Making Kihachijo, rare handwoven pure silk of Hachijojima

A brilliant yellow, a subtle yellow-red, a shiny black — these are the surprising colors of Kihachijo — all from natural sources on Hachijo Island.

Nobody really knows when Kihachijo started to be made. But records from the Muromachi period around the 14th century allude to gifts of Hachijo fabric made to the government of the time. In the Edo period (1600-1868) it became a fabric by appointment to the family of the Shogun. And from around 1804-1830, when the townspeople started to enjoy their own flamboyant culture, the common people came to love it as well. Until the Second World War there was a great deal of silk worm cultivation on Hachijo and it is said that from very long ago the women islanders, who raised the silkworms and wove fabric, were the backbone of the island’s economy.

The most distinctive feature of these cloths is the dyeing. All the dyes are obtained from plants growing on the island to produce yellow, a rich reddish yellow, and black dyed yarn, which is diligently hand woven. Traditionally, Kihachijo fabrics are striped and as cloths combining elegance and style, their appeal will no doubt continue to find favor.

Refining: In order to remove the sericin gum (silk glue) from the raw silk and renders it supple and glossy, a bag stuffed with raw silk is put in a pot of boiling water containing sodium carbonate and left to gently simmer for three hours, after which the yarn is washed.

Dyestuff: Yellow dye is extracted from dried kobunagusa (Arthraxon hispidus).

Dyeing: Bundled kobunagusa is put in a pot and boiled. Two or three buckets are filled with the hot dye and a single skein of silk is placed in the dye overnight. The next day it is dried in the sun. Next, each skein is gently twisted up and put in a dyeing bucket. The hot dye is then poured evenly over the skein, agitated and left overnight. Next morning, the skeins are well wrung out and dried outside on poles until the evening. When they are completely dry, the yarn is put into some new dye. The dyeing and drying process is repeated about 20 times.

Lye: Wood ash from camellia and sakaki (Cleyera japonica) is collected and put in water. Any unwanted matter is removed and this mixture is allowed to stand for about a week, after which time the lye at the top is scooped off. A little of this lye is put in a shallow bowl and used to cover one skein of the dyed silk at a time. The lye is then rubbed into the yarn 50 to 60 times. The dye reacts with the iron in the lye to produce a really clear yellow. The yarn is then left for a time before being tightly wrung out and dried in the sun.

Dyeing: The bark is put in a bamboo basket and boiled. Two or three buckets are filled with the hot dye and a single skein of silk is placed in the dye overnight. The next day it is dried in the sun. This process of dyeing and drying is repeated about 30 times. Next, each skein is gently twisted up and put in a dyeing bucket. The hot dye is then poured evenly over the skeins, agitated and left overnight. Next morning, the skeins are well wrung out and dried outside on poles until the evening. When they are completely dry, the yarn is put into some new dye. The dyeing and drying process is repeated about 15 times.

Lye: A variety of wood ash is used to make a lye for the rich reddish yellow dye, and the method is the same as for the yellow dye.

Dyestuff: The dried bark of the sudajii (Castanopsis cuspidata var. sieboldii) is used to make a black dye.

Dyeing: The method of dyeing is exactly the same as for the rich reddish yellow. Repeating the dyeing and drying process 30 to 50 times produces a rich black.

Mud Mordanting: While the yellow and rich reddish yellow yarn are mordanted with wood ash, the black yarn is mordanted with mud. An iron rich mud is taken from natural marshes on the island, where there is a film of bluish deposit floating on the water. The mud is filtered through a bamboo basket and put in a tub. One skein at a time is placed in the mud for about three hours, washed in a stream and then dried.

Weaving: Having decided on a design, the thread is starched, measured and then woven on a hand loom. The cloth is either plain woven or a twill.

Kihachijo Meyo Kobo
http://www.8jyo.jp/towninfo/travel/kankou/notedplace/36.html

Soundtrack “Spring Killer” by BRAIN DRIVE (Hayato Mizuta)
http://www.braindrive.info/

This documentary belongs to a series called “ADEYTO -visual diary-” that began due to the fact that ADEYTO is to busy to actually write a diary entry.

Shot by ADEYTO on a digital photo camera. Created by ADEYTO.

Duration : 0:5:21