Aizu cotton is a traditional craft of Mutsu (Mutsu) Diet Tsu County (present-day western part of Fukushima Prefecture). Aizu-momen is a robust plain-weave cotton fabric that has been widely worn as stray clothes since ancient times. It has a thick and fluffy texture, and is more resistant to shrinkage than ordinary cotton plain weave fabrics, making it durable enough to withstand washing at home.
The warp threads are soaked in a wheat starch solution to harden and glue them, and the weft threads are woven into the fabric. Because the fabric contains air well, it absorbs perspiration well and has excellent heat retention properties.
Fukushima Prefecture is one of the three regions of "Aizu," "Nakadori," and "Hamadori," divided by the general boundary of two ridgelines, the Ou Mountains and the Abukuma Highlands. Centered on the Aizu Basin, this mountainous region is surrounded by the Ou Mountains to the east, the Echigo Mountains to the west, the Shimotsuke Mountains to the south (including the Teishaku and Osabetsu Mountains), and the Iide Mountains to the north. The regional center is Aizu Wakamatsu City.
According to the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters), the name Aizu was written in ancient times. The name "Aizu" is derived from the fact that during the reign of Emperor Sojin, the father and son of Shidoshoguns Ohiko-no-mikoto and Takenunakawawawake-no-mikoto joined forces here after completing their mission to pacify the provinces. The same tradition is also found in the legend of Isasumi Shrine in Aizu Misato-cho.
Please consider commemorative gifts using“Aizu Cotton”.
We accept a variety of requests,
including letterhead sets and Japanese paper accessories,
as well as items such as the souvenir example.
Aizu people are often said to be stubborn, and perhaps this is rooted in the spiritual pillar of "What must be done must be done," which is written at the end of the "Code of Tithing" (a strict way of thinking based not on logic but on the teaching that "what cannot be done must be done"). (This is a strict way of thinking based not on logic, but on the teaching that "what is not good enough is not good enough.)
The Aizu clan was extremely dedicated to the education of the youth who would lead the next generation. The influence of Hoshina Masayuki, the scholarly founder of the clan, must have been significant. At the suggestion of Harunaka Tanaka, the fifth lord of the domain, Harunaka Matsudaira, established a domain school, Nisshinkan, in 1805. The "tithing code" was an autonomous rule that the children of feudal lords who had not yet entered the Nisshinkan gathered every afternoon at the home of a fellow student to discuss before playing. Although some of the contents are not applicable today, the value of the idea and the code is attracting renewed attention.
The Aizu cotton is made by inheriting such culture and character of the Aizu people.
There used to be more than 30 textile mills, but now only three companies (including Harappa Harayama Orimono Factory*, the supplier of the products shown here) continue to preserve the tradition.
Please consider commemorative gifts using“Aizu Cotton”.
We accept a variety of requests,
including letterhead sets and Japanese paper accessories,
as well as items such as the souvenir example.