KUME.JP - Kume Sen-i Kogyo

Kume Sen-i Kogyo was founded in 1935 in the Honjo knitwear district of Tokyo as Kume Mokoso Manufacturing. In the mid-1950s, soon after the war, the second-generation president Shinichi Kume, together with his brother, worked on developing a domestic outerwear T-shirt — leading to the birth of "Iro-Marukubi," said to be Japan's first T-shirt. Since then, as a specialist Japan-made T-shirt manufacturer, the company has continually refined its materials and production methods.

In 1960 it was incorporated as Kume Sen-i Kogyo Co., Ltd., and in 1963 the Chiba factory — capable of integrated cutting, sewing and finishing — began operations. The group also established a print factory, building a system where everything from body manufacturing to print processing can be completed in-house. It continues to produce the long-selling classic T-shirt "SAY YOUNG," along with many collaboration T-shirts with brands and artists.

Under the concept of "a T-shirt that only Japan can create," Kume Sen-i adopts fabrics from domestic spinning and knitting, and is characterized by carefully maintained craftsmanship in sewing and finishing. The cylindrical body and "tenchi-biki" stitching at the hem and sleeve openings are devised to combine comfort with high durability. The aim is a T-shirt whose texture grows richer the more you wear it, lasting for many years.

The company also engaged in environmental considerations from early on, developing organic cotton products as a regular member of the NPO Japan Organic Cotton Association. Through selecting materials that don't work against natural cycles and through manufacturing that lasts thanks to durability, it proposes a sustainable lifestyle.

At the factory shop on the first floor of the headquarters, you can pick up and choose from standard T-shirts and collaboration items. In the past, it has also hosted silkscreen workshops and gallery exhibitions where you can experience the joy of T-shirts. From Sumida, Tokyo, the company continues to deliver T-shirts packed with Japanese technology and culture.