At the core of Kawashima Selkon Textiles' 170 years' legacy is the spirit of craftsmanship in textile production. We have a mission to preserve the traditional textile culture inherited from our predecessors and pass it on to future generations.

To do so, we have established the Textile Museum, next to our Ichihara plant where traditional handiwork techniques are still being used by master craftsmen to create delicate Obi (Kimono sashes) and large stage drop-curtains. The museum displays many antique fabrics and other fabric related treasures that have been collected by the founding family over generations.

The history of the Textile Museum goes back to 1889, when Jimbei Kawashima II built a three-story western-style establishment in central Kyoto to house his collection of textiles and related specimens as a museum as well as to display the beauty of uniform western-style interior decoration showcasing Kawashima's technology in producing drapes and wall coverings.

The current Textile Museum houses our extensive collection of dyed and woven textiles from around the world during the Meji era (late 19th century to early 20th century) including fabric from the 7th to 8th century "Jodai-gire", "Meibutsu-gire" (notable fabrics), Chinese fabrics, Coptic fabrics, and a wide variety of costumes. The museum is also home to original drawings and trial weaving pieces from our legacy of projects and products, as well as numerous domestic and international antique books regarding textiles.

Through our museum exhibits, we share the results of continuous research of the precious items in our collection.

Reference Link

Access