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Fabrics with stripes, plaid or checked patterns are called kanto. There are different reasons why fabrics with certain patterns can be considered kanto fabrics, and no clear rules exist for classifying them.
In the 16th centry, when kanto fabrics were introduced into Japan, the striped and checked patterns felt new and fresh to chajin (Tea …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/meibutsugire-part-4-kanto/
Donsu , a damask satin. like kinran, comes in a great variety of patterns. It is a thick, lustrous fabric made of silk. It is not as dazzling as kinran, but rather has a quiet kind of beauty. The design is integrated into the ground and does not protrude from the surface of the cloth, …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/meibutsugire-part-3-donsu/
Kinran (gold brocade) is considered the most gorgeous of the meibutsu-gire. The first syllable of the word, kin, means “gold”. the second, ran, refers to cloth that was attached to the hem of a Buddhist cloak to strengthen it. Kinran has a ground wave of twill and weft patterns woven with either gold thread or …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/mebutsugire-part-2-kinran/
We have most often seen the meibutsu-gire, or famous named fabrics as kobukusa, the small patterned cloth, mounting for scrolls, and as shifuku or bags made to contain utensils. During the haiken or appreciation dialog, the guests ask about the shifuku fabric.
While there is a close relationship between Tea and meibutsu-gire, not all fabrics …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/meibutsu-gire-the-famous-named-fabrics/
Nishiki is Japanese brocade fabric. According to my sources and notes: The patterns for this brocade are woven from various colored weft floats traveling over a limited distance. In the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), in China, they produced a warp-faced nishiki where colored warps skipping over a number of adjacent wefts formed …
Permanent link to this article: https://issoantea.com/reviving-the-art-of-nishiki/