Yamato: Our Company Philosophy
We are in constant collaboration with our customers, producers and society.
Statement
We’re believers,believers in the potential of kimono.
We want you to cast off the image of kimono as wear for special occasions.
We want you to feel the thrill of kimono.
We want you to delight in the wonder of your beautiful silhouette.
We want you to adore kimono effortlessly in your everyday life.
We want kimono to shape your life in positive ways by raising your spirits.
We want you to experience the joy of life in Japan.
And we want to respect the originality of cultures around the world.
To this end, we continue our mission.
Changing the conventional image of kimono,
changing the conventional image of Japanese culture.
Using our network of regional producers,
we are striving to create a kimono movement that transcends existing concepts.
We’re nurturing a future abundant in beauty.
With trust built over our long history, we continue to push the boundaries of innovation.
We’re Yamato.
A company crafting kimono that bring dazzling dreams to life.
KIMONO DREAM MAKERS
YAMATO
The story behind our company name
Just after the Second World War, our second generation Yamato President, Eiji Yajima was working in a drapery store. Recently repatriated from the frontline of war, Eiji was moved when an elegant lady walked in and proceeded to pull out an elegant kimono from her furoshiki cloth wrap.
“Please take this and take good care of it,” she sorrowfully said to Eiji. “Because this kimono is far too precious to give to anywhere other than a specialised kimono fabric store.”
It was then that Eiji came up with the company name. “Yamato.”
Yamato is the name used for ancient Japan and embodies the hope that Japan will prosper forever. The Yamato company name expresses the wish that Japan will never again experience war, and that it always remain a beautiful country where all of its people continue to be happy and blessed.
“Japan: May you forever prosper.”
Our vision
Creating an exciting world through the lense of the kimono.
-
MORE-
Rooted in a long history that has earned people’s rightful trust, Yamato is a company that places great value on embracing new challenges. Together with our customers and producers, we aim to be Japan’s most exciting company and consistently break new and revolutionary ground.
New encounters are created by our exciting kimonos that are intended to inject delight into normal daily life. Yamato has grown and evolved through the multitude of challenges it has faced during its rich, 100 year old history.
Yamato has played a huge part in the countless and colourful stories of both our customers and our producers and will continue to create even more of these exciting stories in the future.
Our aim is to create a world where people can enjoy kimonos, celebrate their individuality and embrace their own uniqueness and personal challenges. Our aim is to create a world that respects and accepts people who celebrate their individuality and enjoy their efforts, just like we accept and celebrate ourselves. We want to create a world that is built without prejudice or conflict, a world with the stablest of foundations, where people are not forced, but want – of their own accord – to take risks and challenges. This is the type of exciting world Yamato want to create through the prism and the world of the kimono industry.
With the rapid advancement of globalisation and digital technology, the world is becoming one. However, alongside these changes, xenophobia and discrimination against different cultures are also increasing at a similar pace.
A world where we respect the unique qualities, cultures and living environments of every single individual. A world where we can continue to take on challenges and make each of our own exciting dreams come true. We are a company that has built its livelihood on the kimono and our future vision for a better, more accepting world comes, at a point in time where it has never been more vital or more necessary.
Our vision for the future is embodied in and can be traced back to our company name Yamato, a name where the Yamato story originally began.
We hope that Japan will never again experience war, and that it always remain a beautiful country where all of its people continue to be happy and blessed.
“Japan: May You Forever Prosper.”
-
Our Mission
We put continuous efforts into updating Japanese culture and the kimono
We want to challenge the established perceptions of the kimono and Japanese culture.
We want to contribute and play a role in creating a successful, rich and fascinating Japanese culture.
We are a company that wants to help spread positivity
As more and more people come to enjoy kimonos, we believe that more and more people will adopt our positive outlook.
In all these different ways, we aim to increase the number of people who embrace both their own culture and Japanese culture. People who also respect other cultures and people from countries other than their own.
What we value
We are KIMONO DREAM MAKERS.
We want to believe in all the wide-reaching possibilities of kimono. Let’s spread the word everywhere about all the possibilities of kimono.
Sustainability
Yamato is not simply trying to turn the culture of kimono into a sustainable industry. We are also deeply committed to making our surrounding environment, society and economy sustainable.
Since 2019, Yamato has switched over to using environmentally-friendly and organic cotton in all our kimonos. It is a cotton produced without agricultural chemicals or pesticides. We are engaged in the development of sustainable practices to ensure that our enriching kimonos can develop in tandem with a bountiful earth. Yamato don’t just use organic cotton for the sake of the environment, we use organic cotton to protect our treasured producers from the harmful effects of agriculture chemicals and pesticides. The wellbeing of our producers is integral to the production process. Making kimonos would be impossible without our producers.
To ensure the protection and succession of our long line of producers, we established the “Tsukuribe-no-kai” an organisation formed to generate a dialogue between producers and also to encourage young and future successors to enter into this specialised area of training. To ensure that the economic wellbeing of our producers will continue to thrive, we implemented an appropriate standard of payment methods and established a guideline standard of retail prices. All of these practises are integral to ensure the maintenance of sustainable kimono production. To ensure that the Yamato kimono far surpasses the normal standards of excellence for our customers, we continue to construct the best environment and systems for the people that are involved in the making of our kimonos. We want to ensure they are also happy.
-
MORE
-
Since 2019, Yamato has switched over to using environmentally-friendly and organic cotton in all our kimonos. It is a cotton produced without agricultural chemicals or pesticides. We are engaged in the development of sustainable practices to ensure that our enriching kimonos can develop in tandem with a bountiful earth. Yamato don’t just use organic cotton for the sake of the environment, we use organic cotton to protect our treasured producers from the harmful effects of agriculture chemicals and pesticides. The wellbeing of our producers is integral to the production process. Making kimonos would be impossible without our producers.
To ensure the protection and succession of our long line of producers, we established the “Tsukuribe-no-kai” an organisation formed to generate a dialogue between producers and also to encourage young and future successors to enter into this specialised area of training. To ensure that the economic wellbeing of our producers will continue to thrive, we implemented an appropriate standard of payment methods and established a guideline standard of retail prices. All of these practises are integral to ensure the maintenance of sustainable kimono production. To ensure that the Yamato kimono far surpasses the normal standards of excellence for our customers, we continue to construct the best environment and systems for the people that are involved in the making of our kimonos. We want to ensure they are also happy.
-
Yamato Quality
Yamato is committed to excellent quality. But what does the idea of quality mean? Does it refer to the excellent finish of a product? Does it refer to outstanding customer service? Surely all companies, without exception, emphasise the importance of quality in their respective industries. At Yamato however, we have a unique approach to the word quality.
Yamato Quality.
Yamato Quality is made up of two elements. People and Products.
Yamato People
The most valuable asset of the Yamato brand is first and foremost, our people. The Yamato family is made up of sincere and honest people who have a positive and optimistic outlook, a strong sense of ethical and moral duty and a sense of humour and hospitality.
We believe that our company Yamato is special and appealing because of its people. The Yamato employees are people who treasure their customers, friends and also value themselves. They are truly versatile, and excel in all aspects of kimono making – from planning and operations to production, customer service and sales.
Yamato Products
Yamato don’t just offer “good” products. We offer “excellent” products. The key word is not “good” but “excellent.” Products that are “excellent” go beyond pure functionality and become exceptional objects. The focus is not on what everyone else can produce, but on a unique product, that only Yamato alone can produce.
“The most passionate kimono making company in Japan.”
“From the traditional to the innovative, Yamato is number one in the country when it comes to pushing the boundaries of possibility with the kimono.”
Yamato creates intriguingly beautiful products so that it can share them with the world.
-
Yamato People
-
The most valuable asset of the Yamato brand is first and foremost, our people. The Yamato family is made up of sincere and honest people who have a positive and optimistic outlook, a strong sense of ethical and moral duty and a sense of humour and hospitality.
We believe that our company Yamato is special and appealing because of its people. The Yamato employees are people who treasure their customers, friends and also value themselves. They are truly versatile, and excel in all aspects of kimono making – from planning and operations to production, customer service and sales.
-
-
Yamato Products
-
Yamato don’t just offer “good” products. We offer “excellent” products. The key word is not “good” but “excellent.” Products that are “excellent” go beyond pure functionality and become exceptional objects. The focus is not on what everyone else can produce, but on a unique product, that only Yamato alone can produce.
“The most passionate kimono making company in Japan.”
“From the traditional to the innovative, Yamato is number one in the country when it comes to pushing the boundaries of possibility with the kimono.”
Yamato creates intriguingly beautiful products so that it can share them with the world.
-
We are
KIMONO DREAM MAKERS
A company that realizes exciting dreams with kimonos.