MOJIRI-ORI IN JAPAN.

Last year I travel to Japan to study the weaving technique GAUZE, in Japan called Karami-oro or Mojiri-Ori. I call it Mojiri-ori as I have learned from Living National Treasure Takeshi Kitamura.
Mojiri-Ori was imported to Japan in the 7th and 8th century. Mojiri means movement and Ori to weave.
When I learned how to weave many years ago, I was told there were three main structures or techniques. 1: plain, 2: twill and 3: satin. In Japan there is a 4th which is Mojiri-Ori. There is three types of Mojiri-Ori: Sha, Ro and Ra.
Sha is the most simpel Mojiri-Ori. It consist of the standing- and the twisting thread. This is the one I call the plain gauze.
Ro consist of Sha and plain weave.
My own weavings is a combination of Sha and Ro together.

Ra is the complex gauze. This is the ground idea. The ground idea is often used in the peruvian gauze. It is possible to make very complex patterns by using the Ra.

I was living 1½ hour from Kyoto city in Keihoku. A little villages surrounded by mountains. In this little agriculture community there are many weaving companies and also some of the biggest artists have there studios here.

Toshio Tada, a specialist in Mojiri-Ori have been working most of his life in factories in the Nishijin area in Kyoto. He was my teacher for two weeks in Keihoku.

The above picture shows shifu paper, which is plated with gold in patterns and then cut into very thin strips, so it is possible to weave with.

A work by Toshio Tada, an obi in Ro-kin. Woven in silk and shifu paper plated with gold on a jacquard loom.

Detail.

Toshio Tada had many special working methods.

Here is an obi, about 35cm in width, consisting of 2400 threads. He wanted to tighten and make the warp even. Where most weavers would have used a spray can, he drank some water and blew it over the warp.
Very sweet.

Toshio Tada and I at his home. He invited me to his place to show me a special book about Mojiri-Ori at the Shosoin Treasures in Nara.

I went to Kawashima Textile School where I was able to be part of a special tour to the company connected to the school.
Here two men was able to weave Mojiri-Ori and they showed me some of the work made at the company.

The top picture and the one below is an obi woven in a very thin silk. The pattern looks very chinese inspired.

I like to take pictures through a magnifying glass, so I can get some good details. Then it is also possible for me to analyse the technique better when I am back home.

Another textile in silk.

This obi was woven in a silk that had a special rubber or plastic feel. Perhaps it was woven in kasuri as the color faided beautiful into each other.