Japanese Premium Imabari Striped Hand Towel - 34 × 80 cm

Imabari towels come from Imabari, a city on Japan's Shikoku island that's been the country's towel-making centre for over 120 years and today produces most of Japan's domestic towel supply. Towels carrying the official Imabari mark have to pass a stricter absorbency test than the national standard — sinking within five seconds instead of sixty — so the label is a real marker of quality, not just a place name. Beyond absorbency, Imabari towels are known for a soft, dense weave that holds up over repeated washes without going thin or scratchy.

At 34 × 80 cm, this hand towel sits between a face towel and a bath towel, long enough to wrap around your hands, compact enough for a small hook or bar. Woven from 100% cotton with a dense, absorbent pile, it pulls water off skin quickly and holds up to daily washing without thinning out. We keep a few behind the counter at SORT, since it's the towel that gets used the most. Click here to see the matching striped bath towels.

The two colour options are very similar. Please see gallery image 3 for a side by side comparison of the two colours.

Read our guide to Imabari towels to compare sizes and weights.