I couldn’t resist buying beautifully designed Tenugui (手拭い) on my last trip to Tokyo.

A Tenugui is a thin Japanese piece of cotton fabric, usually measuring 35 by 90 centimeters, plainly woven and almost always printed with some pattern. A Tenugui serves as many purposes as you can imagine. Some use it as a washcloth, dishcloth, headband, gift wrapper. I have been using Tenugui towels as a belt for my daughter.

Here are some of the many Tenugui I brought back.