Shortly before the cold weather arrived in Fujiyoshida, a new blanket arrived at SARUYA. A few months ago, we asked Watanabe Textile to produce a new blanket for us, and now they have completed it.

The soft and fluffy texture make you want to wrap yourself in it and fall asleep, while the white, navy and mustard colours are a warm sight to the eye. These blankets will be installed in each SARUYA room from now on, so please experience them for yourself when you stay at the hostel.

The material is a double weave of cupro and lamb’s wool. Cupra, which used for the warp, is a yarn produced from the feathery part of cotton seeds, and is mainly used for suit linings because it feels comfortable against the skin and is resistant to static electricity. It has a delicate sheen that, to the untrained eye of an amateur like myself, could be mistaken for silk.

The lamb’s wool, which is used for the weft, is sheared from 6-7 month-old merino lambs. Compared to ordinary wool, it is suppler, lighter and has excellent heat retention properties. According to Watanabe Tatsuyasu (hereafter Tatsuyasu as he is usually called), a designer and craftsman at Watanabe Textiles, the encounter with this lamb’s wool decided the entire picture of the blanket.

The original request from SARUYA was for a bed throw, but when they were looking for something warmer for the cold weather, a yarn wholesaler suggested lamb’s wool.  Saruya liked its quality and intuitively felt that it would suit the hostel and so this is how the company switched its focus from throws to blankets.

As far as I know, Mr Tatsuyasu is always in the forests of Lake Saiko or Yatsugatake. He works in front of the loom and sometimes holds business meetings and meetings, but when in the world is he sleeping? Everyone says that no matter how busy he is, he never seems to cut down on the time he spends in nature. 

Nature is not artificial. No one touches it; it is left as it is. After a typhoon or rain it doesn’t feel strange or dirty nor does it feel out of place. In addition, nature does not reject us, no matter how bad our mood or how bothered we are. The comfort of accepting and being accepted by everything is an essential part for eliminating noise from your mind and concentrating on what is essentially important.

This process has unconsciously become a guideline for Tatsuyasu’s textile making. He compares the comfortable sensation of being in nature with the yarns and colours of the materials and when the sensations match, he thinks “I want to make something like this.” He is not intentionally trying to create something natural, but rather, when he chooses something that fits his own senses, he ends up with something that fits naturally… This may be the reason why Tatsuyasu’s textiles are not only physically warm, light and beautifully coloured, but also have a comforting feeling without being too assertive, as if they can easily penetrate deep into the heart of the wearer’s mind.

The “presence doesn’t get in the way” is also what SARUYA aims for. Overly strong assertiveness and excessive hospitality may differentiate an inn, but they do not necessarily make it comfortable. In addition to functions such as sleeping, eating and resting, an inn is also a place that assists in savouring the land and town. SARUYA has always tried to eliminate as much noise as possible (excessive design, discomfort, discomfort, and of course unnecessary sound itself) in order to allow people to concentrate on the essence of their individual journey. 

Whether or not all of this can be achieved is another matter. The blankets woven by SARUYA and TATSUYASU, which have something in common, will definitely fit into your room this winter.