Nishijin Ori History

"Nishijin" in Nishijin Ori derives its name from the fact that weaving began at the site of the western military camp in Kyoto, which was the center of a civil war that engulfed all of western Japan in the 15th century.

However, even before the brand "Nishijin Ori" was established, the origin of textile production in Kyoto can be traced back to the 5th-6th century, when silk weaving technology was brought from the Asian continent. In the Nishijin area, the textile industry was already established in the Heian period (c.794-1185), which means that the history of the textile industry as a whole is more than 1,000 years old.

With the overwhelming support of the nobility and wealthy merchants, Nishijin Ori reached its golden age during the Edo period in the 18th century. Although the Nishijin area was almost destroyed by massive fires recorded in 1730, the introduction of Jacquard looms from France in the 19th century gave birth to the Japanese Jacquard weaving technique, which triggered the development of the Japanese textile industry.

With this breakthrough, Nishijin Ori became a world-class luxury silk brand in the 20th century, rivaling Lyon in France and Milan in Italy.

In 1976, Nishijin Ori was again recognized as a nationally designated traditional handicraft. With its superior weaving techniques and designs accumulated over more than 1,000 years, Nishijin Ori are fully demonstrating their value as artistic textiles even today, and will continue to pave the way for the future.

Traditional Practices of Nishijin Ori

There are a number of work processes and their terminology involved in the production of traditional Nishijin Ori, so let's go through them step by step.

1. Designing

This is the most important process in Nishijin Ori.
Nishijin Ori use "yarn dyeing," in which fabric is woven from pre-dyed yarn, rather than "piece dyeing," in which the finished fabric is dyed. So it is necessary to plan a design that envisions the finished product.  The designer receives an order from the manufacturer and creates a design that combines traditional patterns with contemporary demands.

2. "Monsho-Izu"

The next process is called "Monsyo-Izu", which is the process of making blueprints. The blueprints are made by projecting an enlarged design on a special sheet of paper similar to graph paper, then copying the pattern with a pencil and coloring along with the squares to show the combination of warp and weft yarns for the jacquard loom. In addition to yarn colors, various information and instructions designed to facilitate the weaving of the textile are also written on the paper.

3. "Monhori" 

Monhori is a method in which holes are punched in a specialized paper called Monshi, and the information such as the position of warp and weft yarns and combination of colored threads drafted in Monsho-izu (blueprint) is specified one grid at a time. In order for the Jacquard loom to weave the pattern according to the information in the Monsho-Izu (blueprint), holes are accurately pierced using a machine called a piano-type Monhori-Ki. In recent years, computer graphic processing has also been used.

4. "Nenshi" 

This process prepares the yarns to be woven into the Nishijin Ori. First, multiple silk threads are twisted together in a process called Nenshi, which First, multiple silk threads are twisted together in a process called Nenshi, which means "twisting threads," to adjust the thickness of the yarn. Twisting threads of various gauge gives the Nishijin Ori its unique three-dimensional texture.

5. Yarn Dyeing

The dyer refines the silk yarn to remove animal proteins that cause the yellowish tint, creates a pure white yarn, then dyes it in the color ordered by the designer. This process is an important step that determines the texture of the finished Nishijin Ori.

6. "Itokuri"

"Itokuri" is a process in which a skein of yarn dyed in the yarn-dyeing process is wound onto a yarn frame to prepare it for smooth work in the warping or horizontal winding process. In the past, the warp and weft yarns were wound manually, but nowadays, most yarn reeling is done by machine.

7. "Seikei" and "Nukimaki"

One of this process called "Seikei", is used to prepare the thousands of warp threads needed for weaving. The warp threads are threaded at a dizzying pace, and it is up to the fingertips of the skilled craftsman to find any defects in the warp threads. The other process called "Nukimaki", which is the weft yarns are spooled onto a bamboo tube, then inserted into a shuttle.

8. "Soukou"

Loop the warp threads through the Soukou (heddle) part of the jacquard loom. A Soukou is one of the parts of a loom that moves the warp threads up and down in order to pass the weft threads through the weft. Through this process, information on the structure and design of the textile is conveyed to the weaver.

9. "Tebata"

Weaving Nishijin Ori textile is done by handlooms called "Tebata", as well as by jacquard looms, power looms, and tapestry looms called "Tsuzure-bata". Although power looms have become most popular in recent years, some delicate textiles such as Kinran, woven with gold threads, must be made by hand on Tebata hand looms.