Arya News - In Showa village’s Oku-Aizu area, Karamushi-ori weavers typically work alone in silence, handling every step from growing karamushi to preparing thread. Today, over half are women who moved to the village from elsewhere, drawn by the craft’s allure.
SHOWA, FUKUSHIMA – Surrounded by mountains over 1,000 meters high, traditional houses with sloping roofs of red corrugated iron stand side by side in the Oashi area of Showa, Fukushima Prefecture.
The weavers of Karamushi-ori, a traditional textile from the village of Showa in the prefecture’s Oku-Aizu area, usually work alone in silence in quiet spaces. They do every step themselves, including growing the karamushi needed for their craft and preparing the thread. Today, more than half of the weavers are women from other places, who were drawn by the allure of the handicraft and moved alone to the village.
By the window in one of the houses, Eriko Yamauchi, 49, was making thread. She sat on the floor on her heels, seiza style. With her fingernails, she split the fibers collected from stems of the karamushi plant into fine strands, which she then twisted and joined together. This step is called “karamushi umi.”
Soft light filtered through the shoji paper screen doors. There was no clock in the room. Instead, Yamauchi felt the passage of time from the changing sunlight and the sounds of the village bell.
The spun thread gradually accumulated in a wappa bentwood craft tub. She produces just a little under 20 grams per day. She will then further twist the thread on a spinning wheel. It takes two months to produce enough thread for a single obi sash.
Thinly split fibers are twisted and joined. PHOTO: THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN
Producing Karamushi-ori textiles requires much patience.
“[When I work,] it is a time to reflect on myself,” Yamauchi said. “Each day, my mood is reflected in the thread and the fabric. The finished weave represents how I was over the past year.”
Karamushi is a perennial plant in the nettle family. Thread made from it is lightweight and lustrous. Summer kimono made from Karamushi-ori textiles are so luxurious and comfortable that wearing them is said to be like wearing ice.
Records indicate that karamushi was being cultivated in the village as early as 1756 during the Edo period (1603-1867). Along with cultivating rice and kasumiso baby’s breath, karamushi cultivation was one of the village’s major industries.
After the end of World War II, this traditional craft started to decline due to changes in lifestyle and a shortage of workers. To raise awareness of the craft, the village launched the Karamushi-ori textiles apprentice program in 1994, recruiting participants from outside the village.
The participants live in the village for one year while learning the entire production process. By the end of fiscal 2025, 135 people had completed the program. Of these, two were men and the rest were women. More than 30 of the participants settled in the village to continue the craft and some even married villagers.
Awareness of 4 seasons
Yamauchi was born into an apple-farming family in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture. She had been interested in folk crafts since childhood. After learning about Karamushi-ori from a book, she visited the village by herself in 2003.
She was captivated by the people using spinning wheels and looms, and felt that the tools were alive. She joined the program in its 12th year to learn the basics of the craft and settled in the village immediately afterward.
Business card holders featuring Karamushi-ori textiles with kogin-zashi stitching. PHOTO: THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN
Her work cycle follows the seasons. After the snow melts, she burns the karamushi fields where new shoots have sprouted. Then, she applies fertilizer and waits for the plants to grow again. During the harvest season, which begins in midsummer, she cuts down the karamushi, now about 2 meters tall, peels the stems and collects the fibers inside using specialized tools. Then, she dries them in the shade. In the fall, she begins spinning thread from the fibers. She weaves the thread in the winter.
Although there has been feeding damage from deer and wild boars in recent years, Yamauchi said: “Living in the village gives me a real sense of standing on the ground, putting down roots and living my life. I definitely have a kind of happiness here that money can’t buy.”
Karamushi-ori textiles are used not only for kimono and obi sashes but also for various items that enrich everyday life.
The items depend on each weaver’s ideas about the choice of dyeing material and method, and what textures, appearances and finishes are given.
Yamauchi creates items such as business card holders adorned with kogin-zashi, a type of traditional stitching from the Tsugaru region, which includes her hometown.
Work with a quiet mind
Kazuyo Saito, 53, came to the village from Saikai, Nagasaki Prefecture, at the age of 28 after watching a TV special on the Karamushi-ori apprentice program. She has lived in the village for nearly 26 years.
According to the village office, residents were initially hesitant when the program began accepting participants, but they gradually understood the participants’ earnest dedication. When Saito and other members arrived for the program’s eighth year, they were given a warm welcome.
Saito was often invited to her neighbors’ homes and received edible wild plants. At the same time, they left her alone when she was immersed in her craft. As Saito was not particularly good at socializing, she was very grateful.
Kazuyo Saito, center, instructs participants in the Karamushi-ori textiles apprentice program in the village. PHOTO: THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN
Karamushi-ori was originally a side job for farmers, so it is difficult to live solely on the craft. Many weavers have other jobs. Saito works part-time at various places, including the local michi-no-eki roadside station. Even so, the time she can devote to her craft is very precious, she says.
“The more years I continue doing this work, the more things I’m able to do. It’s all about that accumulation,” Saito said. A hallmark of Saito’s work is the use of plant-based dyes to create rich, vibrant colors for her threads.
Saito lives in an old-style house with her rescue dog. The water she collects from a nearby marsh is delicious and on summer nights, fireflies flit about as the Milky Way shines beautifully. She shares her life in this village and the various production steps of Karamushi-ori textiles on Instagram.
There is a saying passed down through the generations among those involved in Karamushi-ori: Tera na kokoro de jinen to na (Let’s work carefully at a natural pace with a quiet mind).
For weavers, this means, “When approaching your craft with this mindset, the weave aligns neatly, resulting in a fabric with a beautiful texture.”
I felt that the natural living pace of people drawn to this craft flowed through the village.