Handmade Temari

Temari · Plant-dyed thread · One of a kind · Kagawa, Japan

A sphere of thread that takes weeks to make
Temari are decorative thread balls with origins in ancient Japan, once made by hand as gifts and passed between generations of women. The craft nearly vanished from everyday life — but in Kagawa Prefecture, a small preservation workshop has kept it alive, adding new expression while staying true to the technique.

Plant dyes, cotton thread, and a core of rice husks
Each temari begins with a core of rice husks wrapped in tissue paper, then wound tightly with cotton thread dyed using plants: indigo for blue, madder for red, Japanese weld for yellow, safflower for pink, cochineal for purple. The outer patterns — flowers, geometric forms, layered symmetry — are stitched needle by needle, by hand.

Curated directly from the maker
Every piece in this collection was chosen by Nagako Araki — master craftswoman and head of the Sanuki Kagari Temari Preservation Society — specifically for By Emotion. Each is a one-of-a-kind work. When it's gone, it's gone.

Place one on a shelf, a desk, or offer it as a gift. It holds its presence quietly — the kind of object you keep returning to.

"Suishoku" — Emerald Green
A base ball wound in deep green, evoking lush foliage, layered with leaf motifs and twelve flowers in six colors blooming across its surface.

Material: Rice husks · tissue paper · cotton thread
Diameter: approx. 4.5 in (115 mm) · Circumference: approx. 14.2 in (360 mm)
Box: 6.4 × 6.4 × 6.1 in (163 × 163 × 155 mm)

"Flowers and Butterflies"
A delicate composition of colorful flowers with butterflies — large and small — dancing among them across the surface of the ball.

Material: Rice husks · tissue paper · cotton thread
Diameter: approx. 3.8 in (96 mm) · Circumference: approx. 11.8 in (300 mm)
Box: 4.1 × 4.1 × 4.1 in (105 × 105 × 105 mm)

"Wild Chrysanthemum"
Gentle green lines suggesting leaves, set against vivid pink flowers dyed with safflower — a quiet contrast between the natural and the bold.

Material: Rice husks · tissue paper · cotton thread
Diameter: approx. 3.0 in (76 mm) · Circumference: approx. 9.4 in (240 mm)
Box: 3.4 × 3.4 × 3.4 in (86 × 86 × 86 mm)

"Four-Leaf and Chrysanthemum"
Layers of indigo in varying depths, where the texture of the thread rises gently to the surface — a piece whose quiet expression grows richer the longer you look.

Material: Rice husks · tissue paper · cotton thread
Diameter: approx. 3.0 in (76 mm) · Circumference: approx. 9.4 in (240 mm)
Box: 3.4 × 3.4 × 3.4 in (86 × 86 × 86 mm)

"Jūroku-kiku" — Sixteen-Petal Chrysanthemum
Two large chrysanthemums stitched in madder-dyed thread — a timeless, classic temari pattern, confident and unhurried.

Material: Rice husks · tissue paper · cotton thread
Diameter: approx. 2.6 in (65 mm) · Circumference: approx. 7.9 in (200 mm)
Box: 3.4 × 3.4 × 3.4 in (86 × 86 × 86 mm)

"Triangular Peony Chrysanthemum" — Four Colors
Four large flowers in madder red, indigo blue, Japanese weld yellow, and cochineal purple — vivid and celebratory.

Material: Rice husks · tissue paper · cotton thread
Diameter: approx. 3.0 in (76 mm) · Circumference: approx. 9.4 in (240 mm)
Box: 3.4 × 3.4 × 3.4 in (86 × 86 × 86 mm)

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