Save Kiyama Denim Mill

Please help us save Mr. Kiyama's Denim Mill in Okayama, Japan.

It was devastated by flood waters in July 2018 from a Typhoon. I visited in end of September and he indicated that the flood waters almost reached the windows which was almost 4 feet high. So much damage was done to the denim, weaving machines and even down to the small wooden shuttles.



These machines are almost 80 years old. They are classic and vintage and have been producing fine denim for many established denim companies. Mr Kiyama is 78 years old and has been running these machines for a very long time on his own with some little help. This is literally his blood, sweat & now tears.


 He has already cleaned up the mill thoroughly but the looms have yet to be restored to working order. It has been a slow process because the looms have wooden components. These require enormous amounts of time and energy to properly restore. These looms have high speed wooden shuttles. These wooden shuttles swell with water damage and then as they dry, they expand then crack and break. Mr Kiyama has been sanding down each wooden shuttle one by one in trying to restore them. Even if the shuttle size changes a single millimeter, Mr Kiyama is unable to weave new denim until he sands them back down to their working size. He has lost 11lbs during this ordeal. Even now, his hands will not stop shaking.


Mr. Kiyama’s 8 Looms use about 1000 shuttles. Other more fortunate mills have donated around 200 shuttles but the remaining shuttles he needs to restart his mill, all need to be restored by his own hand. That is him doing over 800 wooden shuttles. There are also wooden parts inside the loom that need to be addressed as well in the same manner.


He has lost a lot of income with his mill not running. He is a strong, dedicated craftsman to an industry that has changed into quick and fast production but he has remained traditional and passionate about his style and weaving technique. We would love to raise money to help Mr Kiyama in his endeavors of restoring his denim mill and helping him take care of himself and his family while he is going through this restoration.

Your donations will help support a craftsman and his denim mill.

weaving machine before the flood

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