There are all sorts of ways to use tenugui, from wall art to bento carriers, and these Ghibli stars are up for all of them.

Tenugui seems like a word that should be easy to translate. A combination of the words te, meaning “hand” or “hands,” and nugui, “wipe,” you could say that tenugui are hand towels, as they’re fairly long rectangular lengths of cloth, but not as big as a bath towel.

And yes, throughout the course of history people in Japan have used tenugui as hand towels…but they’ve also used them as gift or parcel wrappings, slings for carrying bento lunch boxes, headbands, and many other things.

▼ A chart with some of the many, many ways to use tenugui

And that versatility is something to be doubly happy about today, because it means there are all sorts of reasons to treat yourself to some Studio Ghibli anime art tenugui.

Because of their beautiful patterns and thinner material than a terrycloth towel, tenugui are also extremely well-suited to using as poster-like tapestries. With spring winding down, Ghibli specialty shop Donguri Kyowakoku has restocked its supply of tenugui with summery colors and imagery, featuring characters from three of its most beloved films. Pictured above is Spirited Away’s Haku, in his dragon form, and Kiki’s Delivery Service’s Jiji has a tenugui too, where the curious cat is playing in a field of sunflowers.

▼ It looks like Jiji left some pawprints behind, but we’ll forgive him.

And of course, you can’t have a collection of charmingly cute Ghibli stuff without inviting Totoro, can you?

The first of four Totoro tenugui salutes both the soothing relaxation and bombastic fun of summer, with wind chimes and fireworks.

▼ The little strips of paper hanging down from the chimes have the kanji characters for “Big” (大), “Medium” (中), and “Small” (小) on them, matching the size of their respective Totoros.

Corn is a vegetable with a special significance within My Neighbor Totoro, so of course it appears on this design, along with cucumbers, eggplant, and some other tasty summer produce.

There’re more veggies on this tenugui where even the Totoros look surprised at the bumper crop of goya, or bitter melon.

▼ That と is the hiragana character for “to,” as in “Totoro,” by the way.

And finally, the fourth Totoro tenugui also has fireworks on it, but since the name in Japanese for these twirling disc-shaped sparklers is nezumi hanabi, literally “mouse fireworks,” of course the Catbus is very interested in them.

All of the Ghibli tenugui are 90 centimeters (35.4 inches) long by 33 centimeters wide and made in Japan out of 100-percent cotton. They’re priced at 2,640 yen (US$18) and can be ordered through the Donguri Kyowakoku online shop here. In addition to giving you the means to add a little Ghibli style to your home, they also make excellent souvenirs, since they fold up flat for easy packing and weigh just 35 grams (1.2 ounces) each.

Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Top image: Donguri Kyowakoku
Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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