What happens when vacant spaces are unlocked?
The people and stories weaving the connections behind FUJI TEXTILE WEEK

Walking through the streets of Fujiyoshida, what catches the eye, more than the artworks themselves, is how many buildings that are usually shuttered are now naturally open to the public.

FUJI TEXTILE WEEK is a festival of textiles and art set in Fujiyoshida City, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. Built upon a thousand-year history as a textile production hub, the festival repurposes abandoned factories, warehouses, shops, and residences as exhibition venues. Through collaborations between international artists and local makers, it creates new forms of expression and relationships.

While the theme is textile, visiting the site reveals that it is about much more than viewing art. As buildings open up and people flow in, conversations begin. Through these accumulated interactions, the way the city is used is being rewritten step by step.

In this article, we trace the contours of the transformations occurring within the city through the perspective of a key individual who has supported and continuously woven this festival from the inside. We spoke with Tsuyoshi Yagi, who manages FabCafe Fuji and leads DOSO Inc., while also serving as the Secretariat Director for the FUJI TEXTILE WEEK Executive Committee.

Yagi has been involved with Fujiyoshida for about 11 years. Originally moving here as staff for a foundation supporting civic activities, he initially worked as a designer. Originally as an outsider, he admits he didn’t start with a grand master plan to change the city.

Tsuyoshi Yagi: When I first encountered Fujiyoshida, I felt the city needed an Artist-in-Residence program. To discuss culture in the future, we needed a place where artists could stay long-term. I also felt that having outsiders join the community would be a great stimulus for me.

Then, after I started running a guesthouse, I realized there was nowhere to eat breakfast, so I felt a cafe open from the morning was necessary. As the number of visitors grew, functions like the residency, lodging, and the cafe naturally overlapped.

FabCafe Fuji was also renovated from a vacant building. Its development involved navigating ownership changes and coordinating with contractors. Even before construction began, Yagi maintained a continuous dialogue with the owner about using the space for a cafe, venue of FUJI TEXTILE WEEK, and eventually a lodging facility. Throughout this process, he used his background as a designer to conceptualize how the space should function.

Looking back, the residency, the accommodation, the cafe, and the art festival seem to form a single line. However, this line wasn’t drawn from the start; it was woven together as spaces were designed around needs and adjusted through face-to-face interactions.

The launch of FUJI TEXTILE WEEK was driven by the drastic changes brought by the pandemic. When exhibitions and business meetings in Tokyo came to a halt, the production region was forced to rethink how to connect with the outside world.

Yagi:  When you lead people on factory tours, those who see the site firsthand gain a much deeper understanding. Knowing who makes the product, in what environment, and how, changes your perspective on the object itself. This realization made us see that instead of taking works elsewhere to show them, inviting people here would convey much more value.

The festival, which treats the production hub itself as the venue, serves as both a communication tool and a device for building relationships. Temporarily opening vacant buildings awakened memories of the industry and allowed the city’s silhouette to re-emerge.

How did the art festival actually change the city?

Yagi: Simply cleaning a space and using it for an exhibition completely changes the impression of a building. When owners see a space become clean, they start considering renting it out; similarly, people looking for space appear. Some vacant houses have even been converted into permanent shops. Places that once had their shutters down are gradually returning to life.

While an art festival is not a magic bullet, it may have created the margin necessary for change to occur in the city. Based on my conversations while walking through the streets, this was a sentiment shared by many.

One of the most notable changes brought about by the festival is the relationship between local businesses and creators. Rather than short-term exhibitions, long-term collaboration has led to the evolution of technical skills themselves. As the resulting expressions received acclaim, it instilled confidence in the manufacturers and broadened their horizons. One local weaver I interviewed noted: “It’s not just about my own success. I want myself, others, and the entire production region to move forward together.” This mindset seems to have been nurtured through the collaborative process of the art festival.

A Textile Landscape Emerges Outside FabCafe Fuji Outside the FabCafe Fuji space, a textile installation by artist Akane Moriyama and local weaver Funakubo Orimoto came to life. Fabric with a gradient that seemed to capture the very colors of the sky swayed gently in the outdoor light. 

Funakubo’s words embodied the spirit of constantly evolving the expression of textiles through collaboration.

You won’t know if it’s interesting until you try it.
The production region cannot survive without evolving.

The festival venues utilize former factories and vacant houses once used for textile-related businesses. These spaces, which had fulfilled their roles and stood in silence for a long time, are being reopened as places to welcome people once again through the festival.

The presence of local residents volunteering as gallery guides was particularly striking. As the festival grows with each edition, shuttered doors are opening, and old houses are transforming into shops. They say the daily scenery has quietly begun to change.

I’ve witnessed places that were once shuttered slowly opening up. Through the indirect influence of Fuji Textile Week, the everyday landscape is changing.

Other volunteers shared personal stories: one at the repurposed elementary school pool venue mentioned their grandchild attends that very school; another resident from a neighboring town joined for the first time because the festival looked so intriguing.

The next FUJI TEXTILE WEEK is scheduled for 2027. While the event itself is periodic, the buildings opened and the relationships nurtured during this edition will remain in the city.

FUJI TEXTILE WEEK has created a margi” where change can occur. What is happening in Fujiyoshida challenges us all with a question: how can we re-weave the relationships between vacant spaces, industry, and people?

Written and photographed by: Mai Miyazaki
Translated by: Pinhua Chen