Yonezawa Ori, the tradition of YamagataYonezawa was already flourishing with ramie and safflower cultivation by the Edo period, but the textile industry became a full fledged industry thanks to Kanetsugu Naoe, a high-ranking Samurai serving Kenshin Uesugi. He bought out the products from farmers and sold them to various regions known for textile production, and built a financial foundation for his feudal domain. |
Good things have “power”We interviewed Gentaro Nitta, the Representative Director and President of Nitta Textile Arts Inc., a 130-year-old textile company founded in 1884. Nitta was born in 1980. He learned the basics working at an old kimono sash maker in Kyoto, and has been active in Yonezawa since 2005. He won the Japan Kōgei Association Freshman Award at the Japan Traditional Art Crafts Exhibition in 2011. The award-winning item was a “hakama” skirt. Its innovative design with gold threads received high praise. ”There are certain rules you have to follow in the patterns for “hakama”, but I wanted to start a new design. I wanted to be particular about design for people who are actually particular about the “hakama” they wear.“ Nitta told us. |
Dyed with many colorsMany “Yonezawa Ori” workshops specialize in weaving and don’t have a dyeing workshop. But at Nitta’s workshop it’s not just about weaving. They start with dyeing, and go through the entire process of Kimono making. That’s why they are able to bring the final product closer to their ideals, as they can experiment and control the threads and the weaving process. |
ACCESS
- Nitta Textile Arts Inc. Gentaro Nitta
- 2-3-36 Matsugamisaki, Yonezawa , Yamagata Prefecture
- URL https://nitta-yonezawa.com/en/