DESIGN

Kokontozai: KASHIYUKA’s Shop of Japanese Arts and Crafts — Sculpturally Embroidered Accessories

『カーサブルータス』2023年6月号より

June 8, 2023 | Design, Fashion | KASHIYUKA’s Shop of Japanese Arts and Crafts | photo_Keisuke Fukamizu hair & make-up_Masako Osuga editor_Masae Wako　translation_ Mika Yoshida & David G. Imber

Searching all of Japan for handcrafted items that express its heart and soul, our proprietor, KASHIYUKA, presents things that bring a bit of luxury to everyday life. This time around she visited the city of Kiryū, Gunma prefecture, known for the past 1300 years for its textiles. There she encountered three-dimensional "sculptural” embroidery, a fusion of tradition and modern technology.

Kiryū city in Gunmna prefecture has been a thriving textile town for the past 1300 years. Kasamori began as a weaver of obi, the sash that binds kimono, before changing over to the production of embroidery. "Many female craftspeople of the same generation work here, and the atmosphere is wonderful, homey and free," says our shopkeeper KASHIYUKA.

The latest technologies have to be utilized if we’re to bring tradition into the next generation. Right when I began to become interested in “the hybridization of handcraft and high technology” I became acquainted with this form of “sculptural embroidery” produced using a sewing machine. This time I visited Kasamori in Kiryū, Gunma prefecture, long known for its textiles. From antiquity the saying applied to it has been, “in the west, it’s Nishijin (a district in Kyoto known for its craft), and in the east, Kiryū.”

Purchase No. 61【Sculpturally Embroidered Accessories】A necklace of silken thread, joining handcraft and high-tech.

Kasamori began making obi in1877, and switched over to making embroidery, weaving it with a Jacquard machine. The studio developed “Kasamori Lace”, a technique for producing a multicolored lace using a crocheting machine, so it is not woven or knitted; and they have been working closely on manufacturing with known brands and designers. In the saw-tooth-roofed factory (that being the local building convention) the sewing machines are lined up in rows. Embroidery is done using needles programed to move along a pattern, as though drawing. One artisan is in charge of each set of 10 machines. I was impressed by his constant watch over them.