Story · est. 2019
We started Towelshop because we wanted a Japanese towel in under a week.
Where
Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. A coastal town of 150,000 on Shikoku Island.
Why there
The Soja River runs soft. Cotton dyes deeper, rinses cleaner. The region has been weaving towels since 1894.
How here
Direct from our distributor in Imabari to our warehouse in Illinois. No third country.
The long version
One town. One standard. One distributor between you and the loom.
Imabari is a small coastal city on Shikoku, the smallest of Japan’s four main islands. It sits across a narrow strait from Hiroshima Prefecture, connected by the Shimanami Kaidō — a 70-kilometer chain of bridges through the islands of the Seto Inland Sea. The city is known for two things: shipbuilding, and towels.
The first towel mill opened in Imabari in 1894. By 1960, the region had over 500 weaving operations producing roughly half the towels made in Japan. Today there are about 100 mills left, and they produce the most expensive everyday towels in the world.
The standard
The Imabari Towel Association certifies every towel against twelve criteria. The most famous is the 5-second test: a 1cm × 1cm square of towel is dropped on still water and must absorb completely within five seconds.
Most luxury bath towels take 30 seconds to several minutes on the same test. The standard was introduced in 2007 by the Association to defend the region’s reputation against cheaper imports labeled “Japanese-style.”
We launched Towelshop in 2019 because importing a single Imabari towel to the U.S. was absurd — three weeks of customs/duties, $40-$50 in shipping on a $50 towel, no ability to feel the weave before buying. We are currently purchasing from our main distributor partner: Japarcana and from one mill: Onaru Towel Co.
We don’t blend regions. We don’t apply our own softener or call anything “Imabari-style.” Every towel on this site can be traced to a loom in a building we’ve visited.
Our partners
All in Imabari.
est. 1953 · Organic & low-tension
Onaru Towel Co.
Specialists in low-tension pile weaving and GOTS-certified organic cotton. Family operation, third-generation. Carries → Pureform, Core, Japarcana
est. 2021 · Daily & patterned
Japarcana
Our distributor partner behind the Japarcana brand name. Innovators in jacquard pile. Carries → Omiyagi
Buy one towel. Use it for ten years.
We’d rather keep one distributor and one mill, and answer your email personally.