大島紬
Ōshima tsumugi is a silk textile associated especially with Amami and Kagoshima. Modern production generally uses reeled silk, dyed before plain weaving. Its fine kasuri patterns emerge as patterned warp and weft threads are aligned. A temporary cotton-and-silk weave prepares the resist; after dyeing, the cotton is removed and the patterned silk is woven into cloth.
Modern reeled silk differs from the hand-spun yarn used earlier.
The first weaving prepares a resist; the second produces the cloth.
Mud dyeing is one important method within a wider range of colors.
The cooperative’s FAQ distinguishes earlier hand-spun yarn from the reeled silk used today. The name tsumugi preserves a material history, while fine silk, plain weaving and careful pattern alignment characterize the modern production described here.
Kasuri forms patterns from yarn dyed in selected areas before weaving. The lengthwise warp yarns and crosswise weft yarns are prepared for their respective roles. As the cloth is woven, their colored and reserved segments are brought into alignment, gradually revealing the pattern.
The design is transferred to a grid suited to the weaving density, followed by decisions about yarn types, quantities and groups. Warping arranges lengths and thread counts. Sizing and drying help preserve order and control tension in groups sharing a pattern.
On the shimebata loom, cotton forms the warp and the silk to be patterned is inserted as weft. Selected areas are woven tightly according to the design. The cotton protects those silk segments from dye, making this temporary weave a preparation tool for the yarn.
The tightly woven patterned yarn bundles and the ground yarns undergo dyeing. Exposed areas take color while the compressed segments retain the intended reserves. Mud, indigo, other plant dyes and synthetic dyes offer different possibilities for the design.
Multicolored work can involve cutting selected cotton threads to expose the silk for brushed or applied dye. After coloring, all the cotton is removed. What had been a temporary woven structure returns to individual silk yarns carrying the planned color segments.
The dyed silk is arranged and mounted for the final weaving. The weaver adjusts the patterned warp and weft threads as plain weaving proceeds, bringing their color segments into register. The first and second weaving stages therefore have different material roles and purposes.
Mud dyeing alternates treatment in an extract of tēchi, or sharinbai, with treatment in a mud field. Tannins from the plant react with iron compounds in the mud to produce a deep, subdued black. The plant extract and mud contribute different parts of the process.
The production account also describes indigo, other plant dyes and synthetic dyes. Kagoshima’s chronology records developments in multicolored mud-and-indigo cloth during the 1950s, followed by white-ground and colored varieties. Changes in dyeing and processing broadened the textile’s palette.
Finished lengths are checked for matters including length, pattern alignment and color. A separate preparation before tailoring, yudōshi, uses water treatment to remove the seaweed size that protected the silk during production. The cooperative describes this finishing service separately from inspection.
The Amami cooperative describes an uncertain origin and earlier cloth made for local use with hand-spun silk and plant dyes. Its history links restrictions around 1720 with production as tribute to the Satsuma domain. This is a regional account of changing production obligations, preceding the modern cooperative system.
The Amami chronology records new silk materials and increased use of raised looms in the 1890s. An association formed in 1901 and subsequently promoted inspection. Development of the shimebata in the early twentieth century helped establish the detailed resist-and-alignment method.
Kagoshima’s chronology records production halted by wartime destruction in 1945 and full-scale postwar production beginning in 1951. Amami faced production, supply and sales difficulties under the postwar military administration. Its return to Japan in 1953 was followed by cooperative reorganization in 1954. These related regions have distinct postwar timelines.
Kagoshima’s records describe practical color-application developments in the 1950s and computer-based pattern design from 1985. The current process account also describes digital design preparation. A digital drawing still has to be translated into resist-patterned yarn and aligned weaving.
The Kagoshima cooperative uses a flag mark and the Amami cooperative a globe mark. These identify different cooperative systems; the FAQ also describes labels indicating hand or machine weaving and the individual weaving producer. Organization, maker and weaving method are separate pieces of information. Honba Ōshima tsumugi received national Traditional Craft designation in February 1975.
Its cotton protects selected silk segments during dyeing. Removing it releases the patterned silk for the final cloth.
Its color segments are prepared on the yarn before weaving, then aligned as warp and weft form the cloth.
Plant tannins react with iron compounds in the mud to produce the dark color.
No. Indigo, other plant and synthetic dyes, colored varieties and white-ground cloth broaden the range.
The marks identify cooperative systems, while the producer’s name identifies a particular maker; weaving method is another label field.
Collection objects and documentary photographs are identified by their particular object, period and use.