Traditional Crafts

Hakata Okiage Raised Cloth PicturesFolk Crafts

Okiage raised cloth pictures are created using cotton and cloth to create a vibrant three-dimensional effect. In the Hakata area, there is a custom where okiage are given as gifts to celebrate the birth of a girl. Then, from the latter half of the 19th century until the first half of the 20th century, making these raised cloth pictures was part of a girl's education here. Today, Kiyoko Shimizu and her daughter continue to uphold the traditional methods used to produce these pictures.