Tenugui, rectangular cotton hand towels, are sometimes distributed by shops or firms as gifts for their openings or other occasions, mainly because they are inexpensive, lightweight and easy to carry. Those who receive them, however, are not usually thrilled to get towels printed with simple patterns and distributor telephone numbers on them.
Once you set eyes on the multicolored tenugui designed and dyed by Keiji Kawakami, however, you will never look at tenugui the same way again. His tenugui, sold at his shop Fujiya in Asakusa, feature mostly Japanese traditional motifs, such as Mount Fuji, kabuki actors and seasonal flowers. They are so artistic that some people even frame and display them as artwork.
Kawakami, who turns 81 this year, started out as an apprentice to an obi designer and dyer at the age of 15, and only later got involved in te- nugui-making. He started creating his kazari (decorative) tenugui sometime around 1955 and since then has produced hundreds of original designs.