Company

Mitsuru Kohgei was established in 1995 as a fabric wholesaler. At that time, we were distributing hemp fabrics to the Muromachi area, the kimono wholesale district of Kyoto, the Nishijin area famous for making obi belts, and to dyeing workshops and handicraft shops.
and Nishijin area, which is famous for obi (sash) production, as well as to dyeing studios and handicraft shops.
The company then moved on to the manufacture of shop curtains. Later, the company expanded its business from manufacturing of store curtains (ink dyeing) to a wide variety of products including interior decoration, cushions, and tapestries.
The company has since expanded into a wide variety of products, ranging from shop curtain manufacturing (ink dyeing) to interior decoration, cushions, and tapestries.
Surrounded by nature in Ohara, Kyoto, we naturally used the nature around us for dyeing.
We have been using the nature that surrounds us in dyeing. All of my family members grew up in the countryside, so we all enjoyed going into the mountains to gather wild vegetables.
We were all fond of going into the mountains to pick wild vegetables, and it was just a matter of changing from edible plants and trees to plants and trees that could be used for dyeing. It was around that time that the dyeing studio specialized in natural dyeing, and persimmon tannin dyeing was also started at that time. However, they could not keep up with orders and began to use persimmon tannin produced in the Minamiyamashiro region (around present-day Souraku and Tsuduki-gun, Kyoto Prefecture). The kakishibu dyeing process using persimmon tannin produced in the Minamiyamashiro region is very good, producing good colors and minimal color fading even after use. The tannin content of the persimmon tannin was totally different from that of amateur fermentation.
Ohara, Kyoto has a good environment for water, which is used in large quantities in the dyeing process. The system of drawing mountain water into each house and using it as water for daily life has been handed down since ancient times, and many houses in Ohara still have access to both tap water and mountain water. Many houses in Ohara still have access to both tap water and mountain water. This has made it possible to have cleaner water, free from the disinfectants that are often found in tap water. Strong glues such as antiseptic glue are removed by exposing them to a nearby stream. Sansui is also useful for boiling materials for dyeing. The use of clean water in the dyeing process allows for more vivid colors. Mitsuru Kogei will continue to pursue better colors and better color retention.