Hideko Watanabe / Mio Tsuiki

Kokura-ori brand “KOKURA SHIMA SHIMA” is supported by two women. One is Ms. Hideko Watanabe who is the founder, the other is Ms. Mio Tsuiki who is the daughter of Hideko Watanabe. Ms. Hideko Watanabe loves music and used to be a jazz pianist. She was influenced by her elder sister Ms. Noriko Tsuiki who is a textile artist of Kokura-ori. Ms. Hideko Watanabe established “KOKURA SHIMA SHIMA” in 2007. She decided to preserve the culture of Kokura and disseminate the culture to the world. Ms. Mio Tsuiki joined the company around the same time when “KOKURA SHIMA SHIMA” was launched. She had studied in Taiwan. By using her overseas experiences, she had initiated the efforts to introduce Kokura-ori to the world. She says “I am grateful to inherit this tradition of 400 years, yet there are new possibilities for this new era”. Ms. Hideko Watanabe and Ms. Mio Tsuiki say, “We wish to make Kokura stripe World stripe”. From here on, beautiful stripe patterns await them.