Domestic & Wild Silkworms

Domestic & Wild Silkworms

Two different lives that give rise to yamamayu cloth.

The textiles of yamamayu begin with two different silkworms: domestic silkworms and tensan.
Domestic silkworms have lived alongside people. Tensan grow on trees such as oak.
The plants they feed on, the places they grow, and the expression of their cocoons and silk are all different.

Two Silkworms

Domestic Silkworms

They feed on mulberry leaves and grow close to people.
Their cocoons range from white to pale yellow, and the silk becomes smooth and even.
Its stable response to dyeing and its quiet luster make it one of the foundations of yamamayu cloth.

Tensan

They feed on oak leaves and grow in the trees.
Their cocoons are greenish, and the silk carries resilience and elasticity.
Its color shifts with the light and seems to glow softly from within.

The Character of Silk

Tensan silk yarn — Silk filament yarn and tensan silk yarn

Domestic silk has a smooth, water-like luster and tends to take dye in a more even way.
Tensan silk carries a quieter inner glow, and once woven, it rises with greater presence and firmness.

Even though both are silk, the atmosphere they create in cloth is very different.
At yamamayu, that difference is not hidden but allowed to remain as part of the individuality of the textile.

Place and Season

Domestic silkworms grow steadily under human care.
Tensan, by contrast, grow on trees such as oak and follow a rhythm that is usually once each year.
Their cocoons are built among leaves in the trees, and the character of each environment appears directly in the cocoon and the silk.

Only unpierced cocoons can be reeled into long filament silk.
The remaining parts can still continue into mawata and hand-spun yarn, and from there into yamamayu cloth.

How yamamayu Uses These Materials

Domestic silk is used as fine silk filament yarn from a twisting workshop in Hachioji, and also as hand-spun mawata yarn made in the studio.
Its smoothness, stable response to color, and ease of handling help form the base of the cloth.

Tensan is used from cocoons raised by a friend in Iwate and from cocoons grown in the Yamanashi studio itself, continuing into silk filament and hand-spun yarn for the works.
Its natural greenish hue, suppleness, and quiet dignity give it a presence unlike any other material.

Depending on the work, yamamayu also chooses between plant-based dyes and chemical dyes.
When a precise color is needed, chemistry is welcomed. When a gentler shift of color is desired, plant-based color is chosen.