditionally to manufacture the craft; and,
(5) manufactured by or engage in its manufacturing quite a few people in a particular area.

2. Outline of the newly designated craft (Tokyo Honzome Chusen)

(1) “Chusen” is a mold dyeing technique that was established in the Edo period. Producers first fold a fabric like a folding screen, create some molds made of paste on the folded fabric to prevent dye compounds in different colors from mixing together, and then pour the dye compounds inside the molds on the fabric using a special kettle (a tool in the shape of a watering pot) to dye the fabric. This method is characterized by dyeing both sides of a fabric at the same time and manufacturing a finished product with no difference in patterns between the front and the back sides.

(2) There are 74 craftsmen in 7 workplaces as of September 2023.

• 
  Yukata (cotton summer kimono)
• 
  Tenugui (cotton towel)

References

• References 1 and 2: The latest newly designated crafts and excerpts of the related provisions of the Act (in Japanese)(PDF:105KB)
• Reference 3: List of designated crafts (in Japanese)(PDF:286KB)

Division in Charge

Lifestyle Industries Division, Manufacturing Industries Bureau