The charm of Nishijin Ori is the beautiful three-dimensional patterns which are precisely planned by the yarn-dyeing technique (weaving the pattern after dyeing the threads). It is more durable and wrinkle-resistant than pieces dyed after they have been woven which is the more common method of production. And it is this detailed and meticulous craftsmanship that makes Nishijin Ori a very luxurious and artistic textile.

Instead of mass production, Nishijin Ori is crafted in small quantities, utilizing a division of labor. The products are known as the most authentic and beautiful textiles for obi belts for kimonos in Japan because of its beauty of color using more than 50 colors of threads and patterns precisely woven.

Moreover, in its history of more than 1,000 years, Nishijin Ori has produced a diverse range of decorative textiles, and has made great strides in tradition, such as the introduction of jacquard weaving in the Meiji era (1868–1912 CE). Today, in addition to obi belts and other traditional Japanese kimono items, Nishijin Ori is also utilized in modern clothing, table accessories and decorative items such as lucky cats and daruma dolls. 

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 brocade involves 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: Blueprints

The next process is called monsho-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 notated.

3. Monhori: Hole Punching 

Monhori is a method in which holes are punched in a specialized paper called monshi, and information, such as the position of warp and weft yarns and the combination of colored threads drafted in in the monshu-izu blueprint, is specified one grid at a time. In order for a jacquard loom to weave the pattern according to the information in the 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: Twisting Threads 

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 means "twisting threads." This adjusts the thickness of the yarn. Twisting threads of various gauges gives the Nishijin Ori its unique three-dimensional texture.

5. Yarn Dyeing

The dyer refines the silk yarn to remove animal proteins that cause a 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: Yarn Reeling

Itokuri is a process in which a skein of dyed yarn 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: Threading, and Nukimaki: Spooling

First, the seikei process is used to prepare the thousands of warp threads needed for weaving. These warp threads are threaded at a dizzying pace, and it is up to the fingertips of the skilled craftsperson to find any defects in the threads. Next is the process of nukimaki, in which the weft yarns are spooled onto a bamboo tube, then inserted into a shuttle.

8. Soko: Heddle Looping

The warp threads are looped through thesoko, or heddle, part of a jacquard loom. The soko is used to move 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: Hand Looms

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

The “Nishijin” in Nishijin Ori comes from the fact that this style of weaving began at the site of the western military camp in the Nishijin area of Kyoto, which was the center of a civil war that engulfed all of western Japan in the fifteenth century.

However, even before Nishijin Ori was established as a style, the origin of textile production in Kyoto can be traced back to the fifth to sixth centuries, when silk weaving technology was brought from the Asian continent. The textile industry was already established in the Nishijin area in the Heian period (794–1185 CE), which means that the history of this 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 eighteenth century. Although the Nishijin area was almost destroyed by massive fires recorded in 1730, the introduction of jacquard looms from France in the nineteenth century gave birth to the Japanese jacquard weaving technique, which furthered the development of the Japanese textile industry.

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

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