New · Made in Nara, Japan
Nara kaya cloth · cotton · three colours · broom tassels
Nara Kaya Handkerchiefs, Set of Three
Three soft cotton handkerchiefs, mint-white, deep pink and ochre, each folded like an envelope and finished with a little tassel.
$69 Free shipping to 32 countries
Order by November 20 to make sure it arrives before Christmas.
We ship to mainland China: free, tracked. Import duties, if any, are paid on delivery. Where we ship
$55 when added to any other piece in your order: it travels in the same box.
A gift for luck and protection · a new home
Leaves Fukuoka within one week by tracked airmail.
What buyers say · ★★★★★ on Etsy
“Received updates regarding the item I purchased and when it arrived could tell that it was packed with care; my fragile ceramic bunny arrived in perfect condition! A wonderful purchase and I would buy from this shop again”
Jessica · United States
1 more from buyers
“Item was as described and in photos shown. Excellent quality. Seller very knowledgable and took the time to explain everything”
Tiang N. · Australia
- Made in Japan. Nara kaya cloth, from Nara prefecture.
- New, never used. Checked and packed by hand in Fukuoka.
- Returns within 14 days of delivery. Not right? Send it back as it came and we refund the full price, return postage included.
- Packed safely, sent by tracked airmail within one week. Order $100 or more and it flies EMS express.
Duties, checkout and extras
- ★ 5.0 on Etsy · Star Seller. Read the reviews ↗
- Import tax. It depends on your country; if any is due, it is collected on delivery.
- US import duties. Already included in the price: nothing to pay at your door.
- Secure checkout by Stripe — cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay. No account needed.
- Two pieces, one parcel. Each extra piece in the same order is $15 off at checkout.
- Orders of $200 or more travel with a gift to keep: Japanese chopsticks with a rest in a paulownia box, or a Nara kaya-cloth handkerchief.
The story
In Nara, people have woven kaya, the airy cloth once hung as mosquito nets over sleeping families, since the Edo period. The nets have mostly gone from Japanese bedrooms, but the cloth is still woven there, and these handkerchiefs are woven and sewn in Nara.
The tassel at the tip is a bundle of asa thread (a bast fibre, like hemp) tied in the shape of a little broom. A broom sweeps things out of the house, so in Japan it is said to sweep away bad luck. The makers hope you carry it like a small charm.
Living with it
Each one is two layers in two shades, so you can turn it to whichever colour suits the day. Kaya cotton breathes, soaks up water and dries fast, and it grows softer every time it is washed. A small thank-you, or a set to share out: one for you, two to give. Orders of $200 or more can also choose one of these handkerchiefs, in a colour we pick, as a gift to keep.
Before first use, soak in lukewarm water to rinse out the weaver's starch, then wash in a laundry net. Like all kaya cloth it shrinks by about 3 to 5 cm in the first wash, and a little colour may fade. No bleach.
• Three handkerchiefs, 37 × 37 cm each before washing • Cotton, with asa thread tassels • Each in its own tracing-paper sleeve • New • Made in Nara, Japan
How it travels
Packed safely, insured in full
Every piece is packed by hand in Fukuoka inside a sturdy 3 mm corrugated carton, cushioned all round with air pillows so it cannot move. It travels with tracking all the way to your door: by EMS, insured for its full value, on orders of $100 or more, and by tracked airmail below that.
A question about this piece — size, marks, condition? Ask the house, we answer within a day.