STORIESDecided while the cloth is still white
A hands-on dye studio in Nihonbashi, milling its own colour since 1890.
THE FILMWatch on Instagram ›somenova is the hands-on room of MIYACOZOME, a dye brand that has milled its own colour in Nihonbashi since 1890. You take a blank 90cm furoshiki, fold and pleat it, and bind it tight with rubber bands. Where you bind decides the whole design, and you decide it while the cloth is still white.
This isn't a craft trend. It is how Japan used to keep its clothes: from 1890 MIYACOZOME was among the first to sell dye in small jars to ordinary families, who used it to re-dye faded kimono. A jar of their dye about a century old still sits on the studio shelf, and they still mill their own colour, which almost no one does anymore.
The block around it, Kobunacho, was an Edo-period dyers' quarter; today a single monument is left, and this one room carries it. You dye for about twenty minutes, rinse, and open the cloth. You don't know what you made until you do, and a first-timer's piece comes out as well as a regular's.
| Find them | www.katsuraya-fg.com/somenova |
|---|---|
| Book | coubic.com/somenova |
What is somenova?
The hands-on dyeing studio of MIYACOZOME, a Nihonbashi dye brand founded in 1890. You fold, bind and dye your own 90cm furoshiki cloth, then open it at the end to see what you made.
Where is somenova?
On the 5th floor of SOIL Nihonbashi in Tokyo, in the Nihonbashi area. Access details are on their official page.
How do you book, and how long does it take?
Booking is online through coubic.com/somenova. A session runs about an hour to an hour and a half.
Do you need any experience?
No. You don't know what you've made until you open the cloth, and a first-timer's piece comes out as well as a regular's.
This venue hosted our visit — a gifted 取材, no fee either way. Features are always disclosed as PR. Real photos only — no AI.取材（gifted）・PR表記。実写のみ・AI不使用。
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