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Japan's haberdashery, textiles, wedding kimono, ribbons and braided tassels

A 1920s Taisho period kimono.

Are you a haberdashery fan? If you are then you will know that Japan ranks at #1 or #2 global for both textiles and the infinite range of things related to textiles (tools, ribbons, rope, buttons, zippers, thread, etc.).

Japanese textiles are unlike any other textiles for variety, finesse and quality. In fact, many textile buffs rank Japan as #1 bare none. I have close friend, based in Santa Fe, NM, who specializes in Japanese textiles. In his gallery and home I have seen amazing 18th-century kimono & obi sashes and 19th-century indigenous Ainu (Hokkaido) robes. Japanese textiles have a rich history and a wide range of unique textile techniques. Most thread is natural and the most common are silk, cotton, and hemp (some of the current Japanese Emperor's clothing is made from hemp!). Bast fiber plants such as paper mulberry, ramie, and wisteria can also be used in Japanese textiles. A Japanese textile can involve painting, dyeing, weaving, and embroidery.

Let's start this blog post with the most casual yet authentic traditional Japanese clothing item: the yukata. Yukata in Japanese literally means 'bath wear", but as you might have noticed, during the summer when many casual festivals are held, women and men, young and old. Japanese and foreigners alike all enjoy hanging out at night in that easy relaxed feeling that only a yukata affords.

Yukata were originally called yukatabira, a cambric kimono worn by a person to and from the bath. Later it became a kind of cotton bathrobe worn after a bath. In the nineteenth century, people began to wear yukata in the hot season both at home and in the streets. It is usually starched and has a floral or simple geometrical patterns dyed or printed on its white or deep blue background.

They say that the kimono is the second most difficult costume in the world to put on after the Indian sari. Well, yukata is a kind of kimono, but there is no hassle involved in putting it on. When wearing yukata, one wraps the left side of it over the front, with women tying the sash right under the chest (ask a shop clerk or your Japanese friend how to tie it), and a man tying the sash around the waste. The type of yukata found at ryokans and inns should be considered more as pajamas. Whereas, the ones you find at kimono or souvenir shops can be worn for strolling at night. When you return home, use it as a bath robe and cherish your memories of old Kyoto.

Unfortunately, typically traditional kimono shops usually only custom make yukata, so the prices can be quite high and it takes a little while before your yukata can be made. But nowadays there are many shops specializing in good quality yukata. Get one for sure!

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Content by Ian Martin Ropke, owner of Your Japan Private Tours (est. 1990). I have been planning, designing, and making custom Japan private tours on all five Japanese islands since the early 1990s. I work closely with Japan private tour clients and have worked for all kinds of families, companies, and individuals since 1990. Clients find me mostly via organic search, and I advertise my custom Japan private tours & travel services on www.japan-guide.com, which has the best all-Japan English content & maps in Japan! If you are going to Japan and you understand the advantages of private travel, consider my services for your next trip. And thank you for reading my content. I, Ian Martin Ropke (unique on Google Search), am also a serious nonfiction and fiction writer, a startup founder (NexussPlus.com), and a spiritual wood sculptor. Learn more!

Japanese antique wedding kimono

As universal image, the wedding kimono for bride is in white in Japan, too. In the ceremony, a bright white silk kimono must show a stunning beauty, symbolizing that perfect moment xxx outstandingness of all-time subtlety in daily life.

If you go to Kimono shops or flea markets, you will find wedding kimonos. But the white one are very rare to be found, because of their recycling habit of silk kimonos. Often, wives reworked their wedding kimono so that it could be used as formal kimono, and in unusual cases the very fine fabric was used for baby diapers.

Nowadays, you only can find brocaded colorful antique kimonos as in original shape. Wedding brides wears this uchikake as a overgament on top of lairs of white silk kimonos. Those brocaded wedding kimono is called uchikake. Uchikake kimonos are usually red based brocaded on thick silk material with long length. Its gold, silver, and many other colors threads creates incredible patters and design by traditional embroidery technique. The popular designs on wedding kimonos are often crane, turtle, pine tree, plum blossoms or bamboo. they are all recognised as the symbols of longevity, happiness, prosperous or even fertility.

In the Edo period, uchikake was worn by high ranked women in the inner halls of royal palace or shogun family. It was rather their uniformed costume to show each ones ranks in hierarchy. This custom made uchikake to be understood as a status symbol of gorgeousness and richness. Since the wedding ceremony is the highlight moment of every family or everybody's life, uchikake had started wore for the wedding (once and the only time in your life, well at least at that time.) ceremonies. Uchikake is also seen in Noh costumes sometimes, too.

Uchikake material is made the special weaving technique known as karaori, nishiki-ori, kinran-ori, or donsu-ori. The special weaving way to create raised figures such as birds and flowers is one of the most amazing art of the textile among the world. Kyoto’s famous Nishijin textile area began producing Karaori in 16th century. In the document of kimono textile list from 17th century, it is recorded that it takes 70 days to weave 1m 20 cm long, 30cm with material on karaori material.

Sanadahimo braided, patterned flat weave ribbons

Sanadahimo are unique braided, intricately patterned flat weave ribbons (silk or cotton). It is the thinnest flat style weaving tradition in the world, and can be traced back to the Yayoi period (300 BC-300 AD). Kyoto sanadahimo have long been regarded as the finest in all of Japan.

In the past, these special, strong ribbons were used as straps for hanging swords, parcel wrapping, as belts, etc. For most of the last three or four hundred years, they have been used to tie shut special paulownia boxes containing precious things such as tea bowls (and other utensils), all kinds of expensive (usually signed) ceramics, and scrolls.

Sanadahimo are made using refined natural dyes: brown from the Japanese chestnut; yellow from the Cape jasmine; red from safflower; purple from gromwell root). All together about 70 plant species are used to obtain dyes. The strength of sanadahimo comes from the fact that it does not stretch more than the width of the ribbon, which is usually no wider than one or two centimeters. This makes it perfect for tightly tying up parcels and boxes.

With the rising fortunes of Japanese tea ceremony culture in the 17th century, sanadahimo became increasingly ornamental and varied. Today, tea schools, tea masters, temples, shrines, and art collectors all continue to use their own special design. However, there are also a wide range of so-called “public” patterns, that anyone can buy. But many of the patterns are reserved, as it were.

There are only a few professional sanadahimo makers left in Kyoto. One of them, Ms. Wada Takako, is the 14th generation head of her family. Her work can be seen at Fureaikan (Kyoto Museum of Traditional crafts). An even better idea is to visit her shop, which is overflowing with all kinds of patterns and styles, on south of Iwagami Takatsuji. Since the shop staff is often out on errands, it is better to call first to see if they are there (in Japanese only). It is on the first floor of the tall grey building on the east side of Iwagami street. Open 10:00-17:00; closed on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays. Tel: 803-6433.

Kumihimo braid & tassel Work

Japanese kumihimo tassel work involves a number of different processes including dyeing, braiding and attaching the elaborate tassels.

As a decorative form kumihimo braided rope was first used in the prehistoric Jomon Period as a simple way to decorate pots.

Rope, a key building block in any early civilization, first developed as way for tying and bundling things together.

Over the centuries, as Japanese society and clothing became more elaborate, various forms of string tying and braiding, tassels, and tassel tying developed for use on clothing, in most ceremonial and ritual settings, and as an elegant decorative addition for all kinds of things.

Certain styles were reserved for different classes. This was particularly evident among the noble classes and also for different ranks of priests and samurai warriors.

Certain types of braids and knots were on ceremonial or ritual objects in temples and shrines. Horse saddles and bridles for warriors and noblemen also featured elaborate ropes and tassels.

Today, traditionally made tuft strings and tassels are still used (and can easily been seen) in many aspects of Japanese culture. Walk around any temple and shrine and you are sure to see some: especially in the interior sections around the altar. Certain kinds of fine bamboo screens, called misu, feature fine braids and tassels. On misu screens the braid and tassel work is decorative and practical (it is used to keep the screens rolled up). You will also see this work on in the Japanese tea ceremony and in all of Japan’s performing arts (Noh, Kabuki, Kyogen, Bunraku). You can even see braided rope and tassels boldly used on and around the sumo wrestling stage.

Seventy percent of all Japan's kumihimo tassel work is done in Kyoto. The city was the imperial capital of Japan for more than 1100 years and the headquarters for most of the country’s religious institutions.

Most of the tassel work done today is for temples and shrines, which still use and require all kinds of ceremonial accessories.

To see examples of tassel work, visit the Fureaikan, Kyoto Museum of Traditional Crafts.

Nishijin textiles from obi sashes to accessories

Traditional and contemporary Nishijin textiles are among the most prized in the world, known for their stunning and sophisticated designs, their subtle and brilliant colors, and the outstanding skill of the weavers who create them. It should come as no surprise, that the history of Kyoto Nishijin weaving is as long as the history of Kyoto herself. When Kyoto was founded in 794, many weavers became state employees to serve the clothing needs of the imperial family and court for luxurious textile fabrics. By the middle of the Heian period (794-1192), however, these state-owned textile operations were on the decline, and many weavers began to set up independent workshops, producing new textiles with techniques developed in Sung-dynasty China.

During the Onin War (1467-1477), fought almost entirely in Kyoto, weaving and almost every other kind of handicraft and business activity became impossible. As a result, many weavers took shelter in other, safer areas, especially Sakai in southern Osaka Prefecture, where they learned important new textile production techniques through that city’s extensive trade contacts with Ming China. After the war many weavers, members of a well-organized guild, resettled in Kyoto in Nishijin, on the former base for the western army, which is how the area gets its name.

By the early Edo period (1603-1867), some 7,000 looms were feverishly producing textiles in the 1.6-square-kilometer Nishijin area. At the height of the economically prosperous Genroku era (1688-1704), crowds of textile merchants gathered daily at the Nishijin auction house, located on the site as the current Nishijin Textile Center, to try and buy what they could, in the process often bidding prices up to astronomical levels.

Towards the end of the Edo Period, a succession of disastrous harvests greatly depressed the national market for luxury fabrics, and Nishijin began to decline. The sudden decision to move the capital from Kyoto to Tokyo in 1869, further deprived the area of some of its greatest patrons: the Imperial family and the court. In a bid to stimulate and modernize the industry, a number of weavers were sent to Europe to learn about Western weaving looms.

By the 1890's, only 20 years after the shift of the capital, the Nishijin weavers had taken full advantage of modern Western technology and revolutionized much of their ancient production methods and were ready to prosper again as Japan’s capitalistic economy rapidly expanded. Because of key changes in its production base, Nishijin weavers were able to create a stable, mass consumption oriented business in inexpensive machine-woven fabrics for everyday use, while continuing to produce the elaborate and luxurious hand-woven fabrics its reputation was built on.

Despite a serious downturn in the demand for traditional, high-priced kimono and obi since the war, Nishijin continues to flourish as the center of Japan’s textile world. And even today, you can hear the steady, unmistakable clacking of looms busily weaving the future of Nishijin prosperity.

The Nishijin Textile Center

Kyoto’s Nishijin Textile Center, acting as a center for the entire Nishijin area, is an excellent place to see for yourself the wide-ranging beauty of Nishijin textiles and learn more about this remarkable tradition. In addition to displays of historical artefacts related to weaving, the center holds regular kimono shows, weaving demonstrations and many other events. Other facilities include a fabric gallery and various shops. Visitors to the center can also try on traditional Japanese kimonos, including a rare example of the type of 12-layer kimono worn by the ladies of the Heian imperial court.

The Nishijin Textile Center is located at just south of Horikawa and Imadegawa. Tel: 451-9231.

Content by Japan travel specialist & designer Ian Martin Ropke, founder & owner of Your Japan Private Tours (YJPT, est. 1990). I have been planning, designing, and making custom Japan private tours on all five Japanese islands since the early 1990s. I work closely with all of YJPT's Japan private tour clients and have a great team behind me. I promote YJPT through this content and only advertise at www.japan-guide.com, which has the best all-Japan English content & maps! If you are going to Japan and you understand the advantages of private travel, consider my services for your next trip to save time & have a better time. Ian Martin Ropke (unique on Google Search) is also a serious nonfiction and fiction writer, a startup founder (NexussPlus.com), and a spiritual wood sculptor. Learn more!