Echigo-jofu (越後上布) is a fabric of Echigo, Japan on national Important Cultural Properties listing in 1955,[1][2] and UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list since 2009.[3] It is made from fine bast fiber from the ramie plant (Boehmeria nivea), also called hemp, although not directly related to cannabis hemp.[a] 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.[5][6] Echigo-jofu has even been found in the Shōsōin repository from over 1,200 years ago.[7] The production of Echigo-jofu is recorded in detail in the encyclopedic work of human geography describing life in the Uonuma area, Hokuetsu Seppu[8]
Production
editIn the early 2000s, about 34 bolts were produced a year. It is now currently estimated at about 10 bolts a year.[9]
Uses
editThe fabric is used to make summer kimono and other traditional garments, cushions and bed linens.[10]
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ 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
- ^ exhibit, Kyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory via Google Arts and Culture
- ^ Ojiya-chijimi, Echigo-jofu: techniques of making ramie fabric in Uonuma region, Niigata Prefecture, UNESCO
- ^ 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
- ^ "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.
- ^ Masaki Yamada; Osamu Sawaji (February 2013), "Gifts of the Snow—Ojiya-chijimi and Echigo-jofu", Highlighting JAPAN, Government of Japan Public Relations Office
- ^ "Motoji Talks: In praise of Jofu(Part 2) Echigo-Jofu".
- ^ "Motoji Talks: In praise of Jofu(Part 2) Echigo-Jofu".
- ^ "Motoji Talks: In praise of Jofu(Part 2) Echigo-Jofu".
- ^ Dyeing & weaving – Echigo jofu, ojiya chijimi, Cultural foundation for promoting the national costume of Japan
Further reading
edit- 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
edit
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