Announcing FUJI TEXTILE WEEK 2025

The FUJI TEXTILE WEEK Executive Committee is hosting the fourth edition of FUJI TEXTILE WEEK, a festival celebrating textiles and contemporary art. The festival will take place from Saturday, 22 November to Sunday, 14 December 2025 in Fujiyoshida City, Yamanashi Prefecture.

Hailing from a region with over a thousand years of textile heritage, FUJI TEXTILE WEEK explores new creative possibilities for textiles through artistic expressions inspired by thread, fabric and the act of weaving itself. It is Japan’s only art event to fuse the textile industry with contemporary art.

Alongside the main art exhibition, the programme will feature workshops and collaborative projects with a variety of creators, providing an opportunity for art enthusiasts and newcomers alike to engage with the city and its culture through walking tours and interactive experiences.

FUJI TEXTILE WEEK began in 2021 under the direction of Fumio Nanjo, who serves as Chair of the Executive Committee and Artistic Director. Following three consecutive annual editions through to 2023, the festival will return in 2025 after a two-year hiatus.

To date, more than 30 artists and creators have participated in the main art exhibition, including internationally recognised figures such as Shinji Ohmaki, Yoichi Ochiai and Asami Kiyokawa. Despite its modest size, the festival has received high praise for its ambitious and thought-provoking approach.

This year, FUJI TEXTILE WEEK will once again invite a diverse range of artists and creators from Japan and abroad, including not only those inspired by textiles, but also those engaging with the local history and natural environment of Fujiyoshida. Many of the works will be created in collaboration with local textile manufacturers, known as hataya, making the event a platform for regional industrial revitalisation.

Exhibition venues will include former factories and wholesalers from the city’s textile heyday, helping to regenerate underused spaces while offering the local community new creative perspectives.

Details about the participating artists will be announced soon.

The theme of FUJI TEXTILE WEEK 2025 is ‘What Flows Through the Weave’.

Beneath the visible patterns of woven fabric lies an invisible network of forces, like underground streams carrying rhythms of sound, handwork, memory and atmosphere.

This year’s edition will focus on what is unseen and embedded, seeking to uncover the cultural and historical layers that pulse beneath the surface of textiles.

Following the 2023 edition, Fumio Nanjo will once again direct the art exhibition, with Kento Tambara serving as curator.

Fumio Nanjo

Curator and art critic.

After graduating from the Faculty of Economics (1972) and the Department of Aesthetics and Art History in the Faculty of Letters (1977) at Keio University, Nanjo worked at the Japan Foundation and other institutions before becoming involved in the founding of the Mori Art Museum in 2002. He served as the museum’s director from November 2006 to 2019 and has been its special advisor since 2020.

In the same year, he was appointed General Advisor to the Towada Art Center and Special Senior Advisor to the Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art. In May 2023, he became Special Director of Arts Maebashi.

Since the late 1990s, Nanjo has served as general director for numerous international exhibitions, including the Japan Pavilion at the 1997 Venice Biennale, the 1998 Taipei Biennial, the 2001 Yokohama Triennale, the 2006 and 2008 Singapore Biennales, the 2016 Kenpoku Art Festival in Ibaraki, the 2017 Honolulu Biennial, the 2021 Kitakyushu Future Creation Art Festival: ART for SDGs, and FUJI TEXTILE WEEK (2021–2023).

His publications include Āto to ikiru (Living Through Art) (Kadokawa Shoten, 2012), among others.

FUJI TEXTILE WEEK has previously hosted talks featuring leading figures from various fields, showcased locally produced textiles and launched collaborative programmes connecting textiles with diverse industries, such as fashion and architecture.

This year, the festival aims to be even more accessible to those who are new to art or textiles. There will be a wide range of welcoming programmes, including hands-on workshops, curated pop-up shops and collaborations with local bookshops, so visitors can enjoy FUJI TEXTILE WEEK while exploring the city of Fujiyoshida.

To give visitors the chance to experience and purchase the rich variety of textiles on display in this exhibition, we are opening a curated pop-up shop selling carefully selected textile products from Yamanashi Prefecture.

The shop will stock high-quality, design-led items such as bags, umbrellas and towels.

Goods related to the participating artists will also be available.

We are planning a series of cross-disciplinary collaborations with Coconogacco, a fashion school led by designer Yoshikazu Yamagata. These collaborations will also involve independent bookshops and other creative partners. These initiatives aim to shed new light on the world of fabric — a material we encounter daily yet rarely consider deeply. By bringing together different disciplines, we hope to reveal fresh perspectives on its beauty. Further details will be announced as they are confirmed.

Fujiyoshida City, located at the foot of Mt. Fuji in Yamanashi Prefecture, is a nature-rich town with a long-standing tradition of textile production. Today, it is known as “Hataori-machi” (The Weaving Town), home to numerous weaving factories that uphold both advanced techniques and deep-rooted craftsmanship.

The iconic view of Mt. Fuji and the five-story pagoda from Arakurayama Sengen Park attracts visitors from across Japan and around the world. Blending rich nature with historical heritage, Fujiyoshida offers a wide range of cultural experiences.

Access

From Tokyo
By Car
Approx. 10 minutes from the Chuo Expressway Fujiyoshida Nishikatsura Smart IC to the event area.

By Public Transportation
5-minute walk from either Shimoyoshida Station or Gekkouji Station on the Fujikyu Railway Line.
Alternatively, take an express bus from Busta Shinjuku (approx. 1.5 hours) and get off at Mt. Fuji Station, then walk 15 minutes.

From Nagoya
By Car
Approx. 10 minutes from the Higashi-Fuji Goko Road Fujiyoshida Oshino Smart IC to the event area.

By Public Transportation
Take an express bus from Meitetsu Bus Center (approx. 4.5 hours) and get off at Mt. Fuji Station, then walk 15 minutes.