So much talk on washoku and anime, Japan abounds in a lot more exotic charms hidden and buried for you to explore. I’m Nathan Shiga, a writer assigned to write on Japan’s traditional arts and handicrafts with a view to promoting Japan over and beyond, and I’m here to navigate you through a fanciful journey into Japan – into its world of traditional arts and handicrafts. The pleasure is all mine to keep you company.
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Tsuboya Yaki(壺屋焼)
The story of Tsuboya Yaki should best begin with a glance at its history. An area in Naha called Tsuboya is home to Okinawa’s pottery culture. Tsuboya Yaki, or pottery, is the best known style of Ryukyu pottery. It was first introduced from China in 1100s-1400s at the height of the so-called Gukusu Period. Gusuku is a Ryukyuan term for “castle” or “fortress” erected all over the island amid a conflict in the 14th century when the island was divided into three kingdoms.
Yonaguni Ori(与那国織)
Okinawa is a treasure-house of exquisite fabrics. Visit almost every inhabited island in Okinawa, and you will find a local hand-woven fabric in every locality. The common denominator of Okinawa fabrics is naiveté – a quality that consistently characterizes them regardless of locality.
At the westernmost of Japan floats the border island of Yonagunijima, one of the Yaeyama Islands, 128 kilometers west of Ishigakijima – 20 kilometers closer to Taiwan. It is 11 square miles in area and inhabited by 1700 and visited in winter by divers attracted by hammerhead sharks in the surrounding waters.
So much on supplementary data on Yogaguni. I’m Nathan Shiga, your pilot for a brief of tour of this island specifically on its characteristic fabric “Yonaguni Ori”. As mentioned in the outset, Okinawa abounds in exquisite traditional fabrics of which this is one.
Yuntanza Minsa(読谷山ミンサー)
I’m Nathan Shiga, a writer assigned to write on Japan’s traditional arts and crafts with a view to promoting Japan over and beyond, and I’m here to navigate you through a fanciful journey into Japan – into its world of traditional arts and crafts. The pleasure is all mine to assist you in your short journey.
Miyako Jofu(宮古上布)
Among Japan’s traditional crafts are a number of fabrics bearing difference local names – Kumejima, Yaeyema, Miyako, etc. Further, raw materials used for spinning out yarns give them difference names also, so it takes a bit of remembering to do to recognize each and every brand name.
I’m Nathan Shiga, your tour navigator, to do just that to get you acquainted with some of the incredibly fascinating fabrics that make Japan’s textile industry so unique. We have elsewhere covered Kumejima Tsumugi, a silk-woven fabric known to be the origin of Japan’s weaving cottage industry, and today we take up another authentic hemp-woven fabric called Miyako Jofu, a product of another southern island of Miyako.
Bingata(琉球びんがた)
Ask any average Japanese what fabric reminds him/her of Okinawa. The answer is almost obvious: Bingata. Bingata is certainly synonymous to Okinawa in the world of fabrics. Of the 14 designated traditional handicrafts in Okinawa 12 are fabrics – of which Bingata is one.
I’m Nathan Shiga assigned to navigate you in your tour Okinawa’s traditional handicrafts and today none other than Bingata. I hope you’ll enjoy this short excursion.
Shuri Ori(首里織)
The Ryuku Kingdom in the 14-15th centuries actively traded with the southeast Asian countries and China and, in the process, took in various weaving skills, which over hundreds of years culminated in a variety of local fabrics in all parts of its domain.
Shuri Ori is the term for a woven cloth produced in Shuri, the capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom. It was in part exclusively woven for the royal family, aristocrats and samurai in later years when Satsuma Clan of Japan invaded the Kingdom. Shuri Ori comprises several variations, Shuri Hanaori, Shuri Tsumugi, Tejima, Routon Ori and Routon Ori and Hanakura Ori. We will revert to details in later paragraphs. Suffice to remember for now that Shuri Ori features this richness in variety.
Chibana Hanaori(知花花織)
Another nationally designated traditional handicraft, Chibana Hanaori, is a proud product of the Chibana and Noborikawa districts of the former Misato Village, Okinawa. Its history dates back to the 18th century when most Okinawa fabrics were produced under rigorous restrictions as tributes to the royalties of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Chibana Hanaori, however, was free of such restrictions and woven and worn on common occasions of local festivities, namely Umaharashi (horseback-riding, male festival) and Usudeko (ritual for good harvest, female festival).
Kijoka Bashofu(喜如嘉の芭蕉布)
Twelve of Okinawa’s fourteen designated traditional handicrafts are fabrics; each of them features unique characteristics of the islands they are manufactured in. I’m Nathan Shiga, your navigator in your tour of Okinawa’s charming handicrafts.
Today, we take up Kijoka Bashofu, probably the most delicate of all the twelve, so delicate that it requires extra care in handling the material throughout the entire process of manufacture. Kijoka Bashofu is durable, comfortable to wear and, above all, exceptionally beautiful. The tropical and partly subtropical climate in Okinawa calls for an easy-to-wear fabric like Kijoka Bashofu.
Basho is a local plant of banana family, Musa liukiuensis, that provides the raw material for Kijoka Bashofu. Like other long vegetable fibers – line, hemp, ramie, etc.- Basho doesn’t cling to the skin and is light and airy. By the way, it takes 40 Basho trees to weave a roll of Kijoka Bashofu.
Yaeyama Minsa(八重山ミンサー)
Yaeyama Minsa is a sister product of Yuntanza Minsa – raw material, utility, etc. and displayed jointly with Yuntanza Minsa. I’m Nathan Shiga to navigate you through another fanciful journey into Japan – into the world of a cotton sash called Yaeyama Minsa. The pleasure is all mine to assist you in your short journey.
Now to start, a brief geography of where we are, Yaejima. Yaejima is the name of a group of 32 southwesternmost islands of Japan with the total area of 228.36 square miles, 400km from Okinawa, 2,000 km from Tokyo. Ishigakijima is the third largest island in Okinawa, next to the Okinawa island proper and Iriomoteshima.