Echigo-jofu (越後上布) is a fabric of
Echigo, Japan on national
Important Cultural Properties listing in 1955,[1][2] and UNESCO's
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list since 2009.[3] It is made from fine
bast fiber from the
ramie plant (Boehmeria nivea), also called hemp, although not directly related to cannabis hemp.[a] After it is woven on a jibatabackstrap loom (地機), the fabric is spread on snowfields (yuki-zarashi) where ultraviolet light from the sun creates ozone and bleaches it white.[5][6] The fabric is used to make summer
kimono and other traditional garments, cushions and bed linens.[7]
Notes
^See Morphological Differences Between Ramie and Hemp: How These Characteristics Developed Different Procedures in Bast Fiber Producing Industry;[4] also see
wikt:麻布
^
Hwang, Min Sun (2010), "Morphological Differences Between Ramie and Hemp: How These Characteristics Developed Different Procedures in Bast Fiber Producing Industry",
Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings, vol. 23, Textile Society of America
Rinne, Melissa M. (2007), "Preserving Echigo Jofu and Nara Sarashi: Issues in Contemporary Bast Fiber Textile Production", in Hamilton, Roy W.; Milgram, B. Lynne (eds.), Material choices: refashioning bast and leaf fibers in Asia and the Pacific, Fowler Museum at UCLA,
ISBN9780974872988,
LCCN2006033706,
OCLC191890941UW Press page