In collaboration with CHITEN SHOP, textile designer Takasi Ota seamlessly blends Japanese heritage with contemporary aesthetics, creating fabrics that whisper of landscapes, traditions, and the beauty of restraint.
Amid the gentle countryside of Yasugi, a beautifully preserved traditional Japanese house nestles between wide fields and low hills. This is Chiten Shop—the atelier and workshop of textile designer Takasi Ota. Here, considered aesthetics meet cultural roots, and a tranquil landscape unfolds.
It is a place of quiet intention. From here, Ota’s fabrics begin to speak—softly, through touch and texture—whispering of landscapes, traditions, and the quiet pursuit of perfection, as if each fold holds the calm horizon of Yasugi within its weave.
Ota’s early fascination with form began as a child, tracing family crests etched onto gravestones during visits with his grandfather. The circular designs—evocative of celestial geometry—led him to sketch his own versions. Later, in primary school, a whimsical portrait of his father drew praise from a teacher who told him, ‘You’re made for design.’ It was a comment that lingered quietly.
His creative instincts matured in adolescence. Ota customised second-hand clothing, embroidering personal logos and motifs onto jackets and shirts. By high school, a chance encounter with a book on fashion design at the local library left him captivated—he found himself unable to stop turning the pages. Although unsuccessful in gaining admission to a domestic design university, he set his sights on the UK. Having studied English from an early age, he relocated to Britain, where he immersed himself in language studies, music, and culture. Visa constraints eventually brought him back home, but the experience sharpened his aesthetic lens.
Back in Tokyo, he enrolled at Bunka Fashion College—widely regarded as Japan’s most prestigious design institute—where he was drawn to the study of textile theory. He became increasingly interested in how patterns and textures could articulate both functional and aesthetic logic. ‘To industrialise the fabrics I envisioned, I needed to understand structure,’ he reflects. ‘But more importantly, I had to train my ability to visualise and express intuitively.’
Ota spent seven years in the capital, where he continued his creative practice while working in the design industry, drawing daily and refining his artistic vision.
Eventually, health concerns prompted a return to his native Matsue. There, in the slower rhythm of life, he turned his attention to tea culture—working at a historic teashop and discovering parallels between the rituals of tea and his approach to design.
The shift from Tokyo’s relentless pace to Kyoto’s workshop alleys offered new rhythms of creation—ones measured not in hours, but in the slow unfolding of craft..
A stint in Kyoto’s dyeing industry followed. On weekends, he visited craftspeople—dyers and weavers—who generously shared their methods and entertained his experimental requests. The period deepened his material knowledge and reinforced his commitment to process.
Today, Ota’s work is firmly grounded in locality, yet never parochial. His three labels—MALTOWA, PLIS, and TAKASI OTA—are the culmination of this path: distinct in their focus, yet united by a refined sensibility and an enduring respect for material and place. MALTOWA takes its name from the Japanese words for circle (en) and harmony (wa) — concepts that shape both its philosophy and form. This interior brand evokes a sense of quiet warmth, blending the calm lines of traditional silhouettes with gentle touches of modern sensibility. PLIS explores the sculptural possibilities of pleats, transforming everyday folds into three-dimensional forms that respond to movement and light. TAKASI OTA serves as his experimental canvas for textile art. His studio in Yasugi is a place of quiet making, where textiles are shaped not just by technique, but by lived experience and cultural memory. ‘It’s not about chasing novelty,’ he says. ‘It’s about refining what already resonates.’
These three brands will debut at Chiten Shop—a quiet space where people connect, stories unfold, and the textures of life find new meaning. And here, as in the fields beyond its walls, Ota’s fabrics begin to speak—softly, through touch and texture—whispering of landscapes, traditions, and the quiet pursuit of perfection, as if each fold holds the muted vistas of Yasugi within its weave.
Chiten Shop welcomes visitors by appointment, ensuring each encounter unfolds in the same unhurried spirit as the fabrics themselves. Kindly reach out via Instagram direct message to arrange your visit.
Step inside, and let the quiet artistry of Yasugi follow you beyond its walls—like the lingering scent of rain on fields, or the soft weight of a fabric that remembers your touch. In the stillness, form becomes memory—folds holding not just fabric, but the quiet dignity of Japan’s craft tradition.
— Words by Takashi Saito; Photo courtesy of Chiten Shop
Address
CHITEN SHOP
613-1 Nishiakaecho, Yasugi-shi, Shimane 692-0003