Textiles of the Ainu [1]
The Ainu are an indigenous ethnic group of people who live in Hokkaido in Japan today as well as in Russia (the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin). They call themselves the "sky people".
Map of the Ainu footprint.
Among their handicraft products, textiles are the most important, though once numerous, Ainu craftsman trained in old techniques are disappearing, leaving behind only a few reminders of their textile heritage mostly seen in museums and in an occasional shop. For example, the jackets below are of woven elm bark with appliquéd areas of embroidery.
For ages, the Ainu have made and decorated their clothing and utensils according to ancient tradition. Textiles were the province of the Ainu women, while wood carving was that of the men.
Japanese Ainu Wood Carving Sculpture, Bearded Man Figure Statue, Hokkaido, Japan. Wood carving statue measures 9.5 inches tall. It weighs approximately 1 1/2 lb.
Before marriage, a courting couple exchanged gifts. For her he made a carved knife; she wove and embroidered clothing for him. After marriage to renew their vows, the husband made a knife sheath, a shuttle, and a loom as his gifts, and the wife reciprocated with items of clothing beautifully decorated with embroidery or appliqué.
The Ainu sometimes made clothing from animals and fish, in particular, salmon skins, by sewing together and creating patchwork patterns of furs and skins in different colors and textures.
Ainu robe made from salmon skin.
But they also wove their own fabric, called atsushi, from the bark of elm trees. The bark, stripped from trees, was soaked in water for one week to ten days to soften it, then pulled apart to make threads. The threads were rolled into balls and saved to be woven later into cloth on a simple backstop loom. Some of the fibers were put aside for sewing thread, which was made by the women who chewed the strings to make them soft.
Aharushi, a large black traditional symmetric motif applied on bast-finer cloth with embroidery [1].
The Ainu women used two methods to appliqué symmetrical motifs onto already completed, kirifuse, by cutting and applying large designs, and nuno oki, by cutting and applying small designs. Then with heavy colored threads imported from the mainland of Japan, the Ainu women embroidered additional motifs, using the chain, satin, and couching stitches.
Ruunpe strips of fabrics consisting of different colors and textures appliquéd symmetrically [1].
The motifs were symmetrical following the belief that their symmetry equally protected all parts of the wearer's body. Of the same importance was the placement of the designs. All openings, armholes, necklines and hems were decorated in order to keep evil spirits from entering the wearer's body through them.
Kaparamibu, appliqué combined with embroidery [1].
This simple but forceful motif, in the form of spirals and thorns which resemble braces, are reminiscent of the motifs of the Jōmon period (1000 BCE) in Japan and the serpent motifs of ancient China. Ainu textile designs are unique and splendid in spite of the inaccessibility of an extensive range of materials.
Pirikachikiriimi, beautifully embroidered in different colors [1].
Rurunpe The motifs are symmetrical, following the belief that their symmetry equally protected all parts of the wearer's body.
Reference:
[1] S. Yang, and R.M. Narasin, Textile Art of Japan, Shufunotomo, Tokyo (1989).
The Ainu are an indigenous ethnic group of people who live in Hokkaido in Japan today as well as in Russia (the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin). They call themselves the "sky people".
Among their handicraft products, textiles are the most important, though once numerous, Ainu craftsman trained in old techniques are disappearing, leaving behind only a few reminders of their textile heritage mostly seen in museums and in an occasional shop. For example, the jackets below are of woven elm bark with appliquéd areas of embroidery.
For ages, the Ainu have made and decorated their clothing and utensils according to ancient tradition. Textiles were the province of the Ainu women, while wood carving was that of the men.
Before marriage, a courting couple exchanged gifts. For her he made a carved knife; she wove and embroidered clothing for him. After marriage to renew their vows, the husband made a knife sheath, a shuttle, and a loom as his gifts, and the wife reciprocated with items of clothing beautifully decorated with embroidery or appliqué.
The Ainu sometimes made clothing from animals and fish, in particular, salmon skins, by sewing together and creating patchwork patterns of furs and skins in different colors and textures.
But they also wove their own fabric, called atsushi, from the bark of elm trees. The bark, stripped from trees, was soaked in water for one week to ten days to soften it, then pulled apart to make threads. The threads were rolled into balls and saved to be woven later into cloth on a simple backstop loom. Some of the fibers were put aside for sewing thread, which was made by the women who chewed the strings to make them soft.
The Ainu women used two methods to appliqué symmetrical motifs onto already completed, kirifuse, by cutting and applying large designs, and nuno oki, by cutting and applying small designs. Then with heavy colored threads imported from the mainland of Japan, the Ainu women embroidered additional motifs, using the chain, satin, and couching stitches.
The motifs were symmetrical following the belief that their symmetry equally protected all parts of the wearer's body. Of the same importance was the placement of the designs. All openings, armholes, necklines and hems were decorated in order to keep evil spirits from entering the wearer's body through them.
This simple but forceful motif, in the form of spirals and thorns which resemble braces, are reminiscent of the motifs of the Jōmon period (1000 BCE) in Japan and the serpent motifs of ancient China. Ainu textile designs are unique and splendid in spite of the inaccessibility of an extensive range of materials.
Reference:
[1] S. Yang, and R.M. Narasin, Textile Art of Japan, Shufunotomo, Tokyo (1989).
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