The epitome of minimalismHitoe® Fold Less - Museum -
Artistic beauty of light and shade
The Hitoe® Fold series will be updated for its 5th anniversary in 2025.
You can view the improvements via the link below.
New Aria & Less – Slimmer, More Beautiful
Due to this update, current models are available at a special price while supplies last.
The release date for the new model is yet to be determined.
Concept
Maximum freedom with minimalism
"Less is More" - Mies van der Rohe, 20th-century architect
This philosophy embodies freedom through the elimination of the superfluous.
As cashless payments become more prevalent, we refine things to only the essential elements, achieving lightness and ease of carrying, intuitive comfort, and a feeling of liberation.
"Less is more free."
The Hitoe® Fold Less, the thinnest in the series, brings you new value.
About Museum Calf
Artistic Beauty of Rich Gradation
Museum Calf is a leather inspired by the marbled patterns of natural stone.
True to its name, it is created using an artistic dyeing method in which craftsmen apply multiple layers of color by hand, resulting in beautiful tonal variations.
The finish preserves the delicate texture unique to calf leather, and the polished surface emits a refined luster that deepens with use.
Technology
Innovative ideas and the exquisite craftsmanship of artisans
｜Patented technology: Inner Hook
A new patented technology that uses the card itself as a clasp. It achieves a thin, flat design without any metal parts. If the wallet is opened incorrectly, the coins will not accidentally spill out.
｜Hitoe® structure for extreme thinness
The "Hitoe® structure" arranges cards, coins, and bills side by side without overlapping, achieving surprising thinness without sacrificing storage capacity. The leather layers are also kept to a maximum of 5.
Even when fully loaded with 10 bills, 15 coins, and 3 cards, the thickness is only 9mm※.
※ Thickest part excluding coin pocket
｜Highest quality Musou tailoring
"Musou tailoring" involves bonding two pieces of leather to create a smooth finish like a single piece. This tailoring, which combines durability and elegance, is a testament to the exquisite and skilled craftsmanship of the artisans.
｜Slipless design (patent pending)
Cards slide in and out smoothly at all times, yet they are less likely to accidentally slip out.
Design
Harmony of beauty and function guided by the laws of nature
｜Ultimate functional beauty
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
We pursued ultimate thinness, lightness, and functional beauty through refined design and exquisite craftsmanship.
｜Laws of beauty born from nature
The beautiful harmony of the natural world, as depicted by the Fibonacci sequence, has been incorporated into the wallet's proportions.
Each time you hold it, you'll feel its balanced beauty resonating within you.
｜Aesthetic attention to detail
Delicate stitching, carefully polished leather edges, and fine lines along the borders.
The aesthetic sensibility residing in these details adds depth to the wallet's presence.
｜Details for thinness
The leather is stitched on the outside to minimize overlap.
This detail is true to the ideal we strive for.
｜Beauty achieved with only leather
No metal fittings, no flaps. A simple design that just holds everything with leather. Its simplicity means nothing gets caught, allowing you to carry it smartly anywhere.
｜Durable and long-lasting beauty
No metal fittings are used, and stitching is placed in areas less prone to fraying.
Vulnerable corners are reinforced with extra layers of leather for enhanced durability.
Furthermore, the seam allowance is kept to an absolute minimum, ensuring the wallet maintains its shape even when kept in a pocket.
Ease of Use
Simplify daily actions
｜One-action comfort
Simply bend the wallet into a V-shape. Bills and cards can be retrieved instantly.
This makes payment at the register smooth and smart.
｜Bills stay flat, no folding required
Bills are stored unfolded. No creases mean smooth usage at vending machines and self-checkouts.
｜Temporary cards stored beautifully
The bill retainer can store cards not used regularly. It doesn't affect the wallet's opening/closing action, and cards remain easy to retrieve.
｜Easy to retrieve, spill-proof coin pocket
The coin pocket features a simple design without zippers or snaps. Its shallow depth and short flap make it easy to retrieve coins and prevent them from spilling. It can hold 15 coins (999 yen) or more.
| Compact Yet Global
Surprisingly, many currencies around the world are larger than Japan’s ¥10,000 bill or ¥500 coin.
This wallet accommodates most of them, making it comfortable to use even when traveling abroad.
Comfortable in your pocket
So thin you'll forget it's even in your pocket.
Unprecedented smartness makes cashless payments even more convenient.
About Museum Leather
About Museum LeatherOrigins
Museum Calf is a leather created by the prestigious Italian tanner ILCIA, inspired by the marbled pattern of marble. As its name suggests, beautiful light and shade patterns are created by craftsmen applying multiple layers of dye in a painterly way.
In addition to the dye finish that makes the most of the delicate texture unique to calfskin, the polished silver surface gives off an elegant luster that deepens the more you use it.
Tanning and Manufacturing
Made from finely textured, high-quality French calf leather.
After chrome tanning, skilled craftsmen repeatedly dye the leather with pure aniline using a technique called "hand tamponato". This process creates a transparent, artistic marble pattern. The silver surface is then carefully polished with glass to give it a refined, glossy finish.
LWG (Leather Working Group) environmental certification Gold rank.
Maintenance
Although it has high durability due to the chrome tanning process, it is finished with a dye that brings out its natural look, so care must be taken when handling it to avoid scratches and water stains.
If it gets wet, wipe it off immediately with a soft cloth and regularly remove any dust from the surface with a soft cloth or leather brush.
For detailed maintenance information, please see here .
Colors
Brown Marble
Black Marble
Navy Marble
*Due to differences in monitor settings and batches, the displayed color may differ slightly from the actual color.
*Please note that the pattern may vary from piece to piece.
Globally Recognized Innovation
The Hitoe® Fold series has won a total of 20 awards, including the iF Design Award (Germany), Red Dot Award (Germany), and IDEA (USA) — three of the world's most prestigious design awards — as well as the Chicago Good Design (USA) and German Design Awards (Germany). It has been highly praised for its minimalist design and comfortable usability.
Hitoe® Fold Aria: 12 awards
Hitoe® Fold Less: 6 awards
Hitoe® Fold: 2 awards
Awards
Social Products Award 2025
Hitoe® Fold Aria -Mushroom-
This is Japan's first award system that highlights excellent "social products" that contribute to the realization of a sustainable society, evaluating both their social and commercial value.
IDEA 2023
Hitoe® Fold Less
The IDEA (International Design Excellence Awards) are organized by the IDSA (Industrial Designers Society of America) and are one of the world's three major design awards. They focus on industrial design, with evaluation criteria including innovation, user value, and contributions to social responsibility such as environmental consideration.
iF Design Award 2023
Hitoe® Fold Less
Organized by the iF Industrie Forum Design in Hanover, Germany, this is one of the most renowned and prestigious international design awards, judging industrial products from around the world. It is one of the world's three major design awards.
Good Design Award 2022
Hitoe® Fold Less
Started in 1950 by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum, this is one of the oldest design awards in the world. Edgar Kaufmann Jr. of MoMA (Museum of Modern Art, New York) founded this award with pioneers of modern design such as Charles & Ray Eames, Russel Wright, George Nelson, and Eero Saarinen.
It is not related to Japan's Good Design Award and is a globally highly valued award alongside the Red Dot Design Award and the iF Design Award.
German Design Awards 2023
Hitoe® Fold Less
This is an international design award organized by the German Design Council, established in 1953. It is a prestigious award where only products that have won design awards in various countries around the world and are recognized as excellent designs are nominated by the German Design Council.
DFA Design for Asia Awards 2022
Hitoe® Fold Less
Established in 2003 by the Hong Kong Design Centre, this is an international design award that recognizes excellent designs from an Asian perspective. It is judged and awarded based on four perspectives: overall design excellence, technical applicability, impact on Asia, and commercial and social success.
DNA Paris Design Awards 2022
Hitoe® Fold Aria
The DNA Paris Design Awards is a global design award that honors the best designers in architecture, interior design, landscape design, graphic design, and product design.
Omotenashi Selection 2022
Hitoe® Fold Less
This award was established with the aim of discovering excellent products and services imbued with Japan's outstanding "omotenashi spirit" and promoting them to the world. It selects "Japan-unique charms that we want to share with the world," including meticulous craftsmanship born from a consideration for users, and creative ingenuity that improves upon traditions.
A’ Design Award & Competition 2022
Hitoe® Fold Aria
This is one of the world's largest design competitions, selecting the best designs, design concepts, products, and services. It is globally recognized as a barometer for the quality and completeness of design.
iF Design Award 2022
Hitoe® Fold Aria
Organized by the iF Industrie Forum Design in Hanover, Germany, this is one of the most renowned and prestigious international design awards, judging industrial products from around the world. It is one of the world's three major design awards.
Red Dot Award 2022
Hitoe® Fold Aria
As one of the world's three major design awards, this is one of the most prestigious international design awards, receiving over 10,000 entries annually from companies, organizations, and designers in over 60 countries worldwide. It is organized by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Germany.
London International Creative Competition 2021
Hitoe® Fold Aria
This competition aims to serve as a medium connecting talented artists with international audiences, with artists participating from all over the world. Distinguished individuals from six fields (architecture, interior, art, graphic, photography, and product) serve as judges, and it has been held annually since 2006, based in London, a hub for highly acclaimed international artists.
IDA Design Awards 2021
Hitoe® Fold Aria
Established in Los Angeles in 2007, this international design award seeks to discover and recognize visionary design excellence across a wide range of fields.
Comprising five categories—architecture, interior, product, fashion, and graphic design—it annually showcases a selection of outstanding works by talented designers from around the world.
NY Product Design Awards 2021
Hitoe® Fold Aria
This is an award specializing in product design, organized by the International Award Associate (USA), newly established in 2021.
Its purpose is to recognize excellent product designers who enrich daily life, and in its inaugural year, it received over 500 entries from around the world.
MUSE Design Awards 2021
Hitoe® Fold Aria
This is one of the international award programs organized by the International Award Associate (USA), which aims to create new standards of value in design. It is awarded to designers who possess overwhelming creativity and technical prowess, like a "Muse."
European Product Design Award 2021
Hitoe® Fold Aria
This design competition was established to honor the efforts of talented international product designers. The most beautiful, functional, and innovative products are selected from thousands of design projects submitted from around the world.
K-DESIGN AWARD 2021
Hitoe® Fold Aria
This is an international design competition organized by the Korean design portal "DESIGNSORI." It is one of the prestigious design awards recognized as one of Asia's three major design awards, alongside the "GOLDEN PIN DESIGN AWARD" and the "DFA Design for Asia Awards."
Omotenashi Selection 2021
Hitoe® Fold Aria
This award was established with the aim of discovering excellent products and services imbued with Japan's outstanding "omotenashi spirit" and promoting them to the world. It selects "Japan-unique charms that we want to share with the world," including meticulous craftsmanship born from a consideration for users, and creative ingenuity that improves upon traditions.
Omotenashi Selection 2020
Hitoe® Fold
This award was established with the aim of discovering excellent products and services imbued with Japan's outstanding "omotenashi spirit" and promoting them to the world. It selects "Japan-unique charms that we want to share with the world," including meticulous craftsmanship born from a consideration for users, and creative ingenuity that improves upon traditions.
Campfire Crowdfunding Award 2020
Hitoe® Fold
This award recognizes particularly outstanding endeavors among over ten thousand projects hosted on the crowdfunding platform Campfire.
Crowdfunding
From June 2021 to February 2025, the Hitoe® Fold series achieved the remarkable feat of monopolizing the top three positions in fundraising for bifold wallets through crowdfunding in Japan for five consecutive years (according to our own research).
2020
51,795,439 yen・3500 people
Hitoe® Fold v.2019 -Liscio-
Achieved the highest crowdfunding amount for a wallet in Japan
2021
78,540,000 yen・2480 people
Hitoe® Fold Aria -Foschia-
Achieved the highest crowdfunding amount for a wallet in Japan
55,481,020 yen・2959 people
Hitoe® Fold v.2021 -Liscio-
Monopolized the top 1-3 positions in crowdfunding for wallets in Japan
2022
25,944,600 yen・873 people
Hitoe® Fold Less -Foschia-
13,002,000 yen・394 people
Hitoe® Fold Aria -Ortensia- & Hitoe® Fold Aria -Monocromo-
16,816,016 yen・1130 people
Hitoe® Fold v.2021 -Liscio-
2023
40,282,000 yen・1831 people
Hitoe® Fold v.2023 -Liscio-
Total crowdfunding reached 400 million yen
2024
1,782,000 yen・45 people
Hitoe® Fold Aria -Mushroom-
2025
12,971,200 yen・536 people
Hitoe® Fold v.2025- Antico -
Q&A｜Hitoe® Fold
Q&A｜Hitoe® FoldQ. I can't open and close it smoothly. Is there any trick to it?
To open and close your wallet smoothly, follow the steps below.
[When opening] Bend the border between the coin pocket and the card pocket into a "U" shape and the inner hook will come off naturally. There is no need to touch the inner hook directly.
[When closing] While lightly pressing the top, bend it into an "U" shape in the same way, and the inner hook will naturally catch on the card.
Q. My wallet becomes distorted when closed.
This is because the inner hook is attached to the outside of the wallet, so make sure to only attach it to cards that you store inside.
Q. It's difficult to remove cards and it feels cramped
The card pockets are intentionally designed to be a little tight so that they do not become too loose, so they may feel cramped at first. However, over time, they will become more snug and easier to access.
If the bag is too tight at first, try using one less layer and taking it in and out several times to allow the leather to become accustomed to the bag before using it again.
Q: Will the cards fall out?
When the wallet is closed, the inner hooks catch the cards so they won't fall out.
The case has an anti-slip coating so cards are less likely to fall out even when open.
In particular, the slip-less design (patent pending) of the Hitoe® Fold Aria and Hitoe® Fold Less makes them even less likely to fall.
Please note that the anti-slip properties will be less effective if the wallet is laid horizontally.
Q. Will the coins spill?
The wallet has a coin-proof lid that will not spill out with normal use. As the leather breaks in, it becomes even more stable.
Please note that because this wallet has a vertical design, coins are likely to spill out if opened horizontally like a typical bi-fold wallet.
Q. I'm bothered by the sound of coins.
When you put your wallet in your pocket, if you store it with the coin pocket vertically, the coins will not make any noise and will be easier to line up automatically.
Q. Should I choose right-handed or left-handed?
If you use your right hand to insert and remove cards or coins, select right-handed. If you use your left hand, select left-handed.
Q. Will the coins spill out if I open it upside down?
Don't worry, if you turn the wallet inside out, the inner hook will not come off and the wallet will not open.
The surfaces can be identified as follows (for right-handed users):
- No stitching on the right side
- The right side is the side where the card looks wider
Q. Can the magnetic stripes of cards be stacked?
Modern magnetic stripes are highly resistant to magnetism and can be stacked without any problems. Also, stacking IC chips has no effect.
However, the magnetic properties of old magnetic cards, such as bank cards, may have weakened, so as a precaution we recommend storing them so that the magnetic stripes are not touching each other.
Hitoe® Fold Series Comparison Chart
Hitoe® Fold Series Comparison Chart| Product Name | Hitoe® Fold | Hitoe® Fold Aria | Hitoe® Fold Less |
| Manufacturing Method |
Single-piece construction Thick leather without lining |
Musou construction The ultimate luxury in leather goods, bonding thin leather pieces |
|
|
Card anti-drop Slipless |
△ | ◯ | |
| Size | W86 × H89 mm | W89 × H91 mm | W89 × H89 mm |
| Weight | 36 g | 30 g | 29 g |
| Thickness (thickest part) |
6 cards 10 100-yen coins 10 banknotes when stored 13 mm |
6 cards 10 100-yen coins 10 banknotes when stored 12 mm |
3 cards 6 100-yen coins 10 banknotes when stored 9 mm |
| Maximum Capacity | 6 -7 cards 20 coins 15 banknotes |
6 cards 20 coins 15 banknotes |
3 cards 15 coins 15 banknotes |
* Card counts assume non-embossed cards.
* Hitoe® Fold can hold 7 cards once the leather is broken in.
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