Contemporary Sudare Experience

Sudare have been part of Japanese daily life since ancient times. Different materials and forms are used for different purposes, from summer blinds that provide relief from the heat to refined misu that define sacred or formal spaces.

Misu are finely finished bamboo blinds. In ancient Japan, they were used to separate people from deities and nobles from commoners. Noblewomen also used them as screens when meeting people outside their families or those of lower status. More than 1,000 years later, misu are still used in temples and shrines.

Sudare made from yoshi reeds, by contrast, were used by ordinary people to block the summer sun, keep insects out, and screen the interior of the home from view. Hanging sudare can lower the temperature of a room by approximately 3–4°C. They remain common in Kyoto, where summers are hot and humid, and are a familiar seasonal sight in the city’s streets. Learning about the varied roles of sudare offers insight into Japanese approaches to climate, privacy, and space.

Kyo-Sudare Kawasaki is one of the few studios in Japan whose craftspeople still weave sudare by hand. Using natural materials including reeds, bamboo, and makomo sourced in Japan and overseas, they produce a wide range of works, from sudare and misu to lighting and other interior pieces.

Located near Kameoka Station, about 25 minutes by train from Kyoto Station, the studio is housed in a log building with its own exhibition hall. Visitors encounter a broad selection of traditional sudare and misu alongside imaginative contemporary bamboo blinds.

The studio contains a row of sudare-weaving machines, the oldest of which has been used for approximately 50 years. Because these machines are now rare, Kyo-Sudare Kawasaki sometimes receives equipment from other sudare makers when they close. With no specialists available to repair the machines, the craftspeople maintain them themselves, preserving both the equipment and the intentions of their former owners for the next generation.