Traditional textile in Chita Peninsula;
Chita Momen (Cotton)
In Edo era (about 400 years ago), Chita Momen started to be produced in Chita Peninsula, Aichi prefecture and it still continues to be slowly woven by old shuttle looms made in Meiji era (200 years ago). They weave rolls of a cloth up to 50cm wide, which are referred to as KOHABA, used for Yukata (summer cotton Kimono), Jinbei (informal summer clothes worn by a man), Tenugui (hand towel) and etc. Weavers of Chita Momen have been weaving KOHABA of high quality which is essential for Japanese clothing culture and contributing to the preservation of traditional beauty.
Durable, Pliable and Beautiful
A shuttle loom made in Meiji era (or equivalent) weaves textiles at a slow pace. Although the production volume is not so large, it doesn’t put an excessive load on the cloths so that the woven textiles have unique soft texture. In addition, only shuttle loom can weave such a precisely-aligned selvage which is durable and pliable. Strikingly beautiful surface of the textiles is one of its favorable characteristics as well.
Manual quality check
We carefully conduct visual and tactual check for weaving defects and flaws one by one. Our coherent stance to invest a good deal of effort to pursue excellent texture and quality has not been changed since Edo era.
Various textiles cultivated in a region where automatic looms have been developed.
We are able to produce variety of textiles , such as plain woven textiles, multiplewoven textiles from two-ply to four-ply and those in different thickness from thin textiles like gauze to thick textiles like canvas. We believe that it is a result of many years of our efforts to develop fine techniques, always aiming at higher quality of products than expected, in order to produce easy-to-use textiles for many purposes since automatic looms has been developed.
Persistency in Wasarashi
(Japanese bleaching method), taking the time and efforts
Sarashi is a process to remove impurities contained in woven cloths. In Wasarashi process, the cloths are put in a moderate flow of water in a large pot and has been slowly boiled for two or three days. In contrast to Western bleaching method, mainly applied to textiles for clothes, in which cloths are forced to pass through a vessel containing chemicals, Wasarashi does not put a stress on cloths so that they obtain soft and high water-absorbing property. Therefore, this process is indispensable for Chita Momen.