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Totoro tapestry noren are ready to welcome you to winter (or whichever other season you like)

Casey Baseel Oct 27, 2024
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A touch of traditional Japanese interior design that you can use two different ways.

From making use of seasonal sweets to heading out to spots of scenic natural beauty to see what flowers are in bloom or which leaves are changing colors, Japan loves celebrating each and every part of the year. That goes for interior decorations, too, as in a traditional Japanese home the tokonoma, a living room alcove in which objects of art are displayed, would have different hanging scrolls swapped in to reflect the current season.

But while it’s nice to think of the charms of each season as guests that visit us for a few months, Totoro is welcome in our home at any time, which brings us to this beautiful tapestry series that depicts the forest spirit in winter, spring, summer, and fall.

Officially, Studio Ghibli specialty shop Donguri Kyowakoku lists these items as noren, which are cloths hung across doorways, often at the entrances to shops or restaurants (though they can be used in interior doorways as well).

▼ A non-Totoro noren at a ramen restaurant

Noren typically have a vertical cut down the middle so that the cloth can be pushed aside, like a curtain, as you pass through the doorway. However, Donguri Kyowakoku wisely predicts that some fans might prefer to hang their Totoro noren against a wall like a tapestry, and so the cloths are sold uncut, with a note that if you do want to use it as a noren, all you need to do is grab a pair of scissors and make a few snips.

All four designs measure 85 centimeters (33.5 inches) across and 150 centimeters in length. If you’re going strictly by the seasons, right now would be the time to display the “Autumn Harvest” design, with Totoros gathering acorns (and one getting an early start on munching on them).

It won’t be long until the Winter Sky and Crescent Moon version feels appropriate too.

With Totoro being an icon of Japanese animation, though, you could make a case that it’s never a bad time to pair him with the country’s representative flower, the cherry blossom, like in the Dancing Sakura noren.

And finally, there’s Summer Colors, a scene of Totoros appreciatively gazing up at a trellis of morning glories and enjoying the cooling sounds of wind chimes after a summer rain shower.

▼ Bonus linguistics: One of the wind chimes has the katakana character “to” (ト), as in “Totoro,” written on it.

Each noren is priced at 3,728 yen (US$24.85), and they’re all available through the Donguri Kyowakoku online store (fall here, winter here, spring here, and summer here) thanks to a recent restock.

Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Top image: Donguri Kyowakoku
Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2), Pakutaso, Donguri Kyowakoku (3, 4)
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