PI: Daphne Mohajer va Pesaran | Project ID: 2019SG04o
Location of Research: Japan| Host Institution: Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
For many generations, artisans in Japan have made a form of clothing called kamiko (紙衣 or 紙子) from sheets of washi (Japanese paper 和紙). These garments are produced by wrinkling, softening, and strengthening sheets, which are then fused, stitched or folded together. Kamiko production reached its peak during the Edo Period (1603-1868), although the practice has become rare, with only a few communities of aging craftspeople maintaining the knowledge. This project documents kamiko methods at two sites in Japan: Shiroishi (白石), a town in Japan’s Miyagi Prefecture, and Tōdaiji (東大寺), the head temple of the Kegon Buddhist sect, located in Nara Prefecture.
Kamiko requires washi with particular qualities. It needs to be light, albeit with an even and dense fiber distribution to make it durable enough for clothing. To achieve this, sheets of paper are strengthened with liquids and pastes like konnyaku (蒟蒻), a jelly-like starch; agar agar (kanten, 寒天); fermented persimmon tannin (kakishibu, 柿渋); or drying oils like perilla, walnut, tung, soybean, linseed, and poppyseed. Several of these agents impart water-resistance to the washi as well. Hand-crumpling then softens the fibers so the washi resembles conventional fabric.
Kamiko became popular among commoners during the mid-Edo period, favored for its affordability, warmth, lightness, and compactness when folded. Farmers could produce the fabric themselves from the mulberry plant. Moreover, the dress was common among stage performers, in tea rooms, and with monks. Sengoku period (1467-1615) samurai wore it as underwear to keep warm, and it was often mentioned by poets of the Genroku era (1688-1704). Demand for Kamiko textiles has thus fluctuated between economic necessity, cleanliness, and aesthetics.
Shiroishi Washi
Shiroshi (白石), a small city of roughly 33,000 residents in the north of Japan’s main island, exemplifies the rise and demise of washi and kamiko. It saw the heights of kamiko production in the 18th century, and has remained a bastion of the craft through the modern period. The Tōhoku region in which Shiroishi is located was synonymous with paper technology for over 400 years, including handmade paper, woven paper textiles, and paper clothing.
While washi production has continued in Shiroishi more or less uninterrupted from its Edo period origins, the practice entered a steep decline in the early 20th century. A group of Shiroishi locals endeavored to re-learn the practice from elders in the interwar years. This led to a small renaissance of kamiko and the development of new practices such as takuhon (拓本), a frottage-like surface design technique unique to the area. This revival saw its institutionalisation with the Ōshu Shiroishi Local Industrial Art Research Institute in the 1930s.
Though kamiko is rarely made or used today in Shiroishi, locals hold on to the knowledge, tools and objects that are needed for making paper clothes. Rather than apprenticing to become full-time producers or attempting to use papermaking as a primary source of income, the people producing paper in Shiroishi seek to maintain local traditions. The symbolic value of kamiko has shifted too—no longer is it a requisite second job for farmers in winter months, but it has become a second job on evenings and weekends for passionate locals to enact the historical identity of their region.
Contemporary Use of Kamiko at Tōdaiji
Kamiko continues to be an integral component of the annual rituals held at the head temple of Kegon Buddhism, Tōdaiji. These Buddhist memorial services, taking place from March 1st to 14th, have participating monks wear a unique white kamiko kimono, the washi for which they produce and temper themselves a year in advance.
The series of rituals at Tōdaiji includes a water-drawing festival called O-mizutori during which the monks wear kamiko under their black robes to keep warm during the cold Spring period, as the ceremony can stretch from early morning to late at night for many days in a row. The series of rituals is noteworthy as the only living tradition that connects the making and wearing of paper garments. The 2020 event was the 1269th time this series of rituals has been held, though it is unclear when kamiko became a facet of the process. Some monks choose to be buried in their white kamiko when they die.
Methodology
The research unfolded in three stages, covering kamiko from its production to its contemporary use, plus a revival among the younger generation:
- Interviews and data collection with key knowledge holders in Shiroishi.
- Interviews and data collection with the monks at Tōdaiji and educators at Ohara Gakuen.
- Engagement with high school students to produce a report on how to create kamiko.
Some interviews were recorded in audio form only per the interviewee’s wishes. Transcriptions and translations of all audio and audiovisual media is available in time-aligned .pdf format.
Selected Assets
These assets provide an overview of the chapters described above.
Archival Photos from the Shiroishi Board of Education
Historical Documents
Ohara Gakuen
Sayo High School
Mashiko Endō
Shinichi Kichimi
Fumiko Satō
Tōdaiji
Acknowledgements
The following individuals were integral in the success of the project. Iara Sayo Inomata served as research assistant, accompanying the PI on the first fieldwork trip in 2020; she assisted in interviewing Shiroishi locals and aided with translation throughout the project’s documentation. Research assistant Jake Nakashima-Edwards aided in checking translations, transcriptions, and metadata. Cameron Allan supplied photographic and videographic expertise during interviews and fieldwork visits. And last but not least, Yano Takashi was an invaluable intermediary throughout the project, contacting members of the Tōdaiji temple, interviewing subjects and participants at Ōhara Gakuen, and managing relationships with Kaita Washi and Sayo High School.