Kanako Iwai

  • Textiles
  • 1938 -
Kanako Iwai

Mainly producing kimonos with designs in stencil resist picture dyeing, but also producing kimonos with stencil resist picture dyeing and tie-dye combined.

Membership Full member, Japan Kogei Association
President of Kounan Dyeing Workshop
  • 1938 Born in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture
    Studied Japanese painting from her teens under Yuki Ogura
  • 1965 Graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Painting, Japanese Painting major
  • 1968 Stayed in Detroit, Michigan, USA ( up to 1971)
  • 1972 Studied textiles at Tokyo Institute of Craft and Design ( up to 1974)
  • 1979 Studied under Yoshitaro Kamakura, Holder of Important Intangible Cultural Property for "Stencil Dyeing"
    Selected for the New Artists' Textiles Exhibition for the first time
  • 1980 Selected for the Textiles Traditional Kōgei Exhibition for the first time
    Selected for the Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition for the first time (selected several times from this year onward)
  • 1984 Becomes Full Member of the Japan Kōgei Association
  • 2002 Took part in the Bingata Dyeing Successors Training Program by Yuko Tamanaha, Holder of Important Intangible Cultural Property for "Bingata" (– 03)
    Learned the double-side dyeing technique
  • 2007 Solo exhibition at Wako Hall, Ginza (also in 2012 and 2016)

  • 1994Received the Japan Kōgei Association Award at the Textiles Traditional Kōgei Exhibition
  • 2012Received the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education Award at the 46th Textiles Traditional Kōgei Exhibition
  • 2018Received the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education Award at the 52nd Textiles Traditional Kōgei Exhibition
  • 2019Received the Japan Kōgei Association Incentive Award at the 66th Japan Traditional Kōgei Exhibition

  • Japanese Traditional Dyeing and Weaving Promotion Foundation
  • - Formal kimono "Dandelion"
  • - Formal kimono "“Flower Garden of Queen Consort”
30 artworks posted