Future of Local Textiles

Today we're at the foot of Mt Fuji, in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi prefecture.

It's a weaving town, with a long history of textiles.

One innovative festival here is helping to revitalize the town's industry.

We're both here today to take a look at a textile event that's being held here.

I'm looking forward to it.

And we've gotten very lucky with the weather.

Look at that view!

Isn't it beautiful here?

It's amazing to see Mt Fuji so close.

It really is.

Hello. Welcome.

- I'm Andy, hello.
- Hello, I'm Shaula!

I'm Sugihara Yuta, I'm on the team for Fuji Textile Week.

Thanks for coming!

It's a pleasure.

Can I dive right in and ask for a little background information on Fuji Textile Week?

Of course.

So, the town of Fujiyoshida has been making textiles for over a thousand years.

In 2021 we began holding an art festival that draws on that extraordinary history.

Sounds fascinating.

So there must be textile workshops, factories, and manufacturers in the region?

There used to be as many as six thousand in this town alone.

That many?

Now it's about two hundred.

So the festival's a kind of revival.

- Yes.
- That's great!

During Fuji Textile Week, the town of Fujiyoshida becomes an art gallery, extending from the main shopping arcade.

The 'local exhibits' focus on the history and designs of the area.

The 'art exhibits' are artworks with a textile theme, displayed throughout the town.

Together they make up a paean to the art of cloth.

This year's art exhibits include the works of ten creators from Japan and abroad.

From unique artworks created in collaboration with local weavers...

to a piece from leading Japanese media artist Ochiai Yoichi inspired by local textiles...

and an installation from Paris Fashion Week designer Nakazato Yuima.

Festivalgoers are treated to a wide variety of art genres.

Oh wow...

So this is it.

Fukugen-ji temple.

Wow.

This is so cool.

They didn't hold back!

It's incredible.

Getting to do this at a temple...

A rare opportunity!

What's the story behind this piece?

Do you know Tilburg in the Netherlands?

Oh, Tilburg, yes.

Tilburg has a very long history of textiles.

It's actually the home of a textile designer and international artist called Sigrid Calon.

Oh yes, her work is at MOMA and other museums.

That's right.

She came here to Fujiyoshida and was kind enough to say it inspired her.

This cloth is just incredible...

Look at how it sparkles in the light.

It shines.

It's very eye-catching.

Passers-by react to it and will come over to take a second look.

It's a striking design.

Very striking!

And was this fabric made here?

We'd been hoping to carry out a kind of cultural exchange with Tilburg.

So for this installation, the fabric was made there, and installed here in Fujiyoshida.

It was brought over.

Can we go in?

Let's go inside.

I feel almost like we're walking into the artwork. I love this!

It does a bit.

What kind of meaning is behind this work?

This is jacquard fabric, and it's woven on a specific kind of loom.

When Sigrid saw the temple gate, she thought it looked just like a jacquard loom.

I don't think anyone else saw it!

That's quite the inspiration!

If this were a jacquard loom, then this would be the actual machine part.

I see.

Jacquard looms move each warp thread up and down one by one to create patterns.

So this installation has each 'thread' suspended individually.

That's a truly unique idea. Incredible.

Interesting.

The idea of turning the temple gate into a jacquard loom is incredibly creative.

Calon's installation highlights both Fujiyoshida's local traditions and modern elements of the town.

Her work in the main hall has a stately dignity appropriate for a historic place of worship.

Water from Mt. Fuji flows through here, so we're often called a water town.

But Sigrid wanted to incorporate the sound of the wind.

I'm sure you'll hear it as it picks up.

Oh yes!

That's lovely.

It's a very gentle, calming sound.

Sigrid entered the temple and was very inspired by all the gold that's on display in the main hall.

She was talking about how you're in this quiet town when all of a sudden you're hit by this huge volume of gold.

So she opted to install gold on the outside face of the temple.

I see.

Can you see the colorful strings hanging beside the gold threads?

Oh yes!

They're leftover threads from this region.

They're always cut and thrown away, and the volume adds up.

But she found a way to use them effectively.

It highlights a contrast between the everyday and the extraordinary.

So these waste materials hang among the gold tape.

Oh, wow.

Please come in.

These cushions are also part of the installation.

I recognize the pattern.

This fabric was made in Tilburg, and the other side is a traditional Fujiyoshida material.

Oh I see!

There's a textile workshop here called Tanabe Orimono that weaves cushion fabric for shrines and temples.

It was a collaboration.

And, of course, we flip the cushions over if there's a memorial service.

Use the other side.

And back again after the service is finished!

- To the Tilburg side.
- A little humor.

A lovely touch.

It's a little cross-cultural exchange between a European fabric and a Fujiyoshida one.

It really is lovely to have them coexist like this in the same space.

What a wonderful collaboration.

Shaula sets off to explore the town's retro shopping arcade, which has been transformed into a space for local and global artists to exhibit their work.

This three-story building is 80 years old.

A former warehouse, it's currently an exhibition site.

It's dark in here.

There's fabric hanging here.

I guess someone hung it up?

Is this silk?

Such thin strands. They're beautiful.

Sunlight and a light breeze enter through the small window, making the gleaming strands ripple.

The waterfall of threads seems alive.

The cloth running through all three floors creates a uniquely fabric space.

The textiles are the work of a third-generation local textile maker called Watanabe Tatsuyasu.

His firm's subtle designs explore the potential of natural materials such as alpaca and sheep wool for making everyday fabric items.

It's so quiet here, which I think complements the artwork beautifully.

Can you tell me what this piece is all about?

This is an artwork by a textile designer called Yoko Ando.

The concept is bundles of light falling into this tall warehouse and then staying here, lingering in this space.

Ah, I see.

What material is this?

These are threads of cupra.

I thought it might be silk.

Some people call it artificial silk.

You often see it used in suit linings because it has a similar sheen and supple texture to silk.

I can't believe how thin it is.

Yes, they're very delicate threads.

Normally you never see this many vertical threads at once.

Fabric is made of horizontal and vertical threads woven together - the warp and weft.

But here Ando chose to showcase the beauty of the cupra threads.

Watching them sway in the breeze is quite mesmerizing.

Yes, the light and breeze from outside make the entire artwork change.

It's simple, but the effect is very complex.

Did you have a lot of trouble working on this project?

When we first got directions for this blue section, they said they should be 'fluffy.' I spent a lot of time thinking about how to create that texture.

Usually you would do it with a machine, by scratching the fabric with a needle.

But these threads are too delicate.

So we brushed them all by hand.

So all this was done by hand?

Yes, all hand brushed.

- All fluffed up.
- That's right!

That's incredible.

It taught me a lot about the beauty of cupra, and how to showcase it.

And techniques like the hand brushing can be applied to other works.

I'm very pleased to have had the opportunity to work on this collaboration.

Fujiyoshida has sought to revitalize the local industry through textile events since 2016.

Textile manufacturers from across the country join local weavers for a major two-day event that attracts around 20,000 people.

Yagi Tsuyoshi chairs the organizing committee for a new art festival.

To breathe new life into the town's industry, Yagi is organizing an ambitious event with a tighter focus on local manufacturers.

By inviting foreign artists to exhibit at Fuji Textile Week, the event becomes an opportunity for our local manufacturers to extend their reach to other countries.

Working with artists does present us with some very challenging requests.

But those challenges lead to new approaches, and a lot of innovation.

I think it's a big part of the appeal.

This space is designed to foster a creative community.

The local exhibits on display upstairs introduce the town's industrial history and designs through the centuries.

Kobayashi Shinji is a third-generation textile manufacturer.

He shows Andy around the space.

What's special about this region?

This area was initially known for producing silk.

Silk is a very fine thread.

Local weavers had the skills to turn it into very dense fabric, and those skills can be applied to a whole variety of other textiles.

This here is a "haori."

It's lovely.

The lining is made of kaiki silk.

This is kaiki on the inside.

Yes, this region produced the inner linings for haori jackets until the 1940s or so.

Kaiki is part of the region's roots.

So tightly woven that its patterns look like paintings, kaiki silk was popular as a lining.

It provided a touch of hidden chic.

But as Japanese tastes moved towards Western fashions, the fabric stopped being produced.

Kaiki itself has vanished, but its DNA still lives on in fabrics today.

- From where it's branched off.
- That's right.

The exhibit shows visitors that diversification and how it has evolved today.

I see!

These are linings?

Yes, this is towards the beginning of the move to Western clothing.

Kaiki techniques were used to make linings for western clothes.

Instead of silk, people used cupra.

These jackets have been turned inside out to showcase the lining, as you see.

It's so attractive - you could get away with wearing it inside out! I like it!

- A new design.
- Why not?

And this?

Vertical threads used for making umbrellas.

It's called "hogushi" weaving.

You can see the printed design on the warp threads.

And also a few very thin horizontal threads.

Oh yes.

These are woven in to keep the warp in place before printing.

They need to be removed one by one before the actual weft threads are woven in.

That removal process is called hogushi or disentanglement, hence the name of this technique.

So that's where the name comes from.

That's right.

Hogushi weaving. You can see the final product over there.

- I see it, yes.
- Exactly.

That's the final result. It is, yes.

Those thousands of vertical threads jostle around to create this delicate blur in the pattern.

I see. It's part of the effect.

Exactly. This particular effect, this blurry look is a characteristic of these umbrellas.

Interesting.

After beginning with silk, the region soon expanded to linen, cotton, and other fabrics.

Each weaving company used its own techniques, creating a diversity that the area became famous for.

Workshops that once focused on producing textiles for other firms have recently launched their own original brands.

Quality products and modern designs have caught consumers' attention.

People today are more likely to search for handmade, quality items they can use for a long time.

That's very true.

A lot of local textile firms are family-operated businesses.

So they're weaving all the cloth themselves, and handling all the sewing.

It's very hands-on work.

I think that a lot of people who visit the art festival go home with an appreciation for the kind of dedication and craftsmanship people here have.

Fujiyoshida has recently become popular for its charming shopping arcade and retro architecture.

This former dressmaking school is currently exhibiting the work of Hélène Lauth, who sojourned in the town for five months.

She created a textile collage of Fujiyoshida.

It was the first time to been a place where it's a bit like a deconstruct but we can feel all the layers of the time.

Even walking in the city and streets, I can feel the difference years where building maybe have been built.

And I feel that's really interesting to see not only contemporary building or old wood house, but also 70s, 80s.

And also by taking time here to discover how it's connected to weaving industry.

She wove in the rise and fall of the textile industry, memories and a timeline of the current town.

Lauth was particularly drawn to the sunshades outside the town's storefronts.

An icon for every restaurant and store.

She absorbed their color and form and created objets d'art from local cloth.

Something is nostalgic but also so seductive.

It was like translation of them to make, and also show new industry third generation here working to rebuild, to research and to push new fabric.

I was so impressed by the quality of the fabric.

It's a lovely town to explore.

People do enjoy the retro buildings.

They come and take photographs.

This here is interesting.

It's an exhibition venue.

Let's go in.

- A venue?
- Through here.

Oh wow! Look at this!

It was a kimono store before the war.

It was?

- The step is a traditional feature.
- Oh yes.

After that it was a haberdashery, but it had been empty for a long time.

A big part of Fuji Textile Week is putting vacant buildings into use.

So we cleaned this space up, and opened up the ceilings to expose all of the beams.

We turned it into a proper exhibition venue.

What a great idea.

The final goal for these empty buildings is to find them new tenants.

Opening them up as venues allows new people to see them and consider moving in.

Then we find new vacant buildings, and spruce those up.

That's really great.

A virtuous circle, courtesy of the art festival.

So there's art exhibited here?

Yes, there is.

Actually, this entire space is an artwork.

It's the work of artist Goro Murayama.

- The whole space.
- Yes.

It was a collaboration with a local firm called Makita Shoten that makes clothing fabric, and umbrellas.

They came together and made this large cloth.

It's amazing.

Artist Goro Murayama.

He uses patterns and processes produced by life-science computer simulations to create paintings on 3D textiles.

This is an experimental work that only uses fabric.

His concept was the cellular automaton computation model.

Drawing on patterns that appear naturally on shells, the final piece includes repeated errors and their resolution.

By programming the model into data for weaving, Murayama produced fabric with a potentially infinite pattern.

There are spaces where the warp and weft are missing or particularly weak.

This is not a fabric that could be sold or turned into clothing.

The weaving firm was a bit surprised, I think.

It's experimental, which probably means it was a challenge for the weavers.

Definitely.

And it could be used as the base for tapestries.

There's potential for other uses outside the standard clothing or household items we tend to focus on.

New horizons.

Murayama's design included decorating the venue with punch cards used by jacquard looms.

Designs for jacquard looms are like architectural plans.

Holes are punched into cards that show where warp threads are lifted.

I see, yes.

They were an early form of computer, with the cards acting as binary.

True.

That's something that caught Murayama-san's attention.

You'd need 250,000 punch cards to create this piece.

250,000?

There are around 3,000 in here.

- A fraction...
- It is.

All these would barely cover the first ten centimeters at the top, even with this many cards.

Today's digital jacquard fabric is woven using digital processing.

But with the old techniques...

You'd need 250,000 cards.

And this is just 3,000.

Doesn't even scratch the surface.

Murayama-san wanted to showcase historic and modern technologies.

This concrete, visual example really drives that home.

What I find very interesting is that we have an artwork created from a digital design.

Yet the space itself is distinctly analog.

There are two eras, two different timelines in the same place.

That makes this space very interesting.

In this cloth, I think you can see Murayama-san's philosophy - his passion towards IT - reflected back to us in textile form.

Definitely, yes.

Our last stop is a historic shrine that's part of the traditional worship of Mt. Fuji.

The shrine's Noh theater displays a visual piece featuring an enormous high-definition LED screen.

Shrines for the Mt Fuji deity Konohanasakuya-hime generally have 'Sengen' in their names.

I see.

What's this here?

This is by Yoichi Ochiai.

This is fascinating.

What is it?

He created this visual artwork focusing on kaiki silk, the historic fabric of this region.

Media artist Yoichi Ochiai uses technology to transect the digital and physical worlds.

This work examines the granularity and resolution of textiles.

It's fun to think of textiles
in terms of pixels.

With embroidery or textiles you also
plot along the x and y axes.

It's a great match for LEDs.

This work uses a diffusion model
to create visuals through AI.

Kaiki makes beautiful moiré patterns.

The way it warps and distorts
makes it perfect for AI imagery.

And installing it in a Noh stage
changes the context.

It lets you experience the installation
rather than just see it.

A high-resolution digital rendering of kaiki can recreate a very beautiful moire effect.

You can see that same effect with real kaiki as well.

You can.

But adding another computational layer of moiré like he's done here, you get this really exciting double effect.

There's also a reference to local legends as well.

It's very much rooted in this region.

For example, there's a story about Konohanasakuya-hime giving birth in fire.

Is there really?

She chooses to give birth in flame to prove her innocence to a jealous husband.

That's what we're seeing now!

She's often seen as an icon for strong women.

I really feel this piece draws on our local history and industry, and combines them into something very compelling.

It's a real showcase for the town's identity, shown in an iconic location.

The whole area has been transformed into an art gallery.

It's wonderful.

It really is.

Thank you so much for a truly fascinating visit.

What's your vision for the future?

We worked with international artists for the first time this year, which is something we'd like to maintain.

I'm also hoping to revitalize the local textile industry, and put our empty buildings to good use.

We can combine industry, art, and tourism.

But revitalization doesn't happen overnight. It takes time.

The key will be to maintain this event for the next three, five, and ten years.

I look forward to it and hope to revisit you next year!

Please do!

Thank you for today.

- Thank you for coming.
- Thank you.