Prized for its rich blackness and stately designs, the fabric is a staple in the world of high-class kimono.
At first glance, the patterns running across a bolt of Oshima tsumugi could be mistaken for a print. But on closer inspection, they are part of the silk’s construction: threads meticulously dyed before weaving, then painstakingly aligned on a loom. You have to completely adjust.” Originally made by artisans on Amami Oshima, an island roughly halfway between Okinawa and southern Kyushu, Oshima tsumugi is one of Japan’s rarest and most elaborate textile traditions.
It involves around 60 individual processes performed by highly skilled specialists, and a single, five-square-meter tanmono (standard bolt of kimono fabric) can take up to a year to complete.
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