Rototo

ROTOTO’s socks are made in Japan’s largest sock producing region, Nara Prefecture. While most of our products are crafted in Koryocho, places such as Yamatotakada City, Kashiba City and Gose City also produce some of them. The area has been known for its quality textile, including Yamato-momen and Yamato-kasuri, since around the 17th century. Industrial sock production was first introduced to the area in 1910, when a man from ex-Umami village (now Koryocho) brought a sock weaving machine to his hometown from the U.S. after his study tour in the country. As textile weaving declined and people’s life style changed with time, sock production was gradually developed in the area as a new industry. With such a background, the local people in the region still call sock knitting as ‘sock weaving.’

The sock production in the northwestern part of Nara Prefecture is thus originated from the area’s centuries-long tradition of weaving industry. And that is why we, ROTOTO places more value on manufacturing that requires a lot of discussion with factory craftsmen who preserve the tradition and history. We sometimes start our sock making with selecting the right yarns for a design from a huge number of options, and then develop a new material that is made of a blend of selected yarns with help of the craftsmen. After that, we choose a knitting machine to use according to the type of material and the usage of the product. Our options include rare machines for specialty use, old-style non-computerized knitters and latest hi-tech machines. To make an ideal pair of socks, exchanging opinions with skilled craftsmen is as important as using the right machine depending on a product.

ROTOTO’s socks can be made only with a combination of the right material, the right machine and craftsmanship. Our aim is to preserve the tradition inherited from our ancestors, while painting the future of the major producer of socks with a fresh point of view. We will keep trying to produce things that can be created only in this place.