A Look into Our Classes 5 "Reeling Silk Thread from Cocoons"

We will introduce some of the classes from the Professional Course at Kawashima Textile School (published irregularly).

Mr. Honda reeling silk thread from the cocoons

For Hyôgenron (Creative Expression) class, we invited Yuji Honda of Honda Silk Works, for the students to experience silk thread making. The class started with boiling a pot of water. The class proceeded with a rhythm similar to cooking, such as boiling the cocoons, turning off the heat, and waiting for a few minutes. It is a rare opportunity to learn the entire process, from boiling the cocoons, zaguri, which is to reel the thread, to making a skein.

In the class, the students first tried making kiito. They were able to see "kibiso," which is the harder thread the silkworm first spews out, and also made "mawata." The mawata they tried was "kakumawata," which is made by soaking the cocoons, which have become small without the kiito, and spread out by pulling on the corners. The students' hands were timid at first, but were boosted by Mr. Honda's words. "Even if you pull tightly, they won't break." When the thread spread out smoothly into a square, cheers rose. Mr. Honda showed the completed form made of twenty layers, and the students felt the texture, commenting on its softness. 

While working, Mr. Honda talked about various things such as the habits of the silkworm, cultivating mulberries, and the amount of work as a livelihood. The pupae in the cocoons start to appear. By actually witnessing this, many questions about silkworms were asked by the students. Mr. Honda says that at first, the silk thread and the existence of the "insect" did not connect in his mind. He was surprised at the scene of the cocoon making site, where silkworms were bred, and was shocked, and thought, "so this is the origin!"

He said that at the site, he "felt conflicted about killing insects and making thread." As he continued to face that fact, he came to think that he is "receiving life to make clothing, like meat or fish," and that the feeling of people and insects connecting, by cherishing the insects and the thread they spew out, should not be forgotten," and began making things with respect to the origin.

At the end of the class, the same number of pupae as the threads drawn, appeared. "From now on, when you see silk, you will be reminded of the silkworms," Mr. Honda said. "I learned for the first time that silk has many expressions. Usually, we only have the opportunity to see them as thread," a student commented. The class turned out to be a time where students were able to experience the origin, and learn the process of silk reeling.




-What does weaving mean to you?
"Something that can express how interesting silk thread is."

"I originally liked clothes. I moved to agriculture, then after I encountered sericulture (silk farming), I started to do everything from thread making to weaving. My current job is to make things from the beginning, and do everything I love. I am completely absorbed in thread making, and am excited about the wide range of possibilities, such as how you can see the expressions of various threads from the cocoons, how easily it takes dye, and how the texture changes depending on how it is scoured, and so on. I think weaving is something that can express how interesting silk thread is. "


About Yuji Honda
Yuji Honda started sericulture and weaving with his wife in 2009 upon meeting a silk farmer in Chichibu, Saitama. He moved to Kyoto in 2016, and after two years of training in weaving at Jun Tomita Textile Studio, became independent in 2018 and started Honda Silk Works. They make and sell handwoven shawls using threads that are reeled from cocoons, dyed with natural dyes, and threads that are made from cotton with a strong twist.

instagram: @hondasilkworks

Visiting the Graduates: Handwoven Cloth "atelier KUSHGUL" Yasuko Terada

Once a year in the Professional Course at KTS, we hold a class led by a graduate who works in weaving. Yasuko Terada, who graduated in 2001, created her original brand "atelier KUSHGUL," and makes handwoven cloth. We visited her studio as a field trip. She talked about her relationship with handweaving, and the steps she has taken, while showing us her graduation work she made as a student, the first garment she made, weaving samples, and many products, in a space with a gallery attached to a studio.

◆ The two years at KTS where her own "sense" was found

Terada-san has a lifestyle that people who want to work in handweaving would long for, but the first thing she said was "I managed to continue handweaving while struggling, which leads me here." She became interested in soft fiber materials existing nearby, such as clothes, as she studied Architecture in her first year, and Design from her second year, at her University. She entered KTS after encountering a sculptural fiber art piece at a KTS Graduate Exhibition, and felt a shock that "directly appealed to the senses of my whole body." She says the two years at the school was "a time I faced my own senses to my heart's content," by immersing herself in weaving. The "senses" she found through that experience are "still the foundation for making cloth."

After graduation, she spent her days making, while working at a restaurant. The reason that she didn't get a job related to weaving was because she had wanted to become an artist from the beginning. "I thought that if I got a job and used my mind for weaving at work, I wouldn't be able to make my own artwork." Every month, while living a life where she somehow managed to make enough money for buying yarn, she set a goal. "I will leave my job when my hourly wage for weaving exceeds that of when I work." She started working at a job where she could work in shifts starting from 5 days a week, secured time to create at night after work, started to find her own rhythm, and moved into her current studio in 2010.

◆ Wanting to know the relationship between people and cloth, which is jostled, worn out, and thrown away in people's lives.

The foundation of Terada-san's sense which she found at KTS, is to "show expressions" with high twist yarn or different ways of weaving, and she says that leads to her products. She weaves and searches even now, still asking herself, "what is handweaving?" One of the students who tried on a hand woven vest, instantly smiled, saying "it's so soft." Terada-san explains, "By doing everything by hand, I can finish weaving the cloth without putting a strain on the yarn. A layer of air is created between the yarns, which makes it light and warm." The "expression" of the cloth of her bags, the three-dimensional effect of the umbrella fabric, shirts using Khadi (Indian hand-spun and handwoven cloth) , and scarves which are in high demand... "I want to know the relationship between people and cloth, which is jostled, worn out, and thrown away in people's lives." Terada-san pursues in earnest.

As a new initiative, she has also started to sew clothes. "In the last half-century we have become accustomed to buying ready-made clothes. But now, due to the influence of the Coronavirus, there are leftover clothes worldwide. I myself am tired of the excess of things, so I take care of every process, from weaving to sewing the clothes. The stance of making custom-made items according to each person's size, such as sleeve length, while thinking with the customer, and selling them one piece at a time, suits me well."

The kite string bag series. Wrinkles appear, and thickness and shrinkage change, from the combination of weaving structures. The main point is how much expression she can show from just using a smooth natural colored yarn.

◆ Weaving at an average of 70 cm an hour

At the studio, she showed us the 8 shaft Jack-type loom that she has been using for nearly 20 years, which she purchased at KTS after graduation. The students were surprised to see that this one loom produced various products, and finished them into fabrics with such soft textures. As a preparation for weaving, there is a step called "beaming," which is to wind the warp yarn onto the loom. Usually, this is done by two people, pulling on opposite ends, but Terada-san does this on her own. Everyone was amazed as they watched the difficult technique of stretching out her foot and turning the handle on the back beam, as she pulled the warp toward herself. "Winding neatly so the yarn doesn't break, while I keep the 90 cm wide warp at an even tension. This became possible after spending 10 years, 20 years with this loom."

A student asked about how fast she weaves. There were voices of astonishment to her reply of, "an average of 70 cm per hour." "3 hours for a 2.5 meter long large cashmere shawl. If I think about the cost of materials and such, it doesn't work as a product unless I finish weaving it within 4 hours." Terada-san has been handweaving steadily and pioneered a path for weaving that suits her. When I left my job, there were days when my stomach hurt from anxiety. But as I continued to be absorbed in it, new encounters and new plans would come in, and one thing would lead to another. Weaving takes time. I have continued to weave desperately, trying to make ends meet, but I am still moved by how I can make cloth with my own hands.

◆ A feeling that is necessary, precisely because it is analog

As advice to the students, she said, "Please face your own senses to your heart's content. I think that kind of time is necessary. You won't be able to know it if you are jostled in the senses of society. What I worked hard on when I was a student in Kawashima, leads to now. There are many things that I have accumulated, such as my sense of color and touch. Knowing yourself in this way will be useful in your life and will become the basis for whatever you do."

"Handweaving is very analog, but in a world where everything is becoming digitalized, it is a necessary feeling to remember that you are human. Making things, using your own body. I think there is certainly a role for Kawashima Textile School (that teaches handweaving)," she said clearly. It was a field trip where students learned about Terada-san, who opened the way, about continuing handweaving, and where they fully felt her strong will.

Terada-san's graduation work. The surface is imagined from elephant skin. A hard twist linen yarn is woven in, and wrinkles are created from the force of the yarn wanting to untwist. She learned the importance of pursuing texture when she was a student.

-What does weaving mean to you?
"The appeal of not having waste"

"I make fabric that will be used by someone. My theme is to search for the relationship between people and cloth. When I think about what cloth is, it is something that is absolutely essential for human beings. Nowadays garment making is mechanized, and people are swamped by clothing, but in the old days, making clothes from handwoven fabric worked as a livelihood. I weave every day thinking about what that means. A fabric that one person makes for another person, without a concept of profit. However, it's not wasted. There won't be overproduction. I try, as much as I can, to make fabric that doesn't turn into waste."


About Yasuko Terada
Website: atelier KUSHGUL
Instagram: @atelierKUSHGUL
Yasuko Terada graduated from Kyoto Institute of Technology, where she majored in Architecture and Design. She graduated the second year of the Professional Course at Kawashima Textile School in 2001, and started making handwoven products as "atelier KUSHGUL" in 2007. She spends her days weaving at her studio in "Mustard-3rd," a clothing store and gallery in Kyoto, since 2010.

A Look into Our Classes 4 "From the Production Sites of Textiles" Cartoons

There are various people who teach in Kawashima Textile School’s Professional Course. In addition to the full time teachers, we invite artists, designers, and technical experts as guest teachers and lecturers from outside the school, to create an open, positive atmosphere. In this series we will introduce you to some of the classes held in the Professional Course.

As a part of their final project, the first year students in the Professional Course are working on a tapestry piece as groups. The school invites experts from each production site of Kawashima Selkon Textiles Co., Ltd. to give a series of lectures called "Textile no Genba (Production Sites of Textiles)," as a class that can be held because of its unique relationship with the company, and students proceed with their advice. The first class was "Learning from the Professionals of the Dress, Arts and Crafts Department: A Lecture on Cartoons, and Tour of the Tapestry Factory" by Mr. Masami Yamanaka, who designs kimono products.

A cartoon is the original design enlarged to full scale for weaving the tapestry. It is a process of visualizing the steps of making a picture into a tapestry, and involves consideration on how to pick up colors, how to draw the borders, and how to organize the infinite number of colors. "Accuracy and precision are important,” says Mr. Yamanaka, who introduced all the points and precautions, and the lecture was filled with details for manufacturing high-quality items within limitations.

On the factory tour, students visited the production site of theater curtains. After seeing part of the cartoon, which was about 20 meters wide, the students walked around the actual weaving site. Since each process of production is divided, close communication is important for cooperation, from the people creating the cartoon, to those who choose the colors, to the weavers. They heard comments such as "There are tricks in how to draw lines and how to separate colors. I try to give the person in the next process instructions that are easy to understand, and we work while exchanging opinions, like in a three-legged race." Learning the extent of making, from the difference in the work, product, and scale. What they have in common is the attitude of paying attention to details. Students will incorporate the inspiration from the commitment from the people on-site, and how they work, into their tapestry making.


-What does weaving mean to you?
"Beauty"

"My career has been focused on designing, and I have been drawing designs for 48 years. At first, for replications I tried to make them close to the original painting, but as I started to become familiar with the stages of production, and the beauty of the finished product, I learned there are expressions unique to weaving that are not found in paintings. That is the power and texture created by weaving in the weft, one pick at a time, but it cannot be expressed in words. I like the beauty of weaving."


About Masami Yamanaka
Masami Yamanaka joined Kawashima Textile Manufacturers Ltd. (now Kawashima Selkon Textile Co., Ltd.) in 1972 after studying painting and art in general, focusing on graphic design, at a Design Course in a technical high school that mainly focuses on textiles. He now works in the Traditional Fashion & Accessories Development Group, Manufacturing Dept., Products Business Division. Since joining the company, he has been involved in the design of kimono products, and has been creating designs for obi, uchikake, and kimono accessories.

A Look Into Our Classes 3 "Design Exercise II"

There are various people who teach in Kawashima Textile School’s Professional Course. In addition to the full time teachers, we invite artists, designers, and technical experts as guest teachers and lecturers from outside the school, to create an open, positive atmosphere. In this series we will introduce you to some of the classes held in the Professional Course.



Design Enshū II (Design Exercise II) by weaving sculptor Toko Hayashi is being held from summer to autumn. The steps of students creating a piece with a theme, then showing it in a group critique, is repeated. The purpose of this class is for students to explore the appeal of a material by themselves through working on assignments. The group critique for the second assignment was held on August 27.

"With this material, I can make good use of the drape." "When I touched this fabric, I felt it was similar to the softness of a baby." Drawing inspiration and imagining from texture, the pieces were created through trial and error, layering fabric, gathering fabric, using thread for movement, and so on. After displaying the work on the wall, one by one, the students talked about their process. The critique is to train students to have their work be seen by others, and to explain them in their own words. This second time is based on what students noticed in their first. Each individual's strengths and weaknesses show through the process of shaping an image, and advice towards one student spreads among the others who are listening, as something new to notice.

Toko Hayashi says, "Sometimes there are moments when I encounter an unexpected sense as I touch a material. Feeling that nuance, and deepening that sense leads to creating. It can be used even if the technique changes, and I hope this class becomes a breakthrough for the students." The time for the students to face themselves while observing textures, continues.


-What does weaving mean to you?
"A connection of time"

Textiles I encountered in Indonesia, where I spent my childhood. On the island, time would flow slowly, and people were chatting while weaving on a backstrap loom, and I saw the weaving techniques that have remained unchanged since ancient times blended into people's lives. That became a formative experience, and for me, "weaving and time" is one. When I am weaving, sometimes I feel like I am weaving density. By combining the warp and weft, I am weaving in time that has continued from long ago. To me, weaving is something that I can express the connection of time with.


About Toko Hayashi
Toko Hayashi mainly creates tapestries, small sculptures, and accessories using the sakiori technique. Her recent exhibitions include "15th International Triennial of Tapestry, Lodz" 2016, Central Museum of Textiles, Lodz, Poland (Honorable mention), "Kyoto Textiles: From the 1960s to the Present" 2019, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan, and other solo and group exhibitions. Toko Hayashi has graduated from Seian College of Art and Design. She is a part time lecturer in the Spatial Design Department of Seian University of Arts and Design.

A Look Into Our Classes 2 "Design Exercise I"

There are various people who teach in Kawashima Textile School’s Professional Course. In addition to the full time teachers, we invite artists, designers, and technical experts as guest teachers and lecturers from outside the school, to create an open, positive atmosphere. In this series we will introduce you to some of the classes held in the Professional Course.

Day 5: Design

The Design Enshū (Design Exercise) class was held over the course of 5 days, starting in April. By Dessan* (drawing from life), students were able to spend time observing and interacting with their subjects, such as fruits and vegetables. On the last day, students designed their free project for the Tapestry Weaving class.

In everyday life, there are a surprising number of objects that we think we know and understand. Usually we don't have many opportunities to observe fruits and vegetables, and most of the time we only look at them for a few seconds to check if they are in good condition. I think that spending hours looking at, touching, and imagining about an object, discovering new sides of them, and feeling the sense of how we perceive objects change, will become valuable experiences for creating things. By training the observational eye, inspiration can be drawn from anywhere, and the time and effort spent observing and interacting with the subject will appear in a design. Most importantly, everything becomes more exciting, as things such as what you see in everyday life will change.

For the tapestry designs, I asked students to draw their designs from what they found interesting about their subjects, and also imagine where they would be hung. By June, students had already started weaving samples in tapestry class, so the designs were drawn with consideration of what kind of thread and techniques were going to be used.

I hope the new experiences and viewpoints will be a foundation for the students' future work.

*The word Dessan is borrowed from French "Dessin," and in Japan means drawing from life in pencil, usually for 3-5 hours.


-What does weaving mean to me?
"Lenses"

I feel that the sense of weaving that I have learned by making, and my job at the school, is always naturally at work. I have noticed that I unconsciously see things through the lenses of weaving, such as arrow shaped road markings as kasuri (ikat) patterns, or weaving tools as units of measurement.
At the same time, I think about what my role can be in the long history of weaving.

(text: Emma Omote)


About Emma Omote
Instagram: @emma.omote
After graduating with a BA in Fine Arts (Painting) from Kyoto Seika University, Emma Omote completed the 2 year course at Kawashima Textile School, majoring in Kimono. She continues to weave Kimono and has taught students from Japan and overseas at Kawashima Textile School since 2009.

A Look Into Our Classes 1 "Creative Expression"

There are various people who teach in Kawashima Textile School’s Professional Course. In addition to the full time teachers, we invite artists, designers, and technical experts as guest teachers and lecturers from outside the school, to create an open, positive atmosphere. In this series we will introduce you to some of the classes held in the Professional Course.



On July 9 for Hyôgenron (Creative Expression) class, we invited fiber sculptor Kanae Tsutsumi as a guest lecturer to speak and show her work and material about her time studying abroad, with "About Finland, About Textiles I Saw," as the theme. We were able to feel her sincere attitude toward weaving.

During the 7 years after finishing her Masters Degree, she has worked on tapestry weaving. Her work changed dramatically during her 9-month stay in Finland through 2018-2019. Born and raised in Japan, she took an interest in her own roots, taking inspiration from Japanese textile crafts such as Zabuton, and started to show her own woven fabric as sculptures. The lecture progressed as she traced her time in Finland, such as applying for the scholarship program, how she planned her stay, her interaction with collectors of Ryijy (a traditional craft), about natural dyeing, and holding an exhibition.

To the students, she advised, “Be quick and active to experience now what would help you be who you would aspire to be in 5 years, or 10 years in the future. Even though you might be worried about an uncertain future, you may be inspired by something tomorrow or next week. Work hard on whatever is in front of you until that time comes.” 


-What does weaving mean to you?
"Something that has made my life more fun."

“I entered an Art University (Kyoto Seika University) since I loved to draw, but I didn't like my lines. Then I came upon tapestry weaving, found out how interesting it was that the lines couldn’t be perfectly replicated, and that made making much more fun. I love the weight that I feel beneath my nails when I push down the yarn, when weaving tapestries.”


About Kanae Tsutsumi
Facebook: @lanlanae
Instagram: @tsutsumikanae1006
Kanae Tsutsumi creates work with “the act of weaving” as a basis, taking interest in details that are born from the accumulation of fibers, a kind of inconvenience occurring from the composition of the warp and weft, and looms, which have both sides of simplicity and complexity. She has earned a Masters of Arts in the Graduate School of Art (Textiles) at Kyoto Seika University and has been teaching there in the Textiles Course as a lecturer since 2015.