Draft:Textile arts of Japan

The textile arts of Japan have a long and rich history, representing several centuries of the developing use of weaving, embroidery and dye techniques. Japanese textiles utilise many different fibre types, with some textile traditions limited to the use of one fibre type alone.

Though many techniques now considered traditional – such as varieties of brocade weaving and tie-dye techniques – originated in China, several others originated natively in Japan, such as the use of indigo dye in ikat-woven fabrics and the layering and stitching of materials in. Japanese textile arts use fibre types such as linen, ramie (a kind of native nettle), hemp, and cotton. Wool also began being used after the Meiji Restoration and the end of the policy of isolation. Japan is a major historical centre for the production of silk, so many of its traditional textiles make heavy use of the fibre; these range from fine crêpe fabrics such as (smooth crêpe) to informal, slub-woven and hand-produced fabrics such as.

Japanese textiles are known for their use in items of traditional clothing, such as the kimono and. They are also used in [Buddhist clothing and altar covers], Shinto charms such as, traditional gift-wrapping such as , and throughout the home, in bedding, clothing, curtains such as , and hand towels such as. Within the islands of Japan, Ryukyuan and Ainu textiles both form rich and often highly-differentiated traditions. Historically, the clothing of the peasant and farmer classes, which was hand-spun and -woven, also constituted its own set of general traditions, with garments differing from the kimono in their construction, decoration and use.

Japanese textile arts are prized for their uniqueness and sophistication, and have had an impact on Western textile arts. During the Meiji period, Japanese textiles and culture became a subject of fascination for many Westerners, contributing to the rise of Japonisme in the West at the end of the 19th century. The demand for exports led to the creation of some traditional textiles and clothing for export. During the later 20th century, interest in traditional dyeing techniques such as increased in the West, influencing the development of tie-dye textiles.

Despite several textile arts being designated as Intangible Cultural Heritage icons, and their producers as National Living Treasures, many traditions and techniques face a dwindling and ageing group of practitioners. This decline is due to a combination of falling demand, undercut profits from middlemen in the kimono sales industry, and production processes that traditionally rely on a single person for one aspect of a textile's production. Some [traditions/textiles] – such as variants like [] and [] – are no longer [practiced/produced], as they are no longer considered economically viable. Despite this, innovations in the industry, such as the sale of traditional goods over the Internet instead of traditional channels, have allowed some practioners to seek a viable wage for their work, potentially contributing to the survival of the many small, specialised industries of Japan's textile arts traditions.

Types(?)
Traditional Japanese textile arts encompass a wide range of techniques. These include methods of weaving, dyeing and embroidery.

Some textiles, such as rag-woven textiles or slub-woven silks, which were once the sole [X] of working-class people, have become highly-prized for their high level of craftsmanship; as such, their price has risen over time.

Definition
A number of region-specific or otherwise nationally distinctive textiles are produced in Japan, and are recognised for their long history of production and production techniques. Some textile decoration techniques, such as dyeing and embroidery, are also recognised as traditional.

Though many traditional textiles have a long, uninterrupted history of production, some, such as tsujigahana, have only been partially revived, and have had to have been reinvented in the modern day due to the loss of technique knowledge and materials; others, such as beni itajime, have been revived exactingly, as a result of modern investigation of dyework archives and experimentation.

Traditional textiles may be referred to as lit. 'famous thing' (名物) or meisan (名産), terms used to describe regional speciality crafts in Japan. Some textiles are recognised as Intangible Cultural Properties by the Japanese government under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties (1950), a subsection of the Cultural Properties managed by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology).

History
Following the introduction of many techniques and crafts from China in the Kofun period (300–538 CE), by the beginning of the Heian period (794–1193 CE) and especially by the 9th century, forms of clothing and textiles in Japan had become distinctly Japanese. By the 10th century, Japan had closed its doors to Chinese influence, and the ensuing period wherein Japanese missions to Tang China were suspended and Chinese imports were halted led to the development of  (lit. 'culture'), wherein the clothing and textiles of Japan developed further, creating the basis for many of the culturally unique textile traditions present in Japan today.

Prior to the Meiji period (1868–1912) and the end of Japan's period of isolation, textiles were dyed with natural dyestuffs and woven from natural fibres. The introduction of synthetic dyes such as mauvine and synthetic fibres such as rayon played a key part in late-19th century and early-20th century Japanese textiles, leading to the development of distinctive kimono and designs during the ensuing Taishō period (1912–1926), and the heavy reliance on rayon textiles during WW2. The introduction of weaving and spinning machinery directly contributed to the creation of new materials such as, a partially-degummed plain weave slub-woven silk that utilised new spinning machinery to create a strong, hard-wearing and cheap yarn, using fibre deemed unsuitable for the production of export-grade silk. Many kimono were produced as ready-to-wear pieces featuring Art Deco designs, marking the first time kimono were sold off-the-rack in Japan in large quantities.

Fibre types
For much of Japanese history, the fibre types used in the production of textiles were limited to silk, and a variety of bast fibres, such as hemp, linen and ramie. [All three bast fibres?] would typically be woven using the line fibre of a plant – the lengthy fibres closer to filament fibres than staple fibres in length, and softer than the rough, short fibres found on the inside of some plants, such as hemp. Though the textiles produced using such fibres could be fine and crisp, they were comparatively poor insulators, leading to the development of techniques such as, where layered fabrics would be stitched together for warmth.

Silk
Sericulture was introduced to Japan in [], and though Japan maintained its position as the largest producer of silk goods for [], silk remained an expensive good beyond the reaches of most ordinary people; as such, fine silk fabrics were limited to the upper classes, who could afford high-quality, finely-woven textiles decorated and woven in a number of fashions.

During the Edo period, the burgeoning nouveau-riche merchant classes ascended in terms of material wealth, allowing for the proliferation of silk materials throughout a wider portion of Japanese society, though still too expensive for the working classes.

The farmers who produced and silk would often retain any fibre deemed too damaged, poor-quality or otherwise unusable for finer materials (known as noil); this fibre would then be hand-spun into a slub-yarn, before being woven to produce, a soft, slub-weave silk. From at least the 1870s, following the introduction of new spinning machines to Japan, silk fibre of a non-export grade would also be woven into lit. 'common silk stuff', a hard-faced, informal and relatively stiff silk fabric, whose characteristics were produced by only partially-degumming the silk fibre.

Both and  were once cheaply-produced fabrics. The latter was a homespun fabric produced using waste silk fibre (noil) or silk fibre collected from the cocoons of wild silk moths. Spun into yarn and woven by the farming classes, the resulting fabric would be an uneven, slub-weave material with a soft handle. Though fabrics woven from silk noil are weaker than those woven from the longer, typical filament fibres of better-quality silk, would have been a warmer material than hemp, linen or ramie, and was infinitely more affordable than fine silks, cotton and later wool.

As the lower classes were occasionally forbidden from even purchasing or wearing fine silks as part of pre-Meiji sumptuary laws on dress, informal, home-made silk fabrics such as were often the only type of silk a farmer could wear, and would be spun and woven out of necessity. Certain traditions of production became crafts in their own right, and in the modern day  is highly-prized as an informal, high-quality craftsman product.

, in contrast, was created from cheap, machine-spun silk yarn in the Meiji period, and was popularised for its low price and hard-wearing nature. Unlike, became a fashion product similar to modern-day jeans, as it could be cheaply made, was dyed and woven in a variety of modern patterns, and was considered fashionable, rather than a material produced out of necessity in a feudal class system.

Dating to the 1870s at the earliest, combined partially-degummed waste silk fibre with new spinning machinery introduced to Japan after the Meiji Restoration. These spinning machines could produce a thick, hard-wearing silk yarn with greater strength than hand-spun varieties, and the resulting fabric was a hard-faced material that took to synthetic dyes well, with a similar drape and handle to the taffeta fabrics of the time. Though Dalby [page needed] notes that was worn by geisha in the 1870s, 's real popularity began in the 1920s and 30s, following the impact of the Great Depression. Dyed in bright, modern designs that were heavily influenced by Western art movements such as Art Deco, was used to create off-the-rack kimono that sold widely.

Cotton
Cotton was introduced to Japan during the early Edo period (1603–1867). [page needed]

Wool
Wool was introduced to Japan [ following the Meiji Restoration? ], after which it gained popularity as an informal material suitable for everyday clothing, particularly informal kimono. Wool-fibre kimono were a popular informal choice [before the 1960s?], and many wool kimono date to this time.

Textiles

 * Plain weave textiles – [often textiles intended for informal use]. Most all is plain weave.
 * Satin weave textiles – used for formal, expensive silk textiles
 * Leno weave textiles – leno weaves are uncommon in Western clothing, but leno-weave textiles, including plain-weave textiles with horizontal or (more uncommonly) vertical stripes of leno weave are common in Japanese textiles, and are a hallmark of materials intended for summer use.
 * Crepe textiles – a number of crepe types exist in Japanese textiles, varying in appearance from smooth to rough, with yarns twisted at differing, periodic intervals to produce certain effects.

Regional specialties
Many Japanese textiles have a long history of production, with a number of towns and villages considered a centre of production. The town of Arimatsu, in Aichi prefecture, has been a centre of production since the early 17th century.

Though many textiles are highly-prized and considered traditional in Japan, over time, the production of some varieties has stopped, and the production methods of others have been forgotten. The production of some varieties of in Arimatsu was noted as extinct as recently as 1983, due to the expense of the production process and a fall in demand; other textiles, such as, are no longer produced on a wide scale, also due to a fall in demand. The original technology for some dye techniques, such as, has been lost entirely, and only partially revived through re-invented techniques in the modern day; others, such as , have been revived in full, due to the work of research groups.

Dyes
Prior to the Meiji period and the discovery and import of synthetic dyes into Japan, textiles were dyed with a variety of natural dyestuffs. As with Western textiles, the most common dyes were blue, brown and black in colour, coming from abundant natural resources such as indigo, derived from the Indigofera tinctoria plant, which produced the same chemical compound as woad (commonly found in Western Europe) but in higher quantities.

The most expensive, hard-to-produce dyes were, also in parallel with Europe, red and purple. Though the source of these dyes differed, both red and purple pigmentation was, prior to the invention of synthetic dyes, incredibly difficult or expensive to produce from natural sources. As the West used sea snails in the family Muricidae to produce the colour Tyrian purple (which varied from a true purple to a brilliant red), in Japan, a preparation of the root of the gromwell plant (specifically Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum) was used for purple dye, and the safflower plant was used to produce a red dye. The process of extracting purple dyestuff from the roots was an exceedingly long, complex and time-consuming process, necessitating its relatively high expense:

"The roots [of the plant] are collected and dried for two to three months to mature the color. While this occurs, the silk is pre-mordanted[...] the mordanting process involves repeated immersion of the cloth or yarn in the alum bath and drying over a two- or three-month period. To prepare the dyestuff, the gromwell roots are softened overnight in 60° [Celsius] water and then pounded to release the dye. The silk is then repeatedly immersed in the bath, aired to allow more oxygen to penetrate the cloth and then steeped in the dye until the desired color is achieved. When the dyeing is completed the cloth is placed in dark storage for as long as a year while the color continues to mature."

For a deep purple, up to 50 dips could be needed. dye loses colour remarkably fast, literally losing colour as the fibres are being dipped, meaning it was often used for (ombré) dying, and the resulting colour was varied and uneven, with each strand a slightly different shade. The resulting shades of purple produced by lithospermum purpurocaeruleum were referred to as, a name taken from the author of The Tale of Genji, Murasaki Shikibu.

Additional terms were used for specific shades of purple within this range, particularly during the Heian period; names such as ("pale purple") and  ("light purple") formed important distinctions when wearing, and could also indicate (typically high) rank (see below).

Records from one dye workshop in [], the [], show that [prior to its closing/within X time frame], cheaper dyes such as madder and [] were being used in the adulteration of red safflower dye, bringing down its total cost.

Colour
During the Heian period, the use of colour within the Imperial Court took on symbolism of both hierarchical and artistic nature for both men and women.

For men, colour was used to show rank. [Forbidden colour etc etc]

For women, colour not only had the dimension of hierarchy, but primarily the dimension of artistic and seasonal merit.

Before 1960, kimono were generally lined with solid-red or -yellow fabrics; kimono found after this time period typically have white linings featuring a colour gradient along the hem, or are lined in white, with a solid colour lower lining. [page needed]

Dye techniques
The use of dye techniques also has a long history in Japan. One of the earliest written descriptions of dates to 238 CE, where it was recorded in the Chinese document Chronicles of the Clans of Wei  that Queen Himiko gifted the Emperor of the Wei dynasty over 200 yd of "spotted cloth" – potentially describing a form of wax-resist decoration on the fabric.

The earliest surviving examples of -dyed cloth date back to the mid-8th century, donated to the Tōdai-ji Buddhist temple in Nara in 756 CE, as part of the goods donated by the Emperor Shōmu upon his death. The techniques seen on these earliest fragments show bound resists, wax resists and folded and clamped resists. However, at least some of the -dyed fabric in this collection is Chinese in origin.

The traditions of (tie-dyeing) and  (mud-dyeing) both originated out of a necessity of available dyes.

Recognition
A number of traditional textiles are recognised as having been produced by a Master Craftsperson by their crafts union, the association of Masters and Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Craftspersons are required to have twelve years of experience practicing a craft historically linked to their region of work, and pass both written and practical exams. Textiles produced by Master Craftspersons are demarcated by the addition of a seal at the end of the bolt.

Outside of this, traditional and heritage textiles are also recognised by their own individual stamps, also placed on the end of a bolt. These stamps indicate that a bolt of fabric has been inspected by the relevant authorities and verified for quality and production technique. However, a number of official-looking stamps are commonly placed on the end of a bolt of fabric, which, unless checked accordingly, can appear to indicate a traditional or high-value textile without it actually being the case. For instance, a bolt of produced in any one of the several regions, islands or villages throughout Japan known as Ōshima may be labelled as, but only  produced in Amami Ōshima, Kagoshima prefecture, is considered to be  proper, with its own individual stamp indicating as such.

Traditional textiles

 * Intangible Cultural Property (Japan)
 * (Traditional handcraft of Aomori prefecture)
 * (Ojiya crepe)
 * (Intangible cultural heritage of Chiba prefecture)
 * (Designated Traditional Craft of Osaka prefecture)
 * (Traditional craft of Aomori Prefecture)
 * (Designated Traditional Craft of Chiba prefecture)
 * (nationally-designated Traditional Craft)
 * (traditional specialty product, designated by Mie prefecture)
 * (Traditional Craft of Yamaguchi prefecture)
 * (Designated Traditional Craft of Hyogo prefecture)
 * (Traditional Craft officially sesignated by Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry)
 * (Designated intangible cultural asset by Ishikawa prefecture)
 * (Mie prefecture designated traditional craft)
 * (Traditional Craft designated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)
 * Nibutani attus
 * (Traditional Craft officially designated by Chiba prefecture)
 * (Important Intangible Cultural Property of Gifu prefecture)
 * (Designated by Kagawa prefecture as Traditional crafts products)
 * (Traditional folk craft officially designated by Yamanashi prefecture)
 * (Ojiya crepe)
 * (Intangible cultural heritage of Chiba prefecture)
 * (Designated Traditional Craft of Osaka prefecture)
 * (Traditional craft of Aomori Prefecture)
 * (Designated Traditional Craft of Chiba prefecture)
 * (nationally-designated Traditional Craft)
 * (traditional specialty product, designated by Mie prefecture)
 * (Traditional Craft of Yamaguchi prefecture)
 * (Designated Traditional Craft of Hyogo prefecture)
 * (Traditional Craft officially sesignated by Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry)
 * (Designated intangible cultural asset by Ishikawa prefecture)
 * (Mie prefecture designated traditional craft)
 * (Traditional Craft designated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)
 * Nibutani attus
 * (Traditional Craft officially designated by Chiba prefecture)
 * (Important Intangible Cultural Property of Gifu prefecture)
 * (Designated by Kagawa prefecture as Traditional crafts products)
 * (Traditional folk craft officially designated by Yamanashi prefecture)
 * (traditional specialty product, designated by Mie prefecture)
 * (Traditional Craft of Yamaguchi prefecture)
 * (Designated Traditional Craft of Hyogo prefecture)
 * (Traditional Craft officially sesignated by Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry)
 * (Designated intangible cultural asset by Ishikawa prefecture)
 * (Mie prefecture designated traditional craft)
 * (Traditional Craft designated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)
 * Nibutani attus
 * (Traditional Craft officially designated by Chiba prefecture)
 * (Important Intangible Cultural Property of Gifu prefecture)
 * (Designated by Kagawa prefecture as Traditional crafts products)
 * (Traditional folk craft officially designated by Yamanashi prefecture)
 * (Designated by Kagawa prefecture as Traditional crafts products)
 * (Traditional folk craft officially designated by Yamanashi prefecture)
 * (Traditional folk craft officially designated by Yamanashi prefecture)

Intangible Cultural Properties:
 * Ise-katagami
 * Kijōka-bashōfu
 * Kumejima-tsumugi
 * Kurume-kasuri
 * Miyako-jōfu
 * Tate-nishiki
 * Yūki-tsumugi
 * Kenjō Hakata-ori
 * Edo komon
 * Bingata
 * Saga-nishiki
 * Shuri-ori
 * Ojiya-chijimi Echigo-jofu
 * Seigō Sendai-hira
 * Tsumugi
 * Bashōfu
 * Mokuhanzuri-sarasa
 * Monsha
 * Yūsoku-ori
 * Ra
 * Nihon shishu (embroidery)