Shibumi Journal
At the Heart of Japan

Tamaki Niime

A day among a hundred artisans, humming looms and endless color — choosing scarves and shawls for the gallery.

Words & photographs by April Higashi

Tamaki Niime lies at the geographical heart of Japan. The company, named after its founder, chose this location to place its headquarters in the very center of the country. If farm-to-table food nourishes the body, this company nourishes the soul — each garment tells a story woven from hand-dyed threads and endless creativity.

My visit to choose scarves and shawls for Shibumi was the best day of my trip. As someone who swoons over handmade textiles, it felt like a dream. With my own background in textiles, I was deeply inspired by the artistry and care with which Tamaki built her business.

Into the Countryside

The Drive

I had been told it was a special place, so I hired a driver to take my family and me an hour and a half outside of Kyoto. We drove past lush rice fields and deep into the countryside until we reached a corrugated warehouse. Outside, sheep, llamas, and emus wandered across the property.

Flooded rice fields beside the warehouse, and the tamaki niime mark stamped on a misted window — Rice fields give way to the corrugated warehouse — and the hand-stamped tamaki niime mark on the glass.

Alpacas resting in the yard outside the workshop — Sheep, goats and alpacas roam the grounds — the animals whose wool becomes thread.

Inside, a hundred artisans worked among humming machines and vibrant, multicolored threads. The air was filled with the rhythmic click of shuttles as the looms and knitting machines busily created their patterns. While there is a beautiful retail shop on site, I spent most of my time in the warehouse and stockroom, surrounded by color and texture.

A Simple Table

The Welcome

We were welcomed with a simple lunch of fresh grilled vegetables, a scoop of meat, rice, and miso soup, all served on mismatched, collected dishes. Everything here, from the tableware to the business cards, is one of a kind.

Thread cones, the sunlit dining room with mountain views, and a lunch of grilled vegetables, rice and miso

Everything here, from the tableware to the business cards, is one of a kind.

Warp & Weft

The Weaving Floor

The machines are loaded with threads that weave long sequences of mostly random stripes. While a few other motifs appear, stripes are their signature. The fabric is rolled onto bolts, and patterns are cut at random from the yardage. I never saw a single repeat — just long bolts of fabric filled with shifting colors and intersecting threads.

It was exciting to walk between the weaving machines, watching the warp and weft come together as new inches of fabric grew. Some of their machines are vintage models from the 1960s, while others are modern. They are all in use, and the piles of colored thread are incredibly uplifting; it gives you a happy feeling just to be around so much color. Outside the windows, the animals meandered past.

A wall of thread cones in every color at the Tamaki Niime workshop — The looms in motion — the rhythmic click of shuttles on the workshop floor.

Woven pink stripe fabric, a shelf of purple and pink thread cones, and finished garments on the retail floor — Signature stripes on the bolt, cones of dyed cotton, and the finished collection.

The cone wall beside a model striding in an orange striped dress

Lookbook prints of the collection pinned to the studio wall

More lookbook prints pinned to a beam by the window

The collection worn and at play — lookbook prints pinned around the studio, one of a kind, head to toe.

Herbs, Wool & a Color Map

Knitting & Dye

We walked to another building to see the knitting area, passing a field where they grow herbs to dye their cotton and wool. Although the dyeing team was away in Tokyo, herbs were piled in bags, threads waited on spinners, and a color chart was spread out like a world map.

The domed animal shelter, an alpaca, and skeins of undyed natural wool — Farm to fiber — the animals, the shelter they graze beside, and skeins of natural wool waiting to be dyed.

A wall papered with hand-written dye recipe cards and tufts of colored yarn

Freshly dyed skeins in indigo and teal hung to dry on the spinning rack

A box of skeins dyed in soft aquas and blues beside cones of thread

The dye room — recipe cards spread like a world map, and skeins hand-dyed in every shade before they return to the loom.

Floor to Ceiling

The Stockroom

Finally, I was taken to the stockroom. Picture a two-level, 2,000-square-foot room filled entirely with one-of-a-kind scarves and clothing, stacked from floor to ceiling.

It was hot and humid, but I happily unrolled each one, picking lightweight cotton for summer in three sizes, along with larger wool shawls for fall. I could have stayed for days, but I only had the afternoon — and I enjoyed every single minute.

Cubbies of folded scarves in every color above a rack of hanging skirts in the stockroom

It is rare to find a company that inspires me the way this one does, built so beautifully around community and artistry. This is a visionary and her team that truly cares about the world. This is a place I want to support, and a creative vision I am proud to share.

April and family with the Tamaki Niime team among the vintage looms — April and her family with Wholesale Manager Akiko, among the vintage looms.

Their Philosophy

Comfort
is Beauty

Principles for Living

01 Live comfortably, live cheerfully.
02 Do it now — think while you do it.
03 Growth comes through failure, so keep experimenting.
04 Question the norm; create comfortable things.
05 Make the things, experiences, and people in your life feel good.

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Tamaki Niime — At the Heart of Japan