Once in Nishijin there were hundreds of hand-looms producing beautiful textile. Now we do not hear the sounds of weaving coming through latticed doors as often as before. We have devoted ourselves to hand-looms, because we think hand-looms are the best way to weave silk. Our weavers put in their hearts and souls to produce heavenly silk fabric with their own hands. We believe, as an obi manufacturer,we should keep striving to create something new, something no one has ever seen before.Not only designing and manufacturing obi and passing on traditions, we have been taking on a challenge in the new fields where we can apply our strength of hand-weaving techniques.
We have been making efforts to produce better products with hand-looms, as we believe in hand-weaving. However, we are facing the aging problem of the craftsmen and craftswomen. The number of artisans is also decreasing. We are afraid that in ten or twenty years the hand-weaving techniques might be lost. The hand-weaving techniques in Nishijin have been handed down from generation to generation. To pass on the skills to the younger generation, we are committed to the training of young people.
We always seek after and deliver the best products to our customers.
“Taking the Field”(Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first shogun of the Kamakura
Shogunate, is taking to the field.)
A Nishijin brocade obi, dyed, embroidered, and then decorated with gold. It is embroidered using one of the Japanese embroidery techniques calledthe flat stitch; the motifs are completely covered with parallel threads. Many different colors are used to create the shading, while the motifs look solid because of the various embroidery techniques.
【出陣】(源頼朝出陣の図)
西陣織、染、金彩、刺繍を兼ね備えた帯。平繍など日本刺繍の技法を用い、刺し糸の方向を一定に隙間なく埋め尽くした手刺繍が施されている。何色もの色糸の濃淡で陰影を表現し、刺繍の技法により立体感を生み出している。
