Tenugui

A tenugui (Japanese手拭い,手ぬぐいfrequently, towel), is a traditional Japanese hand towel made ​​of thin, normally colored printed cotton fabric and usually about 30 x 90 cm in size. The long sides are secured by selvedges, the short simply cut off so that the tenugui some fraying during use.

Tenugui were popular in the Edo period in Japan, as the strict ethical rules have been relaxed somewhat and the ordinary people could use cotton for the first time. It was used by kabuki actors, with their images or coat of arms, it was printed as a promotional tool and as such gained an unexpected popularity so that it is displayed on ukiyo-e pictures.

There are two basic techniques to color tenugui: Chūsen (注 染, also Honzome (本 染め) called ) and wet (捺 染). When Chūsen technique are the places that should not be colored, covered with starch. Thereafter, the cloth comes in a dye bath, the starch is washed out at the end with water. In wet technique, a mask is placed on the fabric and the color of the hand is applied with a doctor blade. This process is repeated for each color, and then the cloth in order to preserve the color is attenuated. Finally, the cloth is washed in cold water and dried. Both Färbearten are to be distinguished from that colored with the Chūsen technique towels are colored on both sides, while stained with the wet technique towels are colored on one side only.

The word means tenugui wipe hands, but tenugui have been and are being widely used. They were, for example, as dust and sun protection such as a scarf or as Hachimaki (钵 巻, headband) tied around the head, as a children's yukata sewn together or - if they are older and unattractive - used as a simple filter.

Today tenugui are only rarely found in Japanese households, especially the elderly, however, they like to take in the summer on walks with. Even as a collectible or gift they are popular. When Japanese fencing martial arts kendo a tenugui is worn on the head under the Men ( head protection and part of the bogu ). So it is also used Mentauru called in Japan (Men - Towel ). It serves as a sweat catcher and developed to reduce being hit by the opponent's fencing floor, the shinai (竹刀).