Wholesale from Japan’s craft towns
Objects say little. Yet each one quietly carries the landscape it was born in: cotton woven in Imabari, paper made by hand in Mino, incense rolled on Awaji Island, lacquer turned in Yamanaka, steel from Tsubame-Sanjō and Seki. Hold one, and your hands begin to slow.
You fold it, wipe it, wrap it, put it away — with care. And in that care, something in you settles too. A quiet, clear space opens up in the everyday.
The landscape it was born in. The water and weather of a craft town, and the marks of the hands that made it. Every piece arrives with a card that tells you where it comes from.
The last of a landscape. Some pieces come from a pattern or a line that is no longer made. When they are gone, they are gone.
A new landscape. The more you use it, the more it gathers your seasons and your memories, until it becomes a landscape no one has seen before. That one is yours to make.
Six places, six materials. Every piece we list names its town and its maker.
Japan’s largest towel-making town. A towel earns the Imabari name only if it passes the region’s own tests, including the “five-second rule”: dropped on water, it must start to sink within five seconds.
Paper has been made by hand along the clear rivers of Mino for more than a thousand years. Thin, strong and soft to the touch, it is used for letters, lamps and the restoration of old books.
Islanders learned to roll incense from craftsmen in Sakai in the mid-1800s. Today Awaji makes more incense than anywhere else in Japan.
Woodturners settled in this hot-spring valley in the Tenshō era. Bowls are turned paper-thin on the lathe, then finished with coat after coat of urushi.
Two neighboring towns built on nail-making that became one of the world’s great centers for cutlery, pans and tools used in hotels and restaurant kitchens.
Swordsmiths came here for its charcoal, clay and water. Their rule, “unbreakable, unbendable, and sharp,” still shapes the kitchen knives made here.
Notes from the workshops: how things are made, and how to keep them for a lifetime.
About
Keshiki is the everyday Japanese word for a landscape: the view from a train window, a river in its season, a town at dusk.
We chose it because every object we send carries one. A tenugui holds the water its dye was rinsed in. A knife holds the forge and the hands that hammered it.
When a piece leaves Japan, it meets a new room, new light and new hands. Used every day, it gathers your seasons and your memories, and becomes a landscape no one has seen before.
Towns
Imabari, on the Seto Inland Sea in Ehime, is Japan’s largest towel-making town. Its mills share one standard before a towel may carry the town’s name.
One of the tests is simple to watch. A small square of the towel is laid on water. If it has been made to drink water well, it starts to sink within five seconds.
That is the quality you notice at home: a towel that dries your hands at once, softens with washing, and keeps going for years.
Care
Urushi is the sap of the lacquer tree, laid on wood coat by coat. Once cured it is hard, warm to hold and resistant to water and heat from hot food.
Wash it soon after use in warm water with a little mild soap and a soft sponge, then dry it with a cotton cloth. Keep it out of the dishwasher and the microwave, and out of strong sunlight.
Used often, the surface slowly gains a soft gloss. Lacquer that is put away for years tends to dull. It looks its best in daily use.
Things for every day, grouped by what your hands do with them. Small numbers, chosen piece by piece; when something is gone, it is usually gone for good.
Towels, tenugui and furoshiki from Imabari and beyond.
Letter sets, notebooks and brushes.
Incense sticks and cones from Awaji.
Bowls, trays and chopsticks.
Cutlery and knives.
First line sheet: winter 2026. Pieces are photographed as they arrive from each workshop. Ask now and we will send it as soon as it is ready.
Request the line sheetEach piece leaves Japan with a card written with its maker. Gift wrapping can be added to any order.
PROVENANCE CARD · SAMPLE
Chūsen-dyed tenugui
The making
The cloth is folded in long layers and dye is poured through the stack by hand, so both sides are coloured alike.
Care
Wash in cold water the first few times. It grows softer with use.
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The town, the maker, how it was made and how to care for it, in English. Written from the maker’s own words and checked by them.
For gifts or for display, we can wrap each piece in Japanese paper or place it in a drawstring pouch. Available as an option for an additional charge; ask us when you order.
Some pieces come from a pattern or a model that is no longer made. We say so on the card, with the number that remain when the maker has counted them.
Care notes we share with every stockist, to pass on to your customers. Looking after these things is part of using them.
Cotton
Wash before first use. Hand-dyed cloth may run at first, so wash it on its own in cold water. Dry in shade; skip fabric softener on towels.
Washi
Keep dry and out of direct sun. Store flat, away from damp walls. Washi is strong when dry and softens when wet.
Incense
Burn on a heat-proof holder, away from curtains. Keep the box closed so the scent lasts; never leave burning incense unattended.
Urushi
Warm water, mild soap, soft cloth. No dishwasher, microwave or long soaking. Dry straight away and store out of strong light.
Steel
Wash by hand and dry at once. Carbon steel can rust if left wet; a thin film of cooking oil keeps it well between uses.
Blade
Cut on wood or soft boards, not glass or stone. Wash and dry by hand. Sharpen on a whetstone rather than a pull-through sharpener.
Tokyo, Japan
At a major Japanese advertising agency, our founder worked on communications for Japanese luxury brands and financial institutions, then moved into business development at a start-up.
Through her twenties and thirties she travelled the world, and along the way studied French floral design and Ikenobo ikebana at the same time, qualifying in both. Finding what Western and Japanese ideas of beauty share became one of her great pleasures.
KESHIKI is the business she was always heading toward: a way to bring the Japanese craft traditions she is proud of into everyday life around the world.
We supply independent shops, galleries and concept stores outside Japan, directly from the craft towns.
Start with a few pieces per line and reorder what sells. Ask us for the current minimum.
Every piece comes with a provenance card in English, ready to sit beside it on your shelf.
Your order is packed and shipped by the workshop that made it, with tracking, the provenance cards and all export papers.
Many lines are no longer made. What you stock may be the last of it anywhere.
For the line sheet, wholesale orders or press. We reply by email; meetings by Google Meet.