Nishijin Brocade

Nishijin Ori is the most famous brocade in Japan. The roots of Kyoto’s Nishijin brocade go back 1,200 years, to a time when Japan’s Imperial Court employed weavers to produce high-quality, luxury fabrics for the court’s nobles. By the middle of the Heian Period (794-1192), such state-owned textile operations were on the decline, and weavers increasingly chose to set up their own independent workshops. At the same time, new weaving techniques were arriving from Sung Dynasty China, which the Nishijin weavers were quick to absorb.
The Nishijin style of weaving uses yarn dyeing, in which yarns of different colors are woven together to create patterns. Yarn dyeing utilizes more than 20 intermediate steps, each of which requires a high level of skill which, in the Nishijin tradition, may be undertaken only by experienced specialists. This technique, called MON weaving, is both time-consuming and labor-intensive compared to other techniques, but it is indispensable for creating the elaborate and gorgeous designs required for Obi or Kimono fabrics.
Currently, there are 12 kinds of weaving styles for Nishijin brocade that qualify as Traditional Industrial Goods under Japan’s Traditional Industrial Goods Promotional Law.

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