[VILLAGE Report vol.33] 17 Items: Cloth, Blades, and Paulownia | Niigata Prefecture

Niigata Prefecture’s nationally designated traditional crafts number 17 items. This is the next highest number after Tokyo (23), and equals Kyoto (17).

Looking at the breakdown, they divide broadly into three groups. Textiles, metal, and wood.

Snow determined the industries

What Niigata’s crafts have in common is that they are “fine handwork that can be done indoors in winter.” This is exactly the same reason as Fukui eyewear (vol.30) and Iiyama Buddhist altars in Nagano (vol.28).

In places with heavy snow, farm work cannot be done for nearly half the year. That time itself became an industry.

Ramie cloth listed by UNESCO

Ojiya chijimi and Echigo jofu were inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2009.

Its defining feature is “Snow bleaching.” This is a process in which woven cloth is spread on early-spring snow and naturally whitened by sunlight and the reflection from the snow.

Nagano’s Uchiyama paper (vol.28) also had the same “snow bleaching.” In snowy regions, snow itself is a bleaching tool.

And then there is ramie. Shiga’s Omi jofu (vol.21) came from a land where the humidity suited ramie. Echigo is also a ramie-producing area for the same reason.

Others include Shiozawa tsumugi, Hon-Shiozawa, Tokamachi kasuri, Tokamachi akashi chijimi, Uetsu shinafu. Counting textiles alone, Niigata has the second-highest number after Okinawa.

Tsubame and Sanjo, two towns

In metalwork, there are Echigo Sanjo forged blades, Echigo Yoita forged blades, Tsubame hammered copperware appears.

Today, Tsubame-Sanjo is a hub of metal tableware and metalworking known around the world.

It began in the early Edo period. Because flooding of the Shinano River made farming unstable, making Japanese nails was encouraged as a side business. which is considered the trigger.

Japanese nails → hoes and sickles → kitchen knives and scissors → Western-style tableware → metalworking in general. For 400 years, the things they make have changed, but they have kept hammering metal.

Tsubame hammered copperware is a technique of hammering a single sheet of copper with a metal hammer to form a vessel without seams. No welding, no joining.

Toyama’s Takaoka copperware (vol.32) is melted and poured into molds (casting). Tsubame is hammered and stretched (hammered metalwork).. Even with the same copper, the techniques are completely different.

Paulownia and tsuishu lacquer carving

Kamo paulownia chests is nationally known as a production area for paulownia chests. After Wakayama’s Kishu tansu chests (vol.18) and Osaka Senshu paulownia chests (vol.23), here is yet another paulownia chest.

Murakami woodcarving tsuishu is a technique in which wood is carved, then layers of lacquer are applied while leaving the shadows of the carving visible. Sado mumyoi ware is pottery made with clay containing iron oxide from the Sado Gold Mine.

Vessels are fired from the earth left after gold was mined. Even in this series, it has a fairly unusual origin.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is “chijimi”?
A. It is a cloth woven with strongly twisted yarn, then kneaded in hot water during finishing to create fine crepe-like texture on the surface. Because it reduces the area that touches the skin, it has been used as fabric for summer kimono.

Next issue: Tokyo. With 23 items, it has the most of any prefecture in Japan.

References: Niigata Prefecture, Ojiya City, Tokamachi City, Tsubame City, Sanjo City, Kamo City, Murakami City, Sado City, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Association for the Promotion of Traditional Craft Industries

—The Value Village Editorial Team

Photo: eiko_eiko / CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)