A day of Master 9.01 | 久留米絣織元　下川織物

Main technique: Egasuri technique, Kukuri technique

Warp: cotton 40/2

Weft: Cotton 20/1

Dye: Chemical dye

It is said that around 1839, Taizo Otsuka of Tsufuku-mura, Mihama-gun devised the traditional “Egasuri” technique using a picture thread stand that remains in the present age. While other Kasuri production areas are declining, in the production of Kasuri using a power loom, the reason why almost only Kurume remains as a local industry, though it remains small, is as a learning from historical events. This is largely due to the fact that a consistent strategy of product differentiation from other production areas was a major trend in the industry, with a focus on “credibility and high quality”.

The characteristic of the “Egasuri” technology by the power loom is the technique of winding the weft of the Kasuri onto the plate-shaped wood tube = tongs while matching the pattern, and only Kurume Kasuri exists as a local industry. Even if you look around the world, it is a rare technique that is inherited by only about 10 woven fabrics remaining in the production area of Kurume Kasuri.

By devising the kukuri, it is possible to express light and shade even with the same polka dot. The idea of expressing a three-dimensional effect in a plain weave called “plain weave” is a crystal of the wisdom of Kurume Kasuri craftsmen who have been inherited from the ingenuity of many craftsmen in the history of 220 years.