u/akira_kanaya — reddlx

Practice Kamon

My parents run a small hand-dyeing workshop in Japan (Tachikawa Nobori) that's been making nobori banners, noren curtains, and kamon (Japanese family crests) for over 50 years. I'll be taking over the business myself before long.

Kamon are circular emblems used the way Western heraldry uses coats of arms — they represent a family or lineage, built from simple motifs like flowers, birds, waves, and geometric patterns, arranged under strict rules of symmetry.

For practice, I'd like to design an original kamon in this tradition for you or your family.

No charge — I'll just send you the design as a digital file.

If you're interested, comment or DM me with:

Your motto, what you value, what you're working toward — anything that matters to you

※That pic I made for myself

u/akira_kanaya — 13 days ago

▲ 33 r/textiles+2 crossposts

We’ve been hand-dyeing family crests in Japan for 50 years — now reaching out overseas for the first time

We’re Tachikawa Nobori — a small family workshop in Japan hand-dyeing kamon and banners for over 50 years. Our work has mostly stayed within Japan — temples, shrines, and families preserving their crests the traditional way.

Recently I’ve started reaching out overseas for the first time, and this community felt like the right place.

We’re considering offering smaller hand-dyed kamon tapestries for wall display. Before making samples, I’d love to hear from you:

**1.**Is this something you’d be interested in?  
**2.**What size would work for your space?  
**3.**What price feels fair for a hand-dyed, one-of-a-kind piece?

Our work: tachikawa-nobori.com/en/pages/production-history

Thank you

tachikawa-nobori.com

u/akira_kanaya — 1 month ago

▲ 4 r/martialarts

Not sure if there's demand for this outside Japan, but we hand-dye traditional banners and crests — thought dojos might be a natural fit

My family runs a small workshop in Japan that's hand-dyed banners and crests for over 50 years. Everything starts with a hand-drawn design, which gets cut into a paper stencil, then used to transfer the pattern onto fabric before it's dyed by hand with brushes that have been around for years. Not sure if there's any real demand for this outside Japan, but given the tradition, dojos seemed like a natural fit. Curious what people here think.

u/akira_kanaya — 2 months ago

▲ 483 r/heraldry

My family has hand-dyed banners and family crests in Japan for over 50 years. Wanted to share the process.

This is something I don't think people outside Japan see very often, so figured I'd share it here.

My family runs a small workshop that hand-dyes fabric banners — shrine flags, family crest banners, that kind of thing. Everything starts with a hand-drawn design, which gets cut into a paper stencil, then used to transfer the pattern onto fabric before it's dyed by hand with brushes that have been around for years.

Still kind of gets me every time I see a finished piece, even though I grew up around this. Happy to answer questions if anyone's curious about any part of it.

u/akira_kanaya — 2 months ago

▲ 24 r/japanart

Seeking advice: I am a 3rd generation artisan of Shrine Banners (Nobori). Can this tradition survive as interior art?

u/akira_kanaya — 3 months ago