Ikat around the World - Japan

Traditional textile crafts can be found in many different places worldwide. These ancient arts are deeply interwoven with the culture of these communities and as such the people have a profound connection to them. Nevertheless, ancestral textile crafts are struggling to survive amongst the trends of fast fashion that are harming our planet and people. Therefore, we want to introduce you to the various textile arts from around the world and share their stories with you. Our first destination of this series, Ikat around the World, is Japan.

The well-known textile term ikat originates from the Malay word mengikat, meaning “to bind”. The Japanese term for a similar weaving technique is kasuri. This derives from the word kasureru, which means “blurred”, because the kasuri designs often appear splashed and blurry. These patterns are formed by selectively dyeing the threads before the weaving. While the coloured and white parts of the strings are woven together, the undyed areas appear as the pattern on the cloth. This entails specifically measuring which segments of the fibres need to be left undyed and tying them up before the dyeing process based on each desired motif. Creating even one kasuri cloth takes a great deal of time and effort with more than thirty incredibly intricate steps. 

Throughout Japan, there are various kasuri weaving communities, each having distinct names and unique styles. As the art of kasuri is deeply embedded with geographical and local identity as well as history, the names honour the town it is produced in. 

Ryukyu Kasuri - The Origin of Japanese Ikat 

The beginnings of Kasuri textiles are rooted in the trading of ikat cloth from Southeast Asia in the Ryukyu Kingdom (now Okinawa) in the 14th century. Kasuri woven clothing was then strictly dedicated to the royal government. The patterns and colours of the kasuri clothes were indicators of the wearer’s social rank. Only after the dissolution of the Kingdom, commoners were allowed to wear kasuri-patterned kimonos instead of being restricted to solely wearing plain or striped ones. 

The threads of the Ryukyu Kasuri fabrics were dyed with the help of plants such as indigo, garcinia subelliptica (fukugi), and yeddo hawthorn. The yellow colour created by the bark of the garcinia trees was traditionally woven into clothing for high-ranking people as it was seen as the colour for kings and nobles. This specific natural dye can only be retrieved from two hundred years old garcinia trees. Thus, the dye in use has been prepared by the previous generations and the garcinia trees planted today will produce dye for the next one. 

Ryukyu Kasuri has a vast range of patterns with over six hundred variations. Many motifs date back to traditional designs from the Ryukyu Kingdom. They are often inspired by the plants and animals found on the island or daily life commodities such as coins and scissors, and objects in the sky, for instance, stars and clouds. Nevertheless, some Ryukyu Kasuri cloths also incorporate more unusual and fun patterns such as human eyebrows or dog footprints. 

Haebaru Hanaori and Kijoka Bashofu - The Two Special Types of Ryukyu Kasuri 

Although the local weaving industry was almost entirely destroyed during the second world war, it survived and managed to recover. Today Ryukyu Kasuri is mainly woven in Haebaru, Okinawa. The most well-known local kasuri type, Haebaru Hanaori, is recognizable by its vibrant colours and three-dimensional flower designs. Poetically, hanaori means “flower weaving”.

Kurume Kasuri - The legacy of a young girl named Inoue Den 

Although craftsmanship in Japan was usually kept secret, Den shared her weaving technique with many, spreading the art of Kurume Kasuri. Her name Den means “to convey” in Japanese, and as her name implies, she taught thousands of people to weave Kurume Kasuri. This specific technique evolved over the years as various weavers adjusted it; two artisans in particular are still credited today for their artistic contributions. Otsuka Tazo created a way for weaving words and decorative illustrations into cloths called egasuri. On the other hand, Ushijima Noshi developed the kogasuri technique to craft more intricate motifs which are nowadays distinctly recognizable as Kurume Kasuri. 

Kurume Kasuri cloths are mostly known for their indigo blue and white patterns. The designs vary from geometric designs to picture motifs that are both derived from the fauna and flora and objects deemed prosperous such as temples, ships, castles and shrines. Some of the traditional patterns are interwoven with auspicious omens such as the asanoha design which symbolises hemp leaves. This beautiful motif was frequently used on children’s kimonos in the hopes that they would grow up big, strong and healthy because hemp grows vigorously without requiring much care.

Since the power loom was introduced to Kurume Kasuri weaving in the 1930s, many artisans instilled the practice of both weaving and tying threads by hand and completing both steps with the loom. However, even with a machine, pairing the designs on the warp and weft threads together is a very difficult task. To correct the inconsistencies that arise while weaving with the loom, the machine has to be adjusted by hand. In this way, the process is really a blend of manual and mechanized labour, still in need of highly skilled craftsmen regardless of weaving the fabric with the power loom or completely by hand. At the same time, entirely hand-woven Kurume Kasuri cloths continue to be made today and the rhythmic sounds of weaving with the swishing and beating noises remain the same as in past times.   

Of the many different types of kasuri in Japan, Kurume Kasuri woven textiles are the most known and recognizable. Therefore, the Japanese government officially recognized Kurume Kasuri’s historical and artistic value and appointed this weaving technique as an important intangible cultural property in 1957. On top of this, it was formally honoured as a traditional handicraft by the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry later on. Today, kasuri fabrics are used in a wide range of products from traditional Japanese clothing to modern fashion items and interior goods. 

As each beautiful and unique kasuri textile is interwoven with centuries of history and culture that have been passed down through many generations, we hope to help the survival of this ancient craft and honour it with our work!