This is our 105th Anniversary!
> 1919-2024<

For over 100 years, our company Kamedatomi Co. Ltd. produced traditional kimono fabric exclusively in the dye-technique of Kyoto-Yuzen. In the early days, hundreds of workers were employed dyeing kimonos.

Over time however, with clothing styles from abroad being easier, and more practical to wear, there became less need for kimono designs to be produced. With fewer kimonos being worn, the beauty and rich history of traditional fabrics was also being forgotten..

Fourth generation Kazuaki Kameda, in 2002, searched for a way to revitalize the vast collection of kimono designs being stored in the company archives. He was to discover that the original Aloha shirts made in the 1930’s in Hawaii, were actually produced with Japanese silk kimono fabric brought over to Honolulu by Japanese immigrants.

Kameda was inspired to share his family’s heritage and rich kimono culture with the world, making a line of clothing using the company’s traditional designs. Once again, the patterns could be enjoyed as a living, wearable art. More over, their tradition could be passed down, preserved, and appreciated by future generations, which is how our “Pagong“ brand originated.

The word “Pagong” literally means sea turtle in the Tagalog language. This name was chosen due to the Kameda family name also meaning “sea turtle“ in Japanese.

Today, the Pagong brand continues to successfully fulfill Kameda’s dream of sharing Japanese traditional culture with the world; together with authenticity, innovation, pride, and unlimited potential…

From our hearts to yours…
Wishing everyone to experience our traditional kimono design culture.

Our dedicated team strives to find a unique balance between Japanese tradition and style.

Back in the Day…

This is a family photo of Kamedatomi Co. LTD. before Pagong started. Our president’s father, Tomizo Kameda, is wearing glasses on the left, with his wife Yasuko Kameda seated in the center of the photo, next to Michiyo Kogure.
Michiyo Kogure was a very famous movie actress at the time, she is wearing a formal kimono which was dyed at our founding company, Kamedatomi.

History of Kamedatomi Co. Ltd.

Established in 1919
by Tomitaro Kameda as a Kyoto Yuzen dyer.

He rented a small room of about 4 tatami mats and started his business. War had begun, and harsh times had come when even the production of dyes was not allowed. One day, a brighter world will surely come, and people will wear bright kimonos again. In hopes of living in such a time, we placed brightly colored dyes such as red and yellow and charcoal under the rim of the warehouse to endure the war. After the war ended, Tomitaro Kameda's wife, Fusae, took the bright dye and created the brightest and most flashy kimono ever. They began to be worn by people in Kyoto.

In 1949,
the company was established as Kamedatomi Dyeing Factory Co., Ltd.


At a time when kimonos were in high demand, more than 100 craftsmen were engaged in dyeing. In addition to hand printing, machine printing was also practiced.
However, as you all know, as the number of people wearing kimono decreased, the business was forced to downsize, and since the beginning of the Heisei era, 100% of the dyeing work has been done on clothing materials, and the work has been mainly done by subcontractors and subcontractors who dye predetermined patterns



There were 5,000 to 6,000 Kyo Yuzen designs left in the dye factory's storehouse. As I was thinking about how I could show these designs to people around the world, I realized that the origin of the aloha shirt was when Japanese immigrants brought kimonos and unraveled them and made them into open-collared shirts. know. In 2001, we began making aloha shirts from fabric dyed with designs stored in our storehouse. The product received a good reputation, so we repeatedly made prototypes, collected data on materials, comfort, durability, etc., and made improvements to the product.

In 2001,
aloha shirts were made from fabric dyed with a pattern stored in the storehouse, which became popular.

Each pattern is painstakingly applied by hand in layers, combining revered techniques with modern techniques, similar to silkscreening, as well as brushwork. Applying real silver and gold leaf create additional elegance and luster.

Our company, Kamedatomi Co. Ltd. dyed fabric for kimono for more than 100 years. We have now ceased production of dyeing kimono fabric in order to focus our energy and passion on creating our Pagong brand label of clothing, utilizing our original collection of kimono design patterns.