After much procrastination, it is here: a short guide on bast fibers in Japan. This took way too long to research, if I have to be honest with you 😅 but in truth I explored several walls of kanji so there’s that.
First of, let’s define bast fibers: bast fibers are plant fibers collected from the phloem of plants. The phloem is a section of plants which is dedicated to transporting the compounds made as a result of photosynthesis, such as sugars, to the rest of the plant. Bast fibers are in opposition to protein fibers, such as wool and silk, which come from animals, as well as other plant fibers which are present in Japan but are not bast fibers like cotton (a staple fiber from the boll aka the protective seal-bearing capsule of the cotton plant). Another bast fiber worth mentioning is bashōfu, but I really want to make a dedicated post on Ryukyu fibers.
Despite the association of Japan with sericulture in the popular imaginary, historically bast fibers were the most used. Today, I want to focus to the linen-adjacent fibers which are to this day often used for wafuku. Collectively, they are often referred to as 麻 ・asa, which is often roughly translated to linen. However, this translation is not correct as I’m going to explain shortly.
It is probable that, ab origine, the term 麻・asa was referring to both hemp and ramie, since both are indigenous to the Japanese archipelago. As flax (the pant from which linen is produced) started to be imported to Japan, it is likely that the use of the term 麻・asa was extended to this new fiber. This also explains why hemp is often referred as 大麻 and not simply 麻 – so it could be easily distinguished.
Let’s clarify even further: basically, there are three types of bast fibers we are talking about today, which I’m calling by the species of plants they are sourced from:
1. Cannabis sativa – vulgar name hemp (麻・asa, or 大麻・ oasa)
2. Bachmeria nivea var. nipononivea – vulgar name ramie, from the nettle family (苧麻・ choma, also called karamushi)
3. Linum usitatissimum – vulgar name flax (亜麻・ama, which is the plant from which linen proper is made)
I’d like to focus today on hemp and ramie, since these are indigenous fibers and have a long and interesting history of use in Japan.
Hemp is a very important fiber historically, having been used since ancient times, and it also relevant to Shintō practices. There is some debate but there is evidence that hemp was used in Japan since the Jōmon period (14,000–300 BCE). In the Muromachi period (1336 to 1573 CE), on the other hand, production of ramie really took off, especially in the Echigo region in Niigata. The Niigata-Fukushima (especially Aizu) region still hosts cultivation of ramie to this day.
Among various applications, hemp and ramie threads can be woven into fabrics for, for example, wafuku. Hight grade and thin fabrics woven from 麻・asa and/or 苧麻・choma are called 上布・jōfu. There are many jōfu which are worth mentioning, especially the following:
- Echigo jōfu from Niigata (越後上布)
- Miyako jōfu from Okinawa (宮古上布)
- Yaeyama jōfu also from Okinawa (八重山上布)
Not a jōfu, but also famous (and the one I have as well) is Ojiya-chijimi (小千谷縮) from Niigata. The production technology of many of these textiles is unique and has in many instances been designed as an ‘Intangible Cultural Property’ (無形文化財, mukei bunkazai) by the Japanese government. Many date back to the Edo period if not earlier.
I hope you enjoyed this brief introduction to bast fibers of Japan. And yes I know this is not tailoring but there was a lot of interest expressed to me so here we are, haha.
Until next time,
E
Making&Candor 