Guardians of Gloss and Vigour.

The Tafusa Sensyoku Co.,Ltd. was established in 1914 and is now in the fourth generation, continuing to craft Murayama Oshima Tsumugi (a tsumugi (pongee) originating from the Murayama region, with similarities to tsumugi from Oshima). The workshop is equipped with a room for dyeing, and all steps from dyeing to weaving are performed in the workshop. Today there are only few workshops that produce Murayama Oshima Tsumugi, though even fewer that refine raw silk threads, dye them, and weave them in the same workshop. Asking the craftsman in the fourth generation Mr Takeaki Tashiro about the appeal of Murayama Oshima Tsumugi, his answer is ‘Gloss and Vigour’. And certainly, when looking at the fabric under the sun, you are surprised how much gloss the silk emits. This radiance of the Murayama Oshima Tsumugi is brought about by the unique dyeing technique ‘Itajime Chunyu Senshoku (injecting dye into bundled boards)’. Many dyeing techniques put a lot of stress onto the silk threads, though with the ‘Itajime Chunyu Senshoku’ this stress can be reduced to a minimum. Once there were craftsmen called Itaya (board craftsman), that specialized in making ‘Tsumugi Boards’, though nowadays this profession doesn’t exist anymore. Carefully using ‘Tsumugi Boards’, that became very precious as they are not made anymore, Tafusa Sensyoku Co.,Ltd. keeps protecting the techniques to craft Murayama Oshima Tsumugi. The beautiful products with ‘Gloss and Vigour’ are not limited to fabric for clothing, and today all kinds of silk textile products for the modern life are being crafted as well.

Tafusa Sensyoku Co.,Ltd.
2-46-1,Mitsugi,Musashimurayama-shi,Tokyo 208-0032
+81-42-560-0116
Takeaki Tashiro
tahusa@pony.ocn.ne.jp