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FEATURES -
FEATURES
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 35/VII/December2010
Category: CULTURE
Senior officials in Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture, were making more than just a fashion statement when they dressed for the opening session of the city assembly on Monday.
Mayor Toshio Okubo, assembly Chairman Takeo Ishiwata, and some other officials appeared on the podium wearing chic kimono made of "yuki-tsumugi," a hand-woven silk fabric that is a noted specialty of the city.
The kimono was chosen for the occasion to celebrate the registration of the traditional silk-weaving technique as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage of humanity in November.
A panel meeting of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Nairobi decided Nov. 16 to add "yuki-tsumugi" to the list of intangible cultural assets along with "kumi-odori" dance-music drama of Okinawa Prefecture. The decision brought the number of registered Japanese assets to 18.
Yuki-tsumugi has been produced mainly in Oyama and Yuki, Ibaraki Prefecture, both north of Tokyo. Production has dropped sharply in recent years to less than one-10th of its 1980 peak year, when 31,288 "tan" (one tan, or bolt, is for one kimono) were produced in Tochigi and Ibaraki prefectures. Production in 2009 totaled only 2,381 tan.
A kimono set for men, including a "haori" coat, costs more than 2 million yen ($24,000).
Only Ishiwata, the assembly chairman, had the luxury of wearing his own kimono Monday. The mayor and other officials had to borrow theirs from local silk businesses.
The Asahi Shimbun 01 December 2010
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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