Yonezawa-ori is the general term for silk fabrics produced in the area centering on Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture. Originally, this textile industry started from hemp fabric made from ramie as an industrial promotion by "Uesugi Takayama," the ninth lord of the Yonezawa Domain.
Yonezawa textiles are characterized by "herb dyeing" using natural dyes. Yonezawa textiles are famous for their textured yarn-dyed fabrics using plant dyes such as safflower, and a technique called "chijimi" (shrinking) has been introduced. The fabric is woven with strongly twisted threads to increase its strength, and is characterized by fine wrinkles on the surface called "shibo" (creases).
Although "one cloth per production area" is the mainstream, Yonezawa textile is also famous for its high quality pongee fabrics, with an abundance of unique cloths such as "Nagai pongee", "Okitama pongee", and "safflower pongee". In addition, weaving machines include hand looms and power looms powered by machines, and weaving methods such as hand weaving, jacquard weaving, and dobby weaving are used.
Yonezawa City is located in the southernmost part of Yamagata Prefecture, in the Yonezawa Basin at the foot of the Agatsuma Mountain Range, the source of the Mogami River, and shares a border with Fukushima Prefecture. The Agatsuma mountain range, which stretches to the south of the city area, is mostly designated as Bandai-Asahi National Park, where visitors can enjoy magnificent natural scenery from season to season. In addition to Onogawa Onsen, a hot spring located deep in Yonezawa, the mountains of Agatsuma are home to an abundance of hot springs, including Shirabu Onsen, which has long been called one of the three highest hot springs in Oshu, as well as Urayu Onsen, Ohira Onsen, Namekawa Onsen, Niitakayu Onsen, Goshiki Onsen, and Yunosawa Onsen. The city is "a city rich in natural blessings" where summer mountain climbing and skiing can be easily enjoyed.
In addition, the four seasons vary widely, and the climate is unique to the basin climate on the Sea of Japan side. In summer, there are many summer days and mid-summer days, but even though the days are hot, the mornings and evenings are cooler and do not have tropical nights. In winter, there are many midwinter days with temperatures below freezing all day long, and it is not uncommon for the temperature to drop below 10 degrees C. On February 17, 1978, -18.2 degrees C was observed in Yonezawa City. Yonezawa City is designated as a special heavy snowfall area, with a cumulative annual snowfall depth of up to 10 meters, and the maximum snowfall depth in the urban area reaches about 100 cm in a normal year.
The elevation of the meteorological observation point in Yonezawa City is 245 m, while the elevation of the Fukushima District Meteorological Observatory in Fukushima City is 67 m, a difference of only 178 m. The distance between the two cities is less than 40 km, but the climate is very different from Fukushima City, which has a Pacific-side climate. There is a very big difference in terms of winter cold, number of midwinter days, number of tropical nights, amount of snowfall, and so on.
Please consider commemorative gifts using“Yonezawa Textile”.
We accept a variety of requests,
including letterhead sets and Japanese paper accessories,
as well as items such as the souvenir example.
Yonezawa textiles were produced when the ninth lord of the Yonezawa domain, Uesugi Takayama, reformed the domain administration. At that time, the Yonezawa Domain (located in Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture today) was in debt, in today's terms, 12 billion yen, following its defeat in the Battle of Sekigahara. Takayama Uesugi, who was 16 years old at the time, was entrusted with the reform of the Yonezawa domain.
One of Takayama Uesugi's reforms was to promote industry. It is said that Uesugi Takayama taught the women and children of samurai warriors to learn weaving as a side job using ramie, which was a specialty of the Yonezawa domain. Later, he encouraged the cultivation of mulberry trees and sericulture, and shifted to silk weaving. The textile industry developed dramatically as weavers were invited from Kyoto, the home of weaving, to conduct research and development. During this period, the "yarn-dyeing" technique, in which yarn is dyed with plant dyes such as safflower, indigo, and shikon (purple root) before weaving, was established, and Yonezawa textiles became known throughout the country as Dewa no Yonezawa-ori. Yonezawa textiles became known throughout the country, which led to reforms in the Yonezawa domain, and the entire debt of 12 billion yen was repaid. Later, when the English travel writer Isabella Bird visited Yonezawa, she famously said, "Yonezawa is an Asian utopia.
Later, in the Meiji period (1868-1912), Yonezawa textiles became popular for dyeing with chemical dyes, and power looms were improved and developed. Yonezawa textiles were also manufactured for overseas markets, mainly exported to India and the U.S. This was the foundation of Yonezawa textile export. This became the foundation of Yonezawa textile exports, and after the war, it became a tradition to hold overseas exhibitions.
Please consider commemorative gifts using“Yonezawa Textile”.
We accept a variety of requests,
including letterhead sets and Japanese paper accessories,
as well as items such as the souvenir example.