Revolution No. 01
The Jacquard Crossing.
Revolution No. 02
The Paradigm Shift.
Nishijin × Jacquard
In 1872, the prefecture of Kyoto sent weavers from Nishijin across the sea to Lyon, France, in search of a technology they had never seen. A city that had woven for a thousand years judged that tradition alone could not carry it forward — that decision itself was the revolution. The Jacquard looms they brought home modernized Nishijin's hand-weaving, and Kyoto's craft joined hands with the wider world.
From Kimono to Western Dress
In the same year, an imperial decree changed Japan's formal dress from kimono to Western clothing. A system of dress a thousand years old turned on a single proclamation. The relationship between Japan and Western garments begins here.