Top quality linen fabric
Used as raw material for Echigo Jofu and Ojiya Chijimi
Karamushi in Okuaizu Showa Village
Echigo Jofu and Ojiya Chijimi, which are both registered as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, are made from choma, a plant belonging to the nettle family. Jofu is the highest quality cloth woven from extremely thin linen threads. It is said to be the highest quality summer kimono because it is highly absorbent, quick-drying, and has a unique texture. Okuaizu Showa Village in Fukushima Prefecture has long been famous as a production area for high-quality ramie, which is the raw material for ``Echigo Jofu'' and ``Ojiya Chijimi''.


Echigojofu has been presented to the imperial court and the shogun's family. Photo provided by: Echigojofu/Ojiya Chippu Technology Preservation Association
Ramie from Aizu was already known as ``Gokuhin'' in the Edo period and was widely known to be of the highest quality. In Showa Village, located in an area called Okuaizu, ramie is called ``karamushi.'' Karamushi is a handiwork that has been passed down from generation to generation, but the changes of the times have inexorably affected this village. From the post-war period to the present, the village has long been plagued by problems of depopulation, and the number of villagers involved in the cultivation and weaving of Karamushi has also declined. Still, ``karamushi'' is an important culture for Showa Village. The change of seasons is also associated with Karamushi.


Showa Village is located in the mountains about 50km southwest of Aizuwakamatsu. Photo provided by: Showa Village Tourism Association
From summer doyo to obon
Extracting the finest ramie fibers
Showa Village’s summer tradition “Karamushi Hiki”
In Showa Village, you can learn about the flow of the seasons through ``Karamushi''. Around Koman in May, the smoke of Karamushiyaki rises. This is done to exterminate pests, and the burnt ashes are used as fertilizer and to keep the newly emerging buds at the same height.
In mid-July, when the sentimental voice of the Higurashi can be heard at dusk, Karamushi (Karamushi) grows to be taller than a person. This is the hottest time of the year, from Doyoiri in summer to Obon, when the ``karamushi'' (Karamushi) is harvested once a year.


A Karamushi field during the reaping season. High-quality Karamushi that has grown thin and beautiful. The quality of Karamushi also influences subsequent processes such as thread making and weaving. Photo provided by: Showamura
Karamushi are carefully raised, and their slender, elongated appearance gives a sense of elegance. At this time, when they are at their most youthful and beautiful, ``karamushibiki'' is performed to extract the fibers hidden in the outer skin of the stems. The Karamushi, drawn by the hands of an expert, shines white like a pearl poured into it. This luster, called "Kira" in Showa Village, is surprisingly divine.


"Karamushi pull". The green bark is scraped off with the blade of a tool called an ohikigo, and the inner fibers are extracted. (Photo provided by Showa Village)
Kira the insect from the right of the photo. Kira refers to the luster emitted by fibers that have just been extracted using Karamushi-biki. Photography by Masako Suda
Village sister and Orihime,
Each one carefully weaves
Living with Karamushi
Before the war, women in Showa Village made thread from hemp (cannabis) and weaved machines to make their own clothing. After the war, the cultivation of hemp was regulated, so the techniques cultivated with hemp were preserved in the village's specialty, ``karamushi.'' In 1993, Showa Village started a ``Karamushi Weaving Experience Project'' in 1, feeling a sense of crisis in the environment surrounding ``Karamushi'' due to population decline and changes in lifestyle. The idea is to recruit trial students and have them spend about a year learning the process of growing and weaving Karamushi while living in the village, in order to pass on the tradition. Over the past 26 years, about 120 women from all over Japan have come to the village as trial students, and about 30 of them still live in Showa Village. They are called Orihime, and each of them blends into the village in their own way. I was also drawn to Ramema and Showa Village's rich lifestyle, so I moved there four years ago. He continues to live in the village, writing about Ramie mainly in Okuaizu Showa Village and the islands of Miyako and Yaeyama.
Orihime and her friends who have moved to the village are captivated by the villagers' personalities and traditional way of life. Orihime and her friends learn more than just techniques from the older sisters who grew up in the village and inherited the handiwork of Karamushi. The greatest joy is to be able to touch the heart of facing Karamushi.
They grow ``karamushi'' in the fields, and use the fibers to make thread and weave looms. Ryo Igarashi, who has continued this series of processes as a normal part of his life, is 84 years old this year. He was shown a men's obi that Igarashi had woven. The handmade texture, skilled weaving, and color combination of vegetable dyeing are eye-catching.


Photo left Unlike takaki, where the warp threads are kept at a constant tension, with jiki, the tension of the warp threads is adjusted by the weaver's body, giving the cloth a natural texture. Photo provided by: Showamura
Photo right: Men's obi woven by Ryo Igarashi. You can feel the warmth of handiwork. Photography by Masako Suda
Rooted in Showa Village
bring in a new breeze
Orihime's way of life
Keiko Shinono, who came to Showa Village after studying Echigo Jofu, is particular about ultra-fine threads and has a passion for Jofu. That's why she loves each and every step of the ``karamushi'' process. When she tears the fibers to make ``Karamushi'' thread, if the ``Karamushi'' is of good quality, it tears smoothly and comfortably. When that happens, thread threading becomes so much fun that you won't be able to stop. I make thread because I want to weave. That simple and passionate feeling is what keeps Shinono from staying in Showa Village.


Clockwise from the top left of the photo, Keiko Shinono's threads are breathtaking in their delicacy (the process of twisting and connecting long fibers like a ramie is called ``umu''). Yarn after being spun with a spinning wheel (twisted all over). This karamushi kimono, woven by Keiko Shinono, was selected for a public exhibition at the Japan Folk Crafts Museum. It's as light as a feather, and feels cool as the wind blows through it. Keiko Shinono spins yarn. When using a spinning wheel, people in Showa Village use their feet, but Shinono uses the Echigo style and does not use their feet. Photography by Masako Suda
Keiko Shinono's Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010681848402
Raising Karamushi and weaving cloth
Performing Tsugaru Koginzashi
The wonder of handicrafts
Eriko Yamauchi makes and sells Karamushi-ori accessories under the name ``Monderico.'' "Mondoriko" is the Neputa chant of her hometown, Tsugaru. It has been 14 years since she moved to Showa Village. She makes thread from the ``karamushi'' she grows in her field, dyes it with plants, and weaves it. Karamushi was not only a material for high-quality textiles. In Tsugaru, it was the raw material for people living in rural areas to make their own clothing. Yamauchi uses cotton thread to stitch ``kogin'' onto the cloth she has woven. ``Kogin'' is the wisdom of the Tsugaru people who tried to survive the frigid winters by making ``karamushi'' or hemp stitches to cover the holes in the fabric. Yamauchi's works are overflowing with his feelings for his predecessors in Tsugaru and Showa villages, who lived in the face of harsh nature.


She embroiders a kogin into the Karamushi cloth that she has woven herself. Kogin-zashi is a traditional sashiko technique handed down in the Aomori and Tsugaru regions.


A cute purse made of Aizu cotton and Karamushi cloth with kogin embroidered on it. Photography by Masako Suda
From the old folk house gallery
“Watarifune” is a unit that sends out works that fit into daily life.
It's been four years since Etsuko Watanabe and Yukiko Funaki, who are married to a man from the village and are raising children, started working as a unit called "Watarifune." She fell in love with the fabrics woven by the sisters in the village, and creates pieces with a rich flavor that remind us of what is important in our daily lives. The base of operations for ``Watarifune'' is the old folk house where Watanabe lives. One of the rooms is now a reservation-only gallery where works are introduced. You will notice that time is passing slowly and gently in a room where you can feel the light and wind. We want people from outside the village to visit Showa Village and tell them about Karamushi and village life. The word ``Watarifune'', which takes one letter from each of their last names, embodies this idea.


An old folk house that serves as a "ferry boat" gallery. Etsuko Watanabe (left) and Yukiko Funaki (right). Photography by Jun Nakagawa


"Ferry boat" work. The fabrics, cushions, and other items woven by a village elder sister in her 90s have been made into pieces that fit into everyday life. Photography by Jun Nakagawa
“Ferryboat” Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/watashifune/
(Titles omitted)
→Beautiful textile journey - Continued to Aizu, Miyako and Yaeyama (Part 2)
◆A book of memories of the Showa era brought back to life through hearings and writings from the elders of Showa Village ``Okuaizu Showa Village: 100 Years of Old Tales From Mr. Umenosuke Aoki's Stories''
An old tale in which an elderly man from Okuaizu Showa Village looks back on his life. The story is written in a light and airy way, including the life of a mountain village where people made things by hand and lived in harmony with nature, as well as their experiences serving in the military in Yokosuka and Honjo Fukagawa. This book is the result of the author's thoughts after moving from Tokyo, fascinated by Showa Village. Masako Suda, “Oku-Aizu Showa Village: 1,650 Years of Folk Tales: From the Listening and Writings of Mr. Umenosuke Aoki”, published by Rekishi Shunju Publishing, retail price 1,500 yen (10 yen + XNUMX% tax)
“Karamushi Ori Village Fair”
The "Karamushi Ori no Sato Fair" will be held on Saturday, July 7th and Sunday, July 20st at the roadside station "Karamushi Ori no Sato Showa" in Showa Village. You can tour the fields.
For details, please visit the Showa Village Tourism Association homepage.
http://showavill.info/karamushi_fair_34th/
Special thanks to Showa Village, Fukushima
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