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Banana Fibre Cloth of Amami

Kagoshima · Amami · Art & Crafts

Japanese name: 奄美の芭蕉布と島の織物

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Banana Fibre Cloth of Amami
Photo: 国立文化財機構 / CC BY 4.0 · Source ↗
WHAT TO DOBanana Fibre Cloth of Amami

Fibre stripped from banana stems, split fine and spun by hand; a single bolt takes two hundred plants.

WHEREKagoshima

Remote Islands · Amami

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Overview

Fibre stripped from banana stems, split fine and spun by hand; a single bolt takes two hundred plants.

About this place

Basho-fu (Ryukyuan: Basaa) is cloth, or textile, woven using fibres taken from the itobasho (Musa liukiuensis), a perennial plant of the banana family. It is also called shosha or shofu. Because it is thin, light and crisp to the touch, it does not cling to the skin and gives a cool feel even in the hot, humid Nansei Islands and mainland Japan summers when people sweat easily. For this reason it has been used for a wide range of items, including kimono, mosquito nets and floor cushions. In Japan it is a traditional textile of Okinawa Prefecture and the Amami Islands.

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Source ja.wikipedia.org ↗

Key facts

Founded / opened:Medieval period Highlights / collection:Fibre from itobasho, Cool, light summer cloth Genre:Textiles and dyeing

Source ja.wikipedia.org ↗

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