Coral chadows flicker in this Souch Island Paradise An unexplainable silk fabric Oshima Tsumugi So far from The Silk Road This sophisticated mystery kept for over 1300 years Light as wind Warm as soil Like the sparkling sunlight Beautiful, elegant, romantic silk.

yShimebataz(Binding) In Amami, the unique Kasuri thread designs are begun with a special binding process called Shimebata. Cotton threads bind silk threads thus creating a design on each silk thread. The threads are bound together and woven initially on a rudimentary loom. This technique is usually performed by men as the equipment is rather sturdy and substantial force is needed to manipulate the parts. ySomez(Dying) i) Teichigi Dying Woodchips from a red-bark tree called Theichigi are boiled for 14 hours in a large cauldron. The bound threads are dyed in this liquid 30-40 times until they become dark red.

ii) Mud dying The bound threads are then dyed in iron-rich mud deposits 3-4 times, then taken out and immersed in the Teichigi liquid again 20 more times. Eventually, the thread turns a majestic black. yOriz(Weaving) The specially dyed silk threads are then woven on a refined loom to create the Kasuri design. This final weaving process demands delicate and skillfull workmanship. Each row is threaded by hand and approximately every 7 cm the thread positions are carefully checked to ensure the exact alignment of the design.

Ideas on Wearing Tsumugi

Tsumugi Care

Honba Oshima Tsumugi Terms

Doroai-oshima

is a high quality Tsumugi woven by threads dyed in the traditional way. It is a shiny silk, majestic black in color.

doroai-oshima

is a special Tsumugi made from first dying the threads in an ai(indigo) plant solution, then in a mud pool. The base of this silk is black, with an indigocolored design.

Iro-oshima

is a colorful Tsumugi which uses chemical dyes to produce the colors. Both the base and the design uses color freely.

Ai-oshima

is a Tsumugi which is dyed exclusively by the ai(indigo) plant. Not many of this type are produced these days.

Kusakizome-oshima

is a Tsumugi which uses dyes from various plants, except the Teichigi and Ai. Only a few of this type are produced.

Otokomono

is a men's style Tsumugi, usually of a single color with a small-patterned design.

Yomi

is the density of a warp(lengthwise threads). A group of 80 threads is called 1 Yomi. The most frequently used warp densities are 13.3, and 15 Yomi, with 18 Yomi used for special products.

Maruki

is a group of 80 Tatekasuri threads. The most common densities of this type are 9.6, 7.2, 6.0 and 5.8 Maruki. The greater the amount of Tatekasuri threads, the more difficult is to create the design, thus resulting in very high quality products.