Kokura-ori production began in the Buzen Kokura domain (present-day Kitakyushu City) during the Edo period (1603-1868), when cotton cloth was first introduced to Japan.
At that time, warp threads of Kokura-ori were about twice as dense as weft threads, giving it a unique striped pattern. Its thickness and durability made it a specialty of the Buzen Kokura Clan, and it was used in the hakama and obi belts of samurai throughout the country. It was so strong that an anecdote was even told that it was impervious to spears. Eventually, it came to be widely used for common peoples’ clothing as well.

In the Meiji period (1868-1912), a new type of Kokura-ori fabric called "Shimofuri Kokura," made of gray twisted black and white threads, was born. This was used for summer clothes for male students, and Kokura-ori once again became popular throughout the country. Its name is mentioned in literary works by Soseki Natsume and Katai Tayama. Kokura-ori was discontinued in the early Showa period (early 20th century) due to the introduction of machine production, but it was revived by a dyeing and weaving artist a few decades later.

The person who restored Kokura-ori, which had once ceased to exist, is Noriko Tsuiki, a textile artist from Kitakyushu City.
She was interested in Noh stage costumes and began her career in dyeing, but in 1983 she came across a small piece of Kokura-ori at a local antique store.
The color scheme was chic and graceful, with vertical stripes. Thick, yet supple to the touch, it had a silky sheen despite being made of cotton. Tsuiki was fascinated by this old cloth, which used to be a child's hakama in the Edo period (1603-1868), and started researching how to revive it. She found that the warp threads were thinner than the weft threads and about twice as dense. This was the reason for the beautiful warp stripes. This was a feature not seen in other cotton fabrics.
However, even if the weaving was done in the proportions of the time, the result would be stiff and rugged. Tsuiki’s idea was to create a texture and glossy look that would blend in with the skin, as if the cloth had been used for a long time. After repeated trial and error, in 1984, Tsuiki finally completed the foundational Kokura-ori by using three times as many warp yarns as weft yarns.