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Oshima Pongee An intricate interplay of dots and lines | ||||
Oshima fabrics are like no other in the complexity of their ikat designs. To make these designs possible the weaver must adjust the threads with a fine needle every 7-8 centimeters to ensure the correct crossing of the dots and lines on the warp and weft. This requires a fine eye for detail and extreme patience and it takes more than 40 days to weave up one kimono length. | ||||
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Ikat techniques from the south bloom in Kagoshima It is often said that Oshima fabrics are "woven twice" and this refers to the fact that there is a time-consuming process of first laying out the threads for tie-dyeing before actually weaving on the loom. The machine that is used to tie the threads tightly with cotton needed to be bigger than the loom and required someone strong to operate it, so the tying part of the process was originally the men's job. But in 1908 Kagoshima invention of a "resist loom" made the ikat designs more accurate and vastly improved the efficiency of the tying process. From this time on, a fabric that had been strictly under the control of the Satsuma Domain throughout the Edo period (1600-1868) and had only been made for the upper classes was able to spread to the masses. Oshima fabrics started to be made not just on Amami Oshima Island but also in Kagoshima on the main island of Kyushu. Oshima fabrics made in Kagoshima are characterized by the use of the "resist loom" which requires a special strength and skill, along with the peculiarly restrained elegance of the color obtained by mordanting with mud, and the intricate ikat patterns formed of so many dots and lines. Mr Akira Hishinuma, who is the chairman of the Resignated Master Craftsman's Association of the Kagoshima Prefecture Oshima Tsumugi, explains that there is one other factor that sets Oshima fabrics apart as well. |
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Good quality silk thread is the life of Oshima "One other reason why Oshima fabrics became so popular here in Kagoshima," he explains, "is because the craftsmen were always very particular about the quality of the silk they used." He explains to me that Oshima fabrics would not have been able to withstand the rigors of time if they had not exhibited the special gleam that has come to be associated with Oshima fabrics, and while most people think of Oshima fabric in terms only of its famous dyeing and weaving skills, women know an Oshima fabric immediately by the way the silk feels when they put it on. Mr Hishinuma, who has been running a local study group on silk, says that a kimono is the same as people -- the genuine article has a certain "substance." And he insists that when a kimono has been woven with the ideal type of high grade silk, the dyeing produces more profound colors, the patterns stand out more sharply, and the entire air of the fabric is more elegant. |
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Even after 40 years "I've been doing this work for 40 years now," says Mr Hishinuma, "but I still feel like a beginner." One of his father's long-time associates even commented recently, "I see you have almost come up to your father's standards." "And I'm 60!" he laughs. But his father was a man of skill and ideas who was the inventor of White Oshima, so he is proud to finally be compared to him. "The craft of Oshima fabrics is so profound that you never finish learning," he tells me, lamenting that he has never been truly satisfied with a job. "But there are still people who like my work, so I work to please them. I am always wanting to make something better," he says. "I suppose I just love the work. I have to be glad that I am doing something I really enjoy." |
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"Be discerning!" Gazing into the distance, Mr Hishinuma talked to me of his father: "He always said something I shall never forget: 'Be discerning.' Whether it is art or people or even a simple manju sweet: Be discerning! He meant not just to look at the surface of things but to use all your knowledge and powers of discernment to look deeper and analyze what you see. At 60 I am finally beginning to understand what he meant. This is how you have to be if you want to make the best. So I will keep on delving into the depths of Oshima fabrics until I die." |
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