The Tozan is a striped cotton fabric which
was imported from Southeast Asia during the Edo period. At that time, the people of Edo were fond
of Tozan because of its exotic and smart mood, but it was so expensive that
they wouldn’t buy it.
By the middle of the 19 century the circumstances in Japan
had rapidly changed, the Tokugawa Bakufu had decided to open the country to
foreign trade. During that time European countries and the U.S.A. had
already made their success during the industrial revolution.
So we could import very fine cotton threads
in a cheep price and in big amounts from those countries.
The Merchant of Kawagoe had sooner noticed these fine threads than
anyone else. They let weavers in Kawagoe,
who were famous for handling their silk goods, weave Kawagoe Tozan using these
fine threads.
As the fabric which was produced was good quality and reasonably pieced,
people in Edo loved it very much and called it
by the nickname of “Kawato” which was shorten the name of “ Kawagoe Tozan” .
This was the beginning of “Kawagoe Tozan”.
