Kurume History Walks
No.21 久留米絣 Kurume Kasuri
A National Important Intangible Cultural Property, designated on April 25th, 1957
■ What is Kasuri?
Kasuri is a term to refer to a type ofJapanese cotton fabrics and to the blurred
pattern. Either the warp and the weft or theboth dyed with partial blanks create thepattern or image of Kasuri, when they arewoven according to a fabric pattern inadvance.
Since ancient times, this type of fabrics
has been produced in Egypt, Persia, India,Peru, and Southeast Asia. The Indonesianone, called ikat, is well known for its
complexity of the pattern and its beauty.
In Japan, it is only in the eighteenth
century that people started to produce inearnest Kasuri fabrics. And it should havebeen newly transmitted from the region
around Okinawa.
In the early nineteenth century, Kasuri
fabrics were greatly developed. Then, it
came to vary in material: silk, cotton, andhemp and be produced across the country.
Representative
fabrics:
OshimaTsumugi (silk; Kagoshima), Yuki Tsumugi(silk; Ibaraki and Tochigi), Kurume Kasuri(cotton; Fukuoka), Satsuma Kasuri(cotton; originally Kagoshima), Iyo
Tsumugi (cotton; Ehime), Miyako Jofu(hemp; Okinawa), Echigo Jofu (hemp;Niigata)
Kurume Kasuri for futon named “Warrior helmets” (19th Century)

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■ Kurume Kasuri
The pioneer of Kurume Kasuri is said to be Inoue
Den who was born into a family of the rice dealer in
Torihokamachi, Kurume in 1788. When she was theage of twelve or thirteen, she wondered how whitespots, which looked like a pattern, formed on someold clothes. She unraveled it into the warp and theweft to understand the structure. She finally came up
with an idea for creating patterns by the yarns tiedwith threads at some intervals before dyeing them inindigo. After many tries, she succeeded in producing
the Kasuri pattern, and then her fabric gained anexcellent reputation in Kurume.
At the age of forty, she taught over 400 women.
Then, the lord established the Invention andDevelopment Division, which encouraged common

30 steps to manufacture a Kurume Kasuri fabric
1 Making pattern (柄つくり garatsukuri )Its design is required to be appropriate as “NationalCultural Property” with grace and style.

14 Washing in water (水洗 mizuarai )2 Making pattern sheets (絵紙 egami)
Based on pattern sheets, the number of yarns isdetermined as well as each length of the interval to bedyed or undyed for expressing patterns.

16 Washing and bleaching (水洗、漂白 mizuarai, hyohaku )3 Drawing（下絵 shitae）
The pattern design is drawn in color on graph paper, while
taking into consideration weft shrinkage.
4 Making base weft (絵糸書き eitogaki)
Being stretched and attached over the drawing on a board,yarns are marked at points where to bind. It is the basefor the dyeing of the weft.
5 Making a warp scale (経尺つくり tatejaku tsukuri )It is the scale pointed at calculated intervals for indicatingwhere to bind warp before dyeing.
6 Preparing the warp (経はえ tatehae)
Needed number and length of the warp is wound onto akind of cylinder.
7 Preparing the weft (ぬきはえ nukihae)
The weft is prepared by about twenty, depending on apattern.

8 Boiling yarns (糸たき itotaki)
Yarns become stronger and get rid of impurities.
9 Bleaching yarns (さらし sarashi )10 Sizing yarns (のりづけ norizuke)
11 Binding by hand (手くびり tekubiri )Yarns are bound at marked points with hemp plants barkstring by hand for preventing from being dyed.
12 Preparing the indigo (藍建 aidate)Mix fermented indigo plant dye, lye, alcohol, and shell limein half-buried large pots for letting ferment further.

15 Unbinding (絣解き kasuritoki)

17 Sizing and drying (糊付、乾燥 noritsuke, kanso )18 Bundling the warp (経割 tatewari )The warp yarns are divided into bundles, adjusting thepattern design.
19 Sizing and drying (糊付、乾燥 noritsuke, kanso )20 Threading a reed (割り込み warikomi )The calculated number of warp is threaded the reed, which
separates each yarn for weaving in standard width ofkimono fabric.
21 Winding the warp (経巻 tatemaki )The warp will be wound onto a wooden frame for keeping
its adjusted pattern.
22 Passing the warp to a heddle (あぜかけ azekake)23 Setting the warp on a loop (機仕掛 hatashikake)
24 Making into bundles (緯割 nukiwari )The weft is bundled by about twenty.
25 Separating the bundle (枠上げ wakuage)
The weft yarn is wound separately onto a long frame.

26 Winding the weft (管巻 kudamaki )Each weft yarn is rewound onto small bobbins.
27 Handweaving (手織 teori)
28 Washing in hot water, drying (湯のし、乾燥 yunoshi,kanso)
29 Finishing (整反 seitan)
While examining the finished fabric, cut it to the specified
length and fold it.
30 Examining (検査 kensa)
The production committee examines the fabrics.

13 Indigo dyeing (藍染 aizome)
Yarns are dipped in the indigo dye from lower
concentration, middle and higher, while being beaten for
causing oxidation, which fixes the color long-lasting.

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Tools for producing Kurume Kasuri● Indigo dye in half-buried pots

●Board for making the weft marker● Reed: a tool for calculating theneeded number of the yarns forexpressing a pattern●Kurume Kasuri Sitting Loom
(Prefectural Tangible Folk CulturalProperty)

Kurume History Walks / No.21 Kurume Kasurihouseholds and lower-class samurai to produce it.
After the Tokugawa shogunate, under the circumstances in theencouragement of new industries and increment of production by thenew government, Kurume Kasuri became popular throughout thecountry.
Strong and less color fading, it is elaborately woven with yarns
partially tied with hemp plants bark strings during indigo dyeing. And
characteristic patterns abound regionally.
■ Designation as National Cultural Property
During World War II, the distribution of cotton was controlled by
the government. Soon after the end of the war, its regulation wasabolished and the production of Kurume Kasuri was restarted.
However, the textile industry shrunk, facing the overseas productionof synthetic fibers and the changing preferences of clothes (fromkimono to western clothes). And, Kurume Kasuri craft workers also
decreased.
Under these circumstances, to protect the industrial arts possessing
a high artistic value of Kurume Kasuri, the government of Japan
designated it an Important Intangible Cultural Property on October
27th, 1957. Besides, the Kurume Kasuri Technique Preservation
Society was established and is today organizing seminars andexhibitions for preserving their works and educating/training thenewcomers.

Kurume Kasuri for futon “Castle andmountain path” (Early Meiji era,1860s-70s)“Old couple” symbolizing prosperity (Late Meiji era, 1900s-1910s)“Pine, Bamboo, and Plum Tree” symbolizing auspiciousness (Late Meiji era, 1900s-1910s)“Otafuku and Fan” symbolizing luck and increasing success (Early Taisho era, 1910s)

Cultural Properties Protection Department of Kurume
Address: 15-3 Jonan Kurume Fukuoka Japan 830-8520 / Tel: 0942-30-9225
Date of publication: March 31st, 2004 / Translated in August 2020

Kurume History Walks / No.21 Kurume Kasuri