What is Gunnai Textiles?

Gunnai textile is a general term for fabrics woven in the Gunnai area (including Fujiyoshida City and Nishikatsura Town) of Yamanashi Prefecture. The history of Koronai textiles is long, and it is said that they have been woven for about 1,000 years. The term "Kai no nuno" ("cloth of Kai") is preserved in books from the Heian period (794-1185), and during the Edo period (1603-1868), the area flourished as one of the top textile production centers in Japan.

The fabric was mainly made of silk, and weaving was also done in other parts of Kai Province, giving it the names "Kai silk" and "Koshu-ori" (Kai weaving). The delicate and advanced techniques are still passed down to artisans today. Today, Gunnai textiles are used for women's clothing, interior and lining fabrics, as well as for domestic necktie fabrics.

Producing area :County area (Kitatsuru-gun, Otsuki city, Uenohara city, Tsuru city, Fujiyoshida city and a part of Minamitsuru-gun)

The Gunnai area (Gunnai Chiho) refers to the whole area of Tsuru-gun, Yamanashi Prefecture, where textiles have been actively produced for more than 1,000 years. The central cities are Otsuki, Fujiyoshida, and Tsuru. The eastern part of the prefecture, bordered by the Misaka Mountains and the Daibosatsu Ridge, is part of Kita-Tsuru and Minami-Tsuru counties, and is the basin of the Sagami and Tama River systems. The western part of the prefecture is called the Kuninaka region, which is in contrast to the Gunnai region.

The Kuninaka area is covered by the flat Kofu Basin, while the Koronai area is dominated by steep mountains and forests. While the Kuninaka region has an inland climate unique to the basin, Koronai has a rainy summer and sunny winter. Temperatures generally vary greatly from day to night and summer to winter.

History of Gunnai Textiles

The Legend of Xu Fu
It is said that more than 2,000 years ago, in 219 B.C., his retainer Xu Fu visited Japan after receiving an order from Qin Shi Huangdi to [search for a medicine of immortality]. However, he was unable to find the medicine and ended up living in Japan, where Xu Fu is said to have passed on his advanced weaving techniques to the villagers of Fujiyoshida City.

The history of Gunnai textiles is long, and it is said that they have been woven for about 1,000 years. The term "Kai no nuno" ("cloth of Kai") was left behind in books written during the Heian period (794-1185), and during the Edo period (1603-1868), the area flourished as one of the top textile production centers in the country.
During the Edo period, when luxury was forbidden, samurai and townspeople were only allowed to wear clothing made of specified materials and dyed in specified colors. Therefore, Edo people competed for "stylishness" in the lining of their clothes, and Gunnai textiles, which were fine and of high quality and could be woven with beautiful colors and patterns, were favored by the "iki" temperament of the Edo people. The superior weaving techniques were so well known throughout Edo that it was said, "Kyoto's textiles cannot compare to those of Koronai," and Koronai became the center of textile production.

When war broke out in the Showa period (1926-1989), many hatayas were ordered to turn in about 9,300 looms as metal for use in the war effort, making production impossible. When the war ended, it was called the "Gachaman" period, when the more fabrics were woven, the more they sold. The economy was so booming that it was said, "You can make 10,000 yen by weaving a single piece of cloth. Toward the end of the Showa period, many cheap foreign fabrics became available. Even weaving centers that gradually replaced their weaving equipment with modern facilities were not spared from a major blow, and many hatayas left the textile business. Today, the techniques are still being carried on, and each weaving company continues to refine its own individuality and produce textiles.