Why Imabari Towel is Among the Best Japanese Towels

With over 200 individual towel factories, Imabari, Japan has earned its designation as “the Mecca of towel production.”

Residents have spent the last 120 years honing their towel-making process, perfecting towel construction, and creating an elite product that makes up roughly 60 percent of the towels in Japan.

An Imabari towel represents one of highest-quality and most rigorously engineered towels on the planet. 

Table of Contents

• The Japanese Imabari Towel Is Different From Other Towels
• Imabari: Unique Manufacturing Methods in a Perfect Environment
• How to Recognize the Imabari Towel Brand
• Japarcana Towels – Certificated Under the Imabari Brand

The Japanese Imabari Towel Is Different From Other Towels

You’ll recognize an authentic Imabari Towel by its distinct red, white and blue tag — a certification from the Imabari Towel Industrial Association.

Before the towel can display this label it is put through a stringent 12-point test to evaluate its absorption, durability, and color-sustainability among other attributes.

Evaluators famously conduct a “five-second test” that requires a new towel to completely absorb a container of water within five seconds.

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Imabari: Unique Manufacturing Methods in a Perfect Environment

So how did one seaside city fall into this manufacturing niche? Let’s consider Imabari’s location.

The city faces the Seto Inland Sea and enjoys a warm year-round climate with long daylight hours and an abundance of natural soft water.

Each of these elements has aided a century’s worth of towel makers in developing a standout item.

In contrast to other towel makers across the world, the Imabari industry takes raw cotton and deploys a pre-bleach, pre-dye method that requires more time and labor, but yields a stronger, more functional product after spinning and weaving.

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How to Recognize the Imabari Towel Brand

The Imabari method produces towels in smaller batches that allow towel makers to exert complete attention to detail and create towels with a remarkably soft finish that is not the result of harsh chemicals or excessive additives.

Only towels that meet Imabari’s strict manufacturing standards can bear the exclusive Imabari Towel Brand logo.

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Japarcana Towels — Certified Under the Imabari Brand  

Japarcana has created two varieties of high-grade Imabari towels.

The Omiyage towel is intended as a gift towel. It is exquisitely soft, ideal for special occasions, and given as a symbol of appreciation for loved ones.

The Yudono towel is a high-end Imabari bath towel that combines traditional Imabari towel construction with the latest precision technology for a soft, durable, and super-absorbent product.

To help Japarcana introduce Imabari towels to consumers in the west, consider supporting the kickstarter campaign.