Tokyo hand-painted yuzen is a cloth with elegant and subtle designs dyed into it. The technique was developed some 300 years ago by Miyazaki Yuzensai, a dyeing artisan from Kyoto.

In the mid-Edo period, many products came from Kansai to Edo, which flourished as the center of samurai politics. Dyeing artisans for feudal lords moved to Edo, bringing various techniques with them. At that time, Tokyo citizens controlled the economy, and the merchants developed a sophisticated culture of elegant simplicity that spread among the populace; this helped the development of Tokyo hand-painted yuzen.

The hand-painted designs are generally crisp and muted in color, but there are brighter tones and new designs in the plain pattern. One artisan is responsible for each step in the production of the cloth; from conception to design, to a rough sketch, to painting and dyeing and finishing.  Many people love this handicraft.