In the mountains, from cocoon to cloth.
Raising silkworms, making mawata silk floss, spinning, dyeing, warping, and weaving. Here we share the textile work our family has carried forward, and the way we make cloth at yamamayu today.
Hachioji, 1894
Nikaido Orimono was founded in Hachioji, Tokyo, in 1894. Beginning with textiles for kimono, our work has changed in form in response to shifts in the textile industry and the ways people live.
As demand for kimono changed after the war, the family business expanded from kimono textiles into fabrics for clothing. By the 1980s, we were developing textiles through combinations of yarn and weave structure, and supplying them to designers in Japan and abroad.
Choosing yarns, preparing the warp, adjusting the looms, and bringing them together as cloth. This work has been passed on to fourth-generation makers Tetsuji and Keiko Nakagawara, and fifth-generation textile artist Lisa Nakagawara.
Beginning with the Cocoon in Yamanashi
In 1998, we moved our studio to the mountains of Ichikawamisato, Yamanashi. The beginnings of our present textile practice lie in fourth-generation maker Tetsuji Nakagawara’s encounter with Tensan, the Japanese wild silkworm, and his fascination with the colour and light held within its thread.
Setting Tensan eggs among the trees, raising the larvae after they hatch, and gathering their cocoons. Raising domestic silkworms as well, simmering the cocoons to make mawata silk floss, and spinning it into thread by hand. Together with our family and people in the local community, we continue this seasonal work.
The thickness, colour, and natural irregularities of the thread vary according to the conditions in which the silkworms were raised and the character of each cocoon. By attending to these differences, we decide which yarns to combine, what colours to dye, and how each cloth will be woven.
The Looms and Tools in Our Studios
Our studios in Yamanashi house two power looms, around thirteen handlooms, a warping machine, and tools for making thread. We choose the loom according to the character of the yarn and the cloth we want to create.
Each of the two power looms moves differently and is suited to a different kind of cloth. For every piece, we adjust the loom while observing the thickness and twist of the yarn, the tension of the warp, the beat of the weft, and the cloth take-up. When working with thick or naturally irregular yarns, we also guide parts of the loom’s movement by hand as the cloth advances.
On the handlooms, treadles open the warp and the weft is passed by hand. We can change the weave structure and density as we work, allowing the movement and layering of the yarns to take form in the cloth.
Before weaving, the required number and length of warp threads are measured on the warping machine. We continue to use an early Showa-era warping machine, adapting it over time. The tension of several hundred threads is aligned, then each thread is drawn through the heddles and reed and set on the loom. The preparation changes with each cloth.
Oiling each loom, listening to its sound and vibration, and adjusting its movement to suit the yarn. Each day’s work proceeds through close attention to both the tools and the threads.
The Cloth We Make as a Family Today
Today, the family studio is led by fourth-generation makers Tetsuji and Keiko Nakagawara, together with fifth-generation textile artist Lisa Nakagawara. We share the work of raising Tensan and domestic silkworms, making mawata silk floss, spinning, dyeing, warping, and weaving, each bringing our own experience to the process.
We consider the material, dyeing, warping, choice of loom, and method of weaving as one continuous process. Even the same yarn can become a different cloth through changes in tension, weave structure, and the way the weft is placed, altering its weight, lustre, and feel.
Every piece carries the time spent raising cocoons, making thread, and preparing the loom. Attentive to the present, we carry this work forward into the next cloth.
Members
- Tetsuji Nakagawara
- Keiko Nakagawara
- Lisa Nakagawara
- Shoichiro Nikaido
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Learn more about the journey from cocoon to thread, through dyeing and warping, to woven cloth, and about the cycles that continue after we receive materials from nature.