The Omotesando POPUP STORE is now halfway through and will be open until next Monday, February 20th .
It feels like spring, but there are some very cold days.
I hope it gets warmer soon with the momentum of the three cold days and ten warm days.
In my previous article, I briefly mentioned silk producing areas, so today I would like to add some additional information.
China is by far the world's largest producer of cocoons, followed by Brazil, India, Uzbekistan, and others.
I had an image of silk being something Asian.
I was surprised to hear that Brazil was imported. Apparently Brazilian cocoons are similar in quality to those produced in Japan, due in part to the fact that they were brought over by Japanese people and then spread.
When I visited the Nagahama Chirimen factory, which produces the material for our bath body towels, I saw rows of beautiful, pure white raw silk made from Brazilian cocoons, and was told this by them.
( Products will be uploaded later! )
The factory has been in operation since the early Meiji period, just as the Meiji era began.
In today's world, where kimonos are becoming more and more popular, I feel that it is very difficult to know how to preserve them and protect them from falling out of use.
The machines are still in use today, having been repaired over the decades since they were used in the Showa era, and it's because of this that they are able to produce raw silk of the same high quality as back then, creating a very lively atmosphere.
It was a very valuable tour of the factory.
The most famous silk mill is the Tomioka Silk Mill.
The Tomioka Silk Mill was a very large and old government-run factory, and was designated a World Heritage Site because of its age, but the Nagahama factory was founded before the Tomioka Silk Mill.
During a period when Japan was trying to increase its national power by enriching the country and strengthening its military, the country focused on sericulture and at one point became the world's top exporter of domestically produced cocoons.
Shibusawa Eiichi, the face of the new 10,000 yen note, was a central figure of that period.
Because it was treated as a luxury item, silk contributed greatly to exports and, overall, to the modernization of Japan.
I hope that you will find it interesting and connected to various aspects of history.
It's cold, so please stay warm.
Azusa