A traditional craft from Yodoe-cho, Yonago City, Tottori Prefecture, Yodoe umbrellas date back to 1821, when Kurayoshiya Shuzo opened an umbrella shop. Yodoe was ideally suited for an umbrella industry. It was a major producer of high-quality madake bamboo and had a large supply of bamboo with long gaps between nodes that were suitable for umbrellas. Inshu washi paper, used in umbrella-making, was also readily available from Aoya-cho, Tottori Prefecture, and the wide sandy beach of the nearby coast had enough space to dry thousands of umbrellas simultaneously. As a result of these advantages, Yodoe became a major center for Japanese umbrella-making, producing 170,000 umbrellas a year during the Taisho era. (Kyoto, Gifu, and Kanazawa were also major producers.) Over time, however, cheap, lightweight Western umbrellas took over, and the history of Yodoe umbrellas faded. Today, the members of the Yodoe Umbrella Tradition Association are striving to preserve this craft tradition.