We Welcomed President Macron of the French Republic and Mrs. Macron to Ginza Motoji

On March 31, 2026, the first day of their official visit to Japan, President Emmanuel Macron of the French Republic and Mrs. Brigitte Macron visited Ginza Motoji.

The website of the French Embassy in Japan also notes that, shortly after his arrival, President Macron reunited with Living National Treasure and yuzen master Kunihiko Moriguchi at Ginza Motoji.

The visit was made to view Professor Moriguchi’s latest work. We had the honour of presenting a new furisode, created by Professor Moriguchi in Platinum Boy silk, for the President and Mrs. Macron to see in person.

It is a great privilege for Ginza Motoji to have been chosen as the setting for this reunion, their first in seven years, and to have welcomed such sincere interest in Japan’s dyeing and weaving traditions.

We are truly pleased to have had the opportunity to share Professor Moriguchi’s new work, together with the beauty of Japanese craftsmanship, with audiences in Japan and abroad.

Post on the Instagram of President Macron

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About the Living National Treasure, MORIGUCHI, Kunihiko

Recognised in 2007 as a Holder of Important Intangible Cultural Property for Yuzen (Living National Treasure).

Born in Kyoto City in 1941. After graduating in 1963 from the Japanese Painting Department of Kyoto City University of Arts (now Kyoto City University of Arts), he moved to France. He studied graphic design at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and graduated in 1966. After returning to Japan, he trained in the yuzen technique under his father, Moriguchi Kako, who had been designated a Holder of Important Intangible Cultural Property for Yuzen (Living National Treasure).

He was awarded the Légion d'honneur by the French government in 1988, the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2001, the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon in 2013, and was designated a Person of Cultural Merit in 2020.

He is also widely known for the adoption of his yuzen kimono design for the renewed Mitsukoshi shopping bag introduced in 2014. While his father Kako was known for a style rooted in the classical beauty of flowers, birds, wind, and moon, Kunihiko Moriguchi has pursued a distinctly graphic mode of expression defined by geometric patterns. His works are held in major museums around the world, including the V&A and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and are highly acclaimed internationally.