04
技術について
Craftsmanship
編みの技術
過去と未来を編む
Connect the Past and the Future
Multiple lots are meticulously woven together to create a single form. There are more than several hundred designs in weaving patterns. The technique can be found in daily life such as bags, wallets, furnitures, and other interior items. We are constantly exploring the tradition with new possibilities to create products that meet the needs of present and ahead. As if we are weaving to connect the past and the future.
01
About Craftsmanship
Weaving Technology
編みの技術と歴史
We are striving to revive and utilize ancient technology in the modern age.
約5500年前に生まれていた技術
5,500 years of craftsmanship
The art of weaving can trace its history back to the Jomon period, when people hunted, fished, and gathered nuts for daily sustenance. Hand woven pouches made out of tree barks and other materials to store nuts has been excavated from archaeological sites. Using a technique called “Ajiro-weaving" which the materials are woven vertically and horizontally.
失われつつある手編み文化
Improvement of the craft
A precise and even weave creates a beautiful pattern.
We have inherited this wonderful technique as well as the culture of hand woven baskets. By continuing to study the techniques that was born about 5,500 years ago, we aim to create better and more sophisticated products that meet the needs of the modern age. We are striving to revive and utilize ancient technology in the modern age.
03
About Craftsmanship
Manufacturing Process
籠ができるまで
We are constantly exploring the tradition with new possibilities to create products.
山葡萄の採取
Collect the wild grape vines
Wild grapes, the source of our baskets are found deep in the mountains. We set a certain standard for the size (diameter) of the vines to be harvested, and those that does not meet the standard will not be harvested. It will be postponed until the following year or later to preserve our resources. In addition, we plant seedlings to maintain the forest.
ヒゴづくり
Processe into sets of even thickness.
Straight, crooked, twisted. Each vine has its own character, and after tanning and scraping, they are processed into sets of even thickness.This process is the most important step in the basket making, and it is also the most important step in the craftsman's technique, which determines the quality of the basket.
編み上げ
Weave
We start weaving from the bottom part of the basket, and then keep weaving by wrapping the lots around a wooden basket model.
02
About Craftsmanship
Types of Weaving
編みの種類
We are constantly exploring the tradition with new possibilities to create products.
編みの種類について
Types of Weaving
The art of weaving was born in ancient times and has developed through the sensibility of many craftsmen up to the present day. 300 to 400 different types of hand weaving patterns have been identified so far. It is one of the techniques that Japanese people are proud of.
04
About Craftsmanship
Our Craftsmanship
技術を継ぐ、つなぐ
We are striving to revive and utilize ancient technology in the modern age.
受け継いだ文化を繋いでいく
Passing down the tradition
The skills that have been passed down and cultivated since ancient times have become invaluable due to the simplification of weaving techniques, the aging of craftsmen, and the lack of people to carry on the culture. We at Yama-Biko believe that it is our important role to pass on the skills and know-how we have inherited to the next generation, and to promote the art of weaving by training instructors and craftsmen and by organizing hand weaving basket classes.
