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, it is designed in such a way that it can be operated by a single person. The Jacquard loom enables unskilled workers to weave the weft while requiring skilled workers in the development of patterns and the transfer of those patterns onto cards, and the set up of the loom. The working of the loom itself requires little knowledge or skill.

Sorabikibata

     The production of Nishijin Ori does, however, go back to before Jacquard loom. The Sorabikibata loom was in use for a thousand and a few hundred years prior to the introduction of the Jacquard loom. One Sorabikibata loom took up the better part of a room and required two people for its operation. One weaving the weft threads, dealing with the shuttle and batting down the rows, and the other picking up the warp threads for each row. A role which was replaced with slotted cards with the Jacquard loom. As such, the Sorabikibata loom made it virtually impossible for the production of Nishijin Ori to become a cottage industry and likely encouraged the development of the specialized textile artisan area in Kyoto.

“Nishijin Industry.” Nishijin Textile Industry Association, Nishijin Textile Center, http://nishijin.or.jp/eng/whats-nishijin/industry.

Science and Technology 2 min read. “Jacquard Loom.” National Museums Scotland, National Museums Scotland, https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/science-and-technology/jacquard-loom/.