Japanese Plant Fibres

Table of Contents Japanese Plant Names Introduction: Geographical Environment and Plants Fibres from Herbaceous Plants Fibres from Tree Bark Ply-Joining (umu) Spinning Techniques in Asia Beyond Japan: The Spread of Cotton Cultivation Current State of Plant fibre Textiles Conclusion Bibliography Photographs   Japanese Plant Names In this text all the plants will be referred to by their Japanese names. The scientific and English common names of the plants can be found in Table 1. Table 1 Asa: Cannabis sativa L., Hemp Basho: Musa balbisiana Colla var. liukiuensis, Plantain Plant Fuji: Wisteria floribunda, Japanese Wisteria Irakusa: Ultica thunbergiana, Nettle Karamushi: Boehmeria nivea, Ramie Kouzo: Broussonetia kazinoki, Kozo Kudzu: Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi, Kudzu Ohyo: Juglans sieboldiana Max., Halibut Plant Shinanoki: Tilia japonica (Miq.) Simonk., Japanese Linden   Introduction: Geographical Environment and Plants To talk about plant fibres used in Japan historically, let us first look at the geographical features and climate of this region. The Japanese archipelago and the South Western Japanese Islands including Amami, and Ryukyu Islands are located in the Pacific Ocean, to the east of the Eurasian continent. The islands form a long chain beginning from the subarctic zone, and stretching up to the subtropica...