Tenugui Bon®

About Tenugui Bon®

hamamonyo’s Tenugui Bon® is a tenugui that folds like a book and stitched with binding.
Unravel the binding for a tenugui covered in a picture.
With new seasonal items and patterns of animals or other things that let you enjoy the scenery of Japan, there are currently more than 30 varieties currently on sale.
Also, in addition to winning several prizes including the Good Design Award, this item was selected for an exhibit called Destination Japan at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. It also appeared as a test item on the 2011 entrance examination for Musashino Art University.

Winner of the Good Design Award

hamamonyo’s Tenugui-Bon®, winner of the Good Design Award

In addition to winning the 2007 Good Design Award, hamamonyo’s Tenugui-Bon® also won the Good Design Award of Small and Medium Enterprises.
The Tenugui-Bon has not only an enjoyable pattern but a sense of story, making it a tenugui like never before.

What is the Good Design Award?

For the past 50 years starting in 1957, this award has honored good design that enriches our lives, industry, and society as a whole.

Judge’s comments

This brings out the best of Nassen, the traditional dyeing technique from Yokohama, and gives the high-quality graphics an alluring finish with great coloring and texture. The idea of binding this tenugui into a book means it’s not simply flat, and makes for a perfect gift that lets the receiver enjoy a wealth of knowledge and the unfolding of a story. This serious yet not overeager attempt to bring the quality of traditional Japanese culture into the modern era would serve as a good example for traditional industries in the future.

Use as a Test Question

Exhibit at Design Bussan Nippon

Tenugui-Bon® was chosen for the Design Bussan Nippon Exhibit for 2008.
It was also featured with a photograph in their book Design Bussan Nippon Exhibition (author: Kenmei Nagaoka), and along with this was selected as a test question for the 2011 Musashino Art University entrance examination.

Used for an art university test question

Items for the Design Bussan Nippon exhibit were chosen from six aspects, tradition, tradition + design, food+ design, and more.
It was placed on the entrance examination for Musashino Art University based on the Design Bussan Nippon Exhibit in a question asking, “Does the Tenugui-Bon show fusion and harmony between tradition and design? ” The question can be read along with test takers’ answers in the 2011 Entrance Examination Question Book.

Working with Industries Overseas

Tenugui-Bon® works in cooperation with overseas industries as well

In 2011, main designer of the Italian fashion brand Orobianco, Giacomo Valentini launched a new lifestyle brand that fuses food and fashion called sen6.

With hamamonyo as one member of the sen6 project, we produced a Tenugui-Bon of Giacomo Valentini’s own original design.

*Tenugui-Bon® is a registered trademark of hamamonyo

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