Low stock
Aloha shirt
Onagadori Long-Tailed Rooster & Marigold - Kimono Aloha Shirt
オナガドリと万寿菊 - 着物アロハ$310Low stock
Moka, Tochigi Prefecture · Established 1800
Hinomoto Alohaby Wataya
A bolt of kimono cloth, made into an aloha shirt.
Founded in 1800 in Moka, Tochigi Prefecture, Ningyo no Wataya is a long-established house now in its ninth generation. Having long made hina dolls (the ceremonial figures displayed for the spring Doll Festival) and lanterns, we have now made an aloha shirt from bolts of kimono cloth: Hinomoto Aloha. Sewing artisans within Tochigi Prefecture tailor each one with care, a full day to a single shirt.
- 01Location01
- Mooka-shi, Japan
Founded in 1800 in Moka, Tochigi Prefecture, Ningyo no Wataya is a long-established house now in its ninth generation. Having long made hina dolls (the ceremonial figures displayed for the spring Doll Festival) and lanterns, we have now made an aloha shirt from bolts of kimono cloth: Hinomoto Aloha. Sewing artisans within Tochigi Prefecture tailor each one with care, a full day to a single shirt.
- 01Location01
- Mooka-shi, Japan
02 — Letter
On the Hinomoto Aloha
Handling kimono and bolts of cloth day after day in the course of our work with hina dolls, we have come to feel the richness of their worth. When we exhibited the traditional crafts of Tochigi Prefecture at the Osaka-Kansai Expo, we saw how keenly visitors from abroad were drawn to the traditions of Japan. Might kimono, as a material, be given a form that can be worn in life as it is lived now? From that thought, “Hinomoto Aloha” was born.
So that kimono might be worn more freely — in everyday life, or on a journey — we made it into an aloha shirt. We think of it as a cultural property one can wear. Worn as the day's single garment, or as a companion on the road, we hope it brings you closer to the kimono culture of Japan.
西村
Kazuhiro Nishimura西村 和浩Ninth generation / Wataya / Tochigi
03 — Our particulars
From new cloth, a single garment.
The Hinomoto Aloha is not an old kimono remade. We source new bolts of cloth and, in repeated consultation with our sewing artisans, make each shirt by hand from cutting to stitching. Even a seasoned hand can finish only one shirt in a day. What follows is an account, in order, from the choosing of the cloth to the final pressing.
Choosing the cloth
反物選びBolts of cloth have long been woven in a wide range of materials and widths, suited to the climate and customs of Japan. We seek out and acquire new bolts of this kind, and make them into aloha shirts. The polyester bolts we use — a cloth found in fine kimono as well — resist water, seldom crease, and can be washed at home with ease. Nor is there any fear of the fading or staining that comes with an old kimono.
The craft of cutting
裁断の技術The first step is the cutting of the cloth. The front panels, the back panel, the sleeves, the collar — each is cut away in turn. From a single bolt, only two shirts can be made. Cutting allows no error; of all the stages of sewing it is the most laborious, and the one that demands the greatest care.
The Craft of Sewing and Finishing
縫製と仕上げの技術The sewing comprises ten stages: pocket, yoke, brand label, sleeves, side seams, collar setting, hem, buttonholes. Of these, setting the collar is the most exacting; a single shirt takes a full day to complete. For buttons we use domestic bamboo rather than the coconut customary to aloha shirts. It has a quiet lustre, and sits well with the cloth.
04 — Timeline
From Cotton Wholesaler to Kimono Aloha Shirts.
A shop in Moka, nine generations deep.
1800
Founded as a Cotton Wholesaler
In the twelfth year of Kansei (1800), the first-generation Wataya Rinzō established a shop dealing in cloth in what is now the city of Moka. The photograph shows the inscription written on the reverse by the second-generation Wataya Zenbei.
1957
The Founding of Wataya Shōten
The company was established in 1957 as Wataya Shōten, Ltd. Even then, as one can see, we dealt in gogatsu dolls (the armoured warrior figures displayed for the Boys' Festival in May).
Today
A Specialist in Seasonal Festival Dolls and Lanterns
Today we devote ourselves to hina dolls, gogatsu dolls, hagoita and hamayumi (the ornamented battledore and the ceremonial bow that turns away misfortune), and bon lanterns (lit in midsummer to welcome the returning ancestors). In 2020 we refurbished the shop into its present form.
2026
The birth of the Hinomoto Aloha
Kazuhiro Nishimura, the ninth generation, wondered whether new value might be given to kimono cloth as a material. He procured bolts of new kimono fabric and, together with garment artisans in Tochigi Prefecture, made an aloha shirt: the "Hinomoto Aloha."
05 — VisitView in Google Maps ↗
Visit the workshop.
Address
WATAYA Moka-shi 1107 Aramachi Tochigi Prefecture, Tochigi 321-4305
人形のわたや 〒321-4305 栃木県真岡市荒町1107
Opening hours
Sun–Sat10:00–17:00