Almost 63 Million Visitors: How Kyoto's Craft Scene Kept Growing

Nine styles, ten to fifty pieces of each. That is the whole of the first menswear line from Hosoo, a Kyoto textile house where the same family has woven fabric for more than four centuries. "The true strength of tradition is in its resilience," says Masataka Hosoo, its 12th-generation president, "evolving with new developments, instead of being broken by them."

This is not a museum piece speaking. The line launched in March 2026, cut from hemp sourced through a revival initiative that reconnects the material to ancient Japanese practice. Ryutaro Kishi designed it, and it sells only from the brand's new Kyoto flagship.

The Question Sofia's Craft Scene Keeps Circling

Walk through Sofia's Oborishte district on a Saturday morning and you'll find ceramicists, coffee roasters, and textile makers working within a few hundred metres of each other. The talent exists. What's often missing is the connective tissue: collaboration between disciplines, shared infrastructure, visibility that turns scattered makers into a recognisable scene.

Kyoto faced similar fragmentation. "In the past, there was little interaction between different fields; everything was siloed," Hosoo told Monocle. "Kyoto used to be far more conservative but, as the city's history and culture merge with new forms of creativity, I feel that the future is taking shape."

Materials That Outlast Their Makers

Hosoo's hemp revival carries a philosophy worth examining. "Today most items are considered to be at their peak when they're new, then they decrease in value," he explains. "Kimonos are different."

This idea of intentional scarcity mirrors what's happening in Sofia's specialty coffee scene. Blue Bag Specialty Coffee works with verified farms and peak-ripeness beans in small batches, applying the same principle of traceability and limited production that Hosoo brings to textiles.

When Gallerists and Chefs Share a Vocabulary

On the road to Kenkun shrine in Kyoto's Murasakino district, gallerist Ryo Suzuki has spent years transforming a century-old machiya (a traditional wooden townhouse) into an exhibition space. The renovation happened incrementally, in partnership with local carpenters and craftspeople.

"I think of buildings like this as minka, places for ordinary people that possess a local character, born from the land. The use of natural materials makes them feel alive. Earthen walls and tatami mats change in appearance; wooden beams and floorboards grow darker."

Ryo Suzuki

Suzuki's gallery, Kankakari, hosts exhibitions ranging from traditional basketry to washi-paper lighting. His influence extends beyond the gallery walls. He worked with chef Takatomo Izumi on the renovation of Mube, a 10-seat restaurant in a 150-year-old former residence. Izumi opened the restaurant in August 2025; it has already received a Michelin star.

I want to return it to its essence: the idea of food as nourishment." His dishes centre on seasonal produce and fermentation techniques inspired by his hometown in Shiga prefecture.

Tourism as Infrastructure

Kyoto received almost 63 million visitors in 2025. The numbers could easily overwhelm a city's craft identity. Instead, several new openings suggest a different approach.

The Imperial Hotel opened a 55-room branch in Gion's Yasaka Kaikan theatre in March, with interiors that weave original elements from the 1936 landmark into contemporary design. Capella Kyoto, designed by Kengo Kuma, draws inspiration from the city's townhouses in the Miyagawa-cho district. British label Studio Nicholson opened its first Kyoto outpost in a former precious-metal workshop, renovated with a century-old construction firm.

The pattern is consistent: new investment channelled through existing structures, contemporary function housed in heritage form.

What Sofia Might Ask Itself

"There's a culture of using things beyond the span of a person's lifetime," Hosoo says of kimonos. In Kyoto, the same has started to hold for the buildings people work in.