Yaeyama Jofu

 

It is a general term for hemp fabrics made in the western Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa, and on Ishigaki Island in the Yaeyama Islands. They are woven after being soaked in the sea to fix the color, or beaten with a mallet to give the fabric a gloss and texture. They are known for their reddish-brown kasuri fabric on a white background, which is dyed with a vegetable dye called koro, but nowadays there are many colored fabrics dyed with indigo and other dyes.

 

 

Minsa weaving

 

Minsa is a thin cotton obi belt from Okinawa Prefecture. It is characterized by a thick, ridged texture and a combination of stripes and ikat patterns called four or five balls arranged in a checkerboard pattern. Yaeyama Minsa, woven around Taketomi Island, is a typical example. It is said that in the past, women would give this to men they were in love with, and nowadays it is used not only for men's obi belts, but also for women's half-width obi belts and Fukuro-Nagoya obi belts.

 

 

Yonaguni weaving

This is the general term for textiles woven on Yonaguni Island, a border island located at the westernmost point of Japan. There are several types of textiles, but the one often used for kimonos is the silk Yonaguni Hanaori, which features small floral patterns within a plaid pattern, and is a double-sided floating weave in which the weft and warp threads do not intertwine, with the weft threads floating on the front and the warp threads floating on the back. With a moderate luster and neat appearance, it has a flavor similar to mainland patterned textiles.