The articles they deal with are hanten coats worn at festivals, as well as curtains with crests of gods and nobori banners that you can see at shrines. Shirushizome artisan Yoshinori Kodama belongs to Sugishita, also known as Monya, or “Crest Shop” in English. Mr Kodama says, “take the curtains used at shrines, for example, our job is to dye them so that they are visible from 50 meters away. In our world we have to make these things conspicious.” The technique for dyeing these crests is called Shirushizome and it is completely different from the pale gradated colors of popular Yuzen dyeing, despite also being dyed in Kyoto. The unique boldly distinct lines seem to convey an unshakeble strong will.
 Shirushizome has a deep connection with traditional Japanese events and customs. These techniques have been adopted been Mr. Kodama to create something more accessible to everyone, a T-shirt product series called “Kizuna”, meaning bond in English. He expains, “this is an oppurtunity for us to make T-shirts that we would really like to wear ourselves. At the moment, we are selling
them as products, but I think that we have the most fun in actually making them.” The stylish, eye-catching designs that can be seen from far away are what you'd expect from Monya! These items also use Japanese-like motifs such as Buddhist statues and Japanese umbrellas - for Mr. Kodama the illustration is also an important job. Also, for commercially available T-shirts, a pigment print pattern on the fabric and the fixing of the color are mainstream techniques, yet here they are made using techniques by the same company, called “honzome” and discharge printing. Discharge printing is a technique that disintergrates color on the dyed fabric via steam, making the pattern stand out. Just like pigment print, colors do not overlap, so it feels good and provides smooth wearing comfort. As evidence of this, there seem to be quite a few customers who purchase additional T-shirts as they wear them habitually after trying one for the first time.
 ”After T-shirts I want to try making Shirushizome denim” continues Mr. Kodama. It seems Monya's new challenge of living with Japanese tradition has only just begun.