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Echigo-jofu

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Fabric of Echigo, Japan
Echigo-jofu
TypeFabric
MaterialRamie
Production methodWeaving
Production processCraft production
Place of originEchigo, Japan

Echigo-jofu (越後上布) is a fabric of Echigo, Japan on national Important Cultural Properties listing in 1955, and UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list since 2009. It is made from fine bast fiber from the ramie plant (Boehmeria nivea), also called hemp, although not directly related to cannabis hemp. After it is woven on a jibata backstrap loom (地機), the fabric is spread on snowfields (yuki-zarashi) where ultraviolet light from the sun creates ozone and bleaches it white. Echigo-jofu has even been found in the Shōsōin repository from over 1,200 years ago. The production of Echigo-jofu is recorded in detail in Hokuetsu Seppu, the encyclopedic work of human geography describing life in the Uonuma area.

Production

In the early 2000s, about 34 bolts were produced a year. It is now currently estimated at about 10 bolts a year.

Uses

The fabric is used to make summer kimono and other traditional garments, cushions and bed linens.

See also

Notes

  1. See Morphological Differences Between Ramie and Hemp: How These Characteristics Developed Different Procedures in Bast Fiber Producing Industry; also see wikt:麻布

References

  1. Survey on the Selected Conservation Techniques – Silk thread for strings of traditional Japanese instrument, Cypress bark roof, and Ramies in Showa Village, Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, 2014
  2. exhibit, Kyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory via Google Arts and Culture
  3. Ojiya-chijimi, Echigo-jofu: techniques of making ramie fabric in Uonuma region, Niigata Prefecture, UNESCO
  4. Hwang, Min Sun (2010), "Morphological Differences Between Ramie and Hemp: How These Characteristics Developed Different Procedures in Bast Fiber Producing Industry", Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings, vol. 23, Textile Society of America
  5. "Echigo-jofu: Traditional Textile of the Snow Country". IHCSA CAFE. International Hospitality and Conference Service Association annex, Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  6. Masaki Yamada; Osamu Sawaji (February 2013), "Gifts of the Snow—Ojiya-chijimi and Echigo-jofu", Highlighting JAPAN, Government of Japan Public Relations Office
  7. ^ "Motoji Talks: In praise of Jofu(Part 2) Echigo-Jofu".
  8. Dyeing & weaving – Echigo jofu, ojiya chijimi, Cultural foundation for promoting the national costume of Japan

Further reading

  • Rinne, Melissa M. (2007), "Preserving Echigo Jofu and Nara Sarashi: Issues in Contemporary Bast Fiber Textile Production", in Hamilton, Roy W.; Milgram, B. Lynne (eds.), Material choices: refashioning bast and leaf fibers in Asia and the Pacific, Fowler Museum at UCLA, ISBN 9780974872988, LCCN 2006033706, OCLC 191890941 UW Press page

External links


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