ABOUT US

The Idea Behind the Shop

Makoto Ishida founded Shinaori Sogei Ishida in 1990 to leave future generations Shina fabric, ‘the real thing from Japan’.

While in Tokyo at the age of 20, Ishida had a fateful encounter with a fabric that had a strange energy about it, it was Shina, the same fabric woven in his home of Yamagata.

There was a severe lack of weavers at that time and Shina fabric was at risk of dying out. Although it is such a great material, it was only being used for souvenirs or folk art pieces.

‘If only I could use the characteristics of the material to their full potential and spread this high-quality product throughout Japan and the rest of the world’, Ishida kept thinking, as he turned the highly-breathable material into hats, or bags that are light yet sturdy.

Ishida was very particular about the design, spending many sleepless nights researching to develop a modern, sophisticated product with great sense while maintaining its traditional beauty.

With their contemporary take on an old fabric, Shina fabric products started being sold at department stores and specialty stores in the main centers of Japan increasing its awareness and reputation.

Still lovingly woven in the small villages and mountains of Yamagata and Niigata prefectures, Shina fabric has continued to find a new role in the daily lives of the next generation.