Skip to main content

Ramie 
https://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB:P-fortunei_bit_Ramie.jpg

     Ramie is a plant from the nettle family of the bast fiber group, native to China (9). It is also known as grass linen, grass cloth, and China linen. Ramie has many stalks from 1.9-2.4 meters tall and is perenial. Its leaves are bright green on the top, and white with hairs on the bottom. Ramie grows best in well-drained sandy soil in warm moist climates, but benefits from cold winters (8,7), and is harvested by hand when the lower part of stalk turns brown and tips of a new stalk appear (9).
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Boehmeria_nivea_-_Jardim_Bot
%C3%A2nico_de_S%C3%A3o_
Paulo_-_IMG_0250.jpg
      The stalks are cut and then stripped of their leaves before being soaked in water (11). Unlike with some hemp processes this is not to encourage the break down of the skin. They are only soaked to keep the stalks moist. If the stalks are processed the day of the harvest soaking is unnecessary (7). After they have been soaked, the bark is then stripped from the stalks and then it too is soaked in water. The bark is later removed from the water, and, while wet, it is scraped until the green pith of the bark and plant resin is entirely removed and all that remains are the translucent fibers. After the pith is removed the fibers contain about 25-30% gum. Scraping appears to be a traditional technique used for the highest quality fabrics (11), but the gum can also be removed chemically or microbially (7). The degummed fibers are then bundled and dried to be later further divided down to the individual fibers to be died and woven (11). For the finest fiber, Ramie can be spun according to the spun silk system, which involves spinning fibers thread by thread and is very labor intensive (7).  


     Legend says that about 2,000 years ago emperor sujin’s daughter was in the Noto region when she created thread using wild ramie and taught weaving (5). Ramie was at one point believed to have been introduced to Japan with the Yayoi invasion (3), but fragments of garments and patterned potsherds have been found on the isle of Kyushu dating back to 21,000 B.C.E. that proves those theories incorrect (1). Ramie was one of the primary fibers used for textiles from the time that it first came to common use, which I suspect was around the time of the Yayoi invasion, 300 B.C.E., until cotton began to be successfully commercially grown in Japan, which was around the 15th century or the late Nara period (10,7). It is currently used for industrial sewing thread, filter cloths, fishing nets, packing materials, canvas, suit-cloth, and mat-edge cloth among other things (9,2). China is currently the biggest cultivator of Ramie, but it is also cultivated in Japan (7). A particularly fine fabric made from Ramie, called Noto-jofu, is produced in the Noto peninsula and was designated as an intangible cultural asset of the Ishikawa prefecture (5,4). Even today in some places Ramie fabric continues to be made by hand using traditional processing methods (11).
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woman%27s_katabira

    
     Ramie fibers are strong. Fiber made from Ramie doesn’t loose shape or shrink when washed. It becomes stronger when wet and more lustrous the more it is washed (9). The fibers take dye easily and resist bacteria and mildew (8). Due to the stiffness of the fibers they can be woven into an open weave, meaning that they breath easily and are ideal for hot and humid climates. It would seem like Ramie is a miracle fiber that wouldn’t loose out to anything in a humid climate. However the processing is too difficult, and therefore expensive, for it to last long as the fabric of the commoners after cotton was introduced. Ramie fibers cannot be removed with the bacterial fermentation of retting, they must undergo decortication which involves pounding or scraping (9,7). In ancient times this meant far more labor for the farmers or producers, and in the industrial age it meant more specialized tools that could not be as gentle on the fibers. Fibers extracted through industrial mechanical processes are 5-6 inches on average, while fibers extracted by hand, by scraping the bark can be about a yard long or the length of the stalk (9,11). The fiber generally resists mechanization of production. The fibers are brittle and not elastic (9). This is not much of a problem if the fibers are around a yard long, but fibers that have been removed industrially and are only around 5 inches on average will require a higher number of spins per inch and therefore are much more likely to break. Far too much of the crop is lost when the process is mechanized for it to be practical, and when the process is done by hand it is far too labor intensive to be affordable for the general public. For that reason, Ramie only lasted as material for commoners until the introduction and commercialization of cotton.

Sources

  1. Hays, J. (2019). JOMON CULTURE (10,500–300 B.C.): CLOTHING, MUSIC AND BODY ADORNMENT | Facts and Details. [online] Factsanddetails.com. Available at:https://fashion-history.lovetoknow.com/clothing-around-world/japanese-textiles [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].
  2. Leavline, E.J., D.A.A.G. Singh, S. Prasannanayagi and R. Kiruthika, 2015. A compendium of nano materials and their applications in smart nano textiles. Res. J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol., 5: 44-59.
  3. Major, J. (2019). Japanese Textiles. [online] Fashion-history.lovetoknow.com. Available at: https://fashion-history.lovetoknow.com/clothing-around-world/japanese-textiles [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].
  4. Mitsuhiro, K. (2006). Fine Ramie Cloth, Noto Peninsula Japan. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o9y3W9xkK4 [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].
  5. Notojofu.com. (2019). English Site – 能登上布. [online] Available at: http://notojofu.com/eng/ [Accessed 20 May 2019].
  6. PARK, Y. (2019). Yoshinogari's History : yayoi Trivia : YOSHINOGARI HISTORICAL PARK. [online] Yoshinogari.jp. Available at: http://www.yoshinogari.jp/en/contents2/categoryId_5.html [Accessed 20 May 2019].
  7. Seiko Jose, S. Rajna and P. Ghosh, 2017. Ramie Fibre Processing and Value Addition. Asian Journal of Textile, 7: 1-9.
  8. Teresinha (2017). Ramie | Wild Fibres natural fibres. [online] Wildfibres.co.uk. Available at: http://www.wildfibres.co.uk/html/ramie.html [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].
  9. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britanica (2019). Ramie | plant. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/plant/ramie [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].
  10. Wiki.samurai-archives.com. (2017). Cotton - SamuraiWiki. [online] Available at: https://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=Cotton [Accessed 6 May 2019].
  11. YouTube. (2009). Ojiya-chijimi, Echigo-jofu: techniques of making ramie fabric in Uonuma region, Niigata Prefecture. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KXbotKCG_M [Accessed 20 Apr. 2019].

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Silk  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Silk_worm_21_days_01.jpg      Silk is one of the highest qualities of fiber and historically only used by royalty and the wealthy few. Due to processing that allows fibers to be spun in long, unbroken strands and the natural strength of the fibers, silk can be used to create fabric that is the strongest for its weight of any commercial natural fiber. The triangular shape of silk fibers gives the threads and fabrics made with them a satiny sheen and it takes well to dyes. https://pixabay.com/photos/kimono-japanese-traditional-fabric-637942/      Silk is taken from cocoons of Bombyx caterpillars which are raised eating mulberry leaves and sometimes Osage Orange. The sheen seen in silk comes as a result of the fibers being triangular (4). Most commercial silkworms in use are a variety called Bombyx mori that originated in China, although over 600 varieties of this silkworm can be found in Ja...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jacquard Loom

Jacquard loom      The loom used in the modern production of Nishijin textiles is the Jacquard loom that was invented in 1801 in France and brought to Japan in 1872 when three students were sent to Europe by the Kyoto Prefectural Government to learn their techniques. This allowed Japan to mass produce Nishijin Ori and it has become the loom that is associated with Nishijin.      The Jacquard loom is designed specifically for brocades. To use the loom patterns are plotted out and then transferred onto cards in the form of a system of holes that determine which warp threads are to be pulled through and thus the pattern is decided with less work for the weaver.   This loom allows for complicated designs to be input into the looms to mass produce textiles without losing quality in the end product. The loom is massive, but not far in size from standard European looms and, though the mechanism itself is complicated in comparison to previous looms, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nishijin Textiles

Nishijin Obi      Nishijin ori is a general term for Sakizome, or brocade-type textile in which the thread is dyed before weaving and the design is then woven into the fabric using a jacquard loom. It specifically refers to the textiles produced in Kyoto since the Heian period. Nishijin textiles were designated as a Japanese traditional craft in 1976. W ithin the category of Nishijin textiles there are twelve different types of fabric each created using different processes. The types of finished items that Nishijin ori is most known for are Kimono, Obi, Noh costume, Doncho, neckties, shawls,and interior decoration items.      The history of Nishijin Ori begins in the Muromachi era, after the end of the Onin War, (1467-1477) when textile craftsmen, who had dispersed throughout the country, gathered in the western region of Kyoto that was then coming to be known as Nishijin.   The name, which literally means “West -territory” originated as a r...
Post a Comment
Read more